According to a new study by Edison Media Research and Arbitron, both XM and Sirius have 61% awareness levels among American consumers. The research also showed some evidence of early use and interest in podcasting. Given a detailed description of podcasting, about one in ten people aged 12-plus said they had ever listened to an audio podcast, about half the number who had heard of podcasting. The podcast audience skews younger and more upscale than the general population. Nearly one in four Americans and more than half of teens own an iPod or other portable digital music player. [Billboard Radio Monitor] Thanks, Ben.
Category Archives: Media & Culture
Net ad spending to overtake radio in 2008
Zenith Optimedia Group has revised it’s global ad spending outlook and now predicts the Internet will overtake worldwide outdoor ad spending next year, and will catch up with radio (which will have a 7.9% share, down from 8.5% in 2005) in 2008.
If you’re a radio station manager, you a) do not believe this forecast for one minute; b) think it might be true but have no clue what to do about it; c) don’t care if it’s true or not because you plan to retire in a couple of years anyway. [Radio Business Report]
Web surfers see only what they want
Certainly no surprise to anyone that designs or (in my case) maintains websites. A few specifics from recent study by Jakob Nielsen’s Nielsen Norman Group:
- Individuals read Web pages in an “F” pattern. They’re more inclined to read longer sentences at the top of a page and less and less as they scroll down. That makes the first two words of a sentence very important.
- Surfers connect well with images of people looking directly at them. It helps if the person in the photo is attractive, but not too good-looking. Photos of people who are clearly professional models are a turnoff.
- People respond to pictures that provide useful information, not just decoration.
And my favorite: When there is less on a page, users read more.
Living Healthy (24) – Poison Ivy
Fans: Yea! Radio stations: Boo!
Reply
The St. Louis Cardinals plan to offer 50,000 fans a free radio that can pick up the broadcasts via XM Radio – which carries all major league games via satellite transmission. The catch is that to get the radio, a six-month subscription for the service must be purchased – and that sells for about $13 a month. The move is being made to try to appease those who have lost access to the broadcasts because of the club’s move from KMOX (1120 AM) to KTRS (550 AM) as its flagship station. KTRS’ signal has a much smaller reach at night, when most of the games are played, than does KMOX. [STL Today via XM Ben]
Local ink for LHP
Our little town has a new magazine (JC Metro), and they were nice enough to do a little story about The Living Healthy Podcast. The governor’s wife beat us out for the cover by agreeing to be photographed wearing a suit made of aluminum foil. I’d give the new rag a little link love but it doesn’t appear they have a website.
Speaking of LHP… two more shows in the can: Poison Ivy and Ticks goes up on April 8th and Toenail Health on the 15th (would I kid you?).
Keith and his girlfriend talk shit
I have a new favorite podcast. Keith and The Girl makes me laugh out loud. In the car. Alone. I’m not even going to try to describe this thing. You gotta be there. Okay, I’ll describe it a little. Very New York. Very Jewish. Crude, rude with lots of ‘tude.
XM adding seven regional news and talk channels
“XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. announced a new channel lineup Monday, expanding the number of channels by a dozen, adding several new music and news channels while deleting some others. XM will also add seven regional news and talk channels, bringing its new channel total to 176 from 164. In the fall, XM is also launching a channel with talk show host Oprah Winfrey.” — MercuryNews.com
I remember hearing about the Oprah channel but somehow missed the “regional news and talk channels” item. Uh, I think our company does regional news.
Scott Adams: Ask my opinion
Scott Adams recently invited readers to “ask for my opinion on any topic and I will give it to you in the clearest possible terms (as many as I can get to).” They did and he did. And I found myself agreeing with about 98% of his answers. A few of my favorites:
Q. Who, out of any person, would do the best job of dictator with total control of the world, and please give a real response.
A. Bill Gates. He’s rational, experienced, and has a good track record of helping the disadvantaged through his charitable trusts.
Q. Can you give an easy solution for all the Middle East problems, including but not limited to ethnic issues, religious issues, corruption issues, oil issues, nuclear issues, and last but not least, the poor history of this region in the soccer world cup?
A. There is no solution. But I often wonder what would happen if we surrendered, apologized for interfering in the region, and withdrew all financial and military support for everyone including Israel. I think Israel would survive just fine, countries would still sell us plenty of oil, and our enemies would get busy killing each other. We learned from the Cold War that enemies really do need a reason to want to kill you. It’s not for entertainment.
Q. Most futuristic thing you wish would be invented now?
A. Orgasm ray gun.
Yes, some corporations can podcast.
Despite the doubts I raised in the previous post, there is plenty of podcast cream rising to surface. In the interest of balance, I thought I should mention a couple:
The Castrol SYNTEC folks hired Funkmaster Flex to host their Unlock the Power podcasts. The Funkmaster is a DJ and car customizing expert who hosts tv shows like ESPN2’s All Muscle and Spike TV’s Ride with Funkmaster Flex.
I listened to a 13 minute interview with NHRA driver Ashley Force. About half-way through Ashley puts in a plug for Castrol but it flow nicely with the interview and sounded…honest. Much more effecitve than a produced thirty-second spot. Be interesting to see how they work in the sponsor if the interviewee is not a driver. [via Micro Persuasion]
MommyCast is a couple of moms “holding the world together, one child at at time.” They just about They’ve produced 72 shows and generated enough of a following to attact a sponsosr (Dixie). The one I listened to was about dads who stay at home, or wish to take an active role in raising their children much to the dismay of their employers. The sponsor got a quick mention in the open and again at the close and a “brought to you by Dixie” graphic on the website.