Keith and the Girl

KATGI’m a big fan of the Keith and the Girl podcast. If you have never listened you can skip this post because it probably won’t make any sense. Keith is a sort-of stand-up comic who shoots the shit with his girlfriend, Chemda, for an hour every day. Explicit content. Not for sissies. I love the show.

I finally got around to visiting the “Support” page on their website and discovered some very effective ad copy. For example:

“Blockbuster gives you sissy cuts of movies and claims you didn’t return your film. Netflix gives you the dirtiest version available and gives you the benefit of the doubt. Blockbuster doesn’t believe the holocaust happened. Netflix has all the holocaust movies. Netflix has never let us down. Blockbuster raped my grandmother. (You can rent those tapes through Netflix.)”

I would be very surprised if Keith did not write this copy. Clearly his style. This copy is effective because it is –in the context of their podcast– real. This is the way Keith and Chemda talk. This is what their listeners expect from them. Attitude.

I’m not sure some ad agency wonk could write this. And if they tried, it somehow would not sound legit. And I’ll bet you a hot oil back rub that Keith and Chemda insist on writing the copy. They get that Madison Avenue bullshit would not work on their site.

Radio Iowa Week in Review

RIWIRRadio Iowa reporter Stella Shaffer produces “Radio Iowa: Week In Review” and it’s a nice toe-in-the-podcast-water for the network. She pulls together the top stories of the previous week:

“The old governor’s got a gig teaching law at Drake, the new governor wants a dollar-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax, and an economist tells us what that might cost. The new improved state minimum wage may also have unanticipated consequences, according to HeadStart heads. Bitter cold played a part in the apprehension of an auto-theft suspect, OSHA offered a helping hand to migrant workers while one mayor wants a fulltime cop to bust them, and we mourn two more Iowa soldiers lost.”

Another of our networks began repurposing feature programs as podcasts last year. But RIWIR is our first true podcast (by my definition).

We have some really good reporters working in our newsrooms. Historically, if they came up with a good idea for a new program, it could only fly if we could convince enough affiliate stations to “clear” it.

In the world of podcasts, they are only limited by their imaginations and the hours in the day. I’m hoping to hear some good stuff in the coming year.

Reader’s Digest Podcast

J. T. Gerlt reports that your grandpa’s favorite magazine is podcasting:

I never really thought of Reader’s Digest as cutting edge. The outside has basically looked the same forever. They have the same insides too Only in America, Everyday Heroes, Word Power, Humor In Uniform, Quotable Quotes, and etc., but someone there must be pretty progressive thinking. Most of the audio is 3-5 minutes long, the longest I saw was 11 something.

I’m betting Aunt Betty isn’t syncing her iTunes and playing canasta with buds dangling from her ears, but I could see her listening in front of her PC. Which is how a LOT of podcasts are being heard. I’ll check ’em out and report here.

Will your radio station be in every Ford?

Ford Motor Company and Microsoft are expected to announce new “Windows Automotive” software called “Sync,” that will make it possible (easier?) to make hands-free cell phone calls and download music or receive email.

Chicken Little“If you can use your car to download music, you can also use it to stream music. And if you can stream music then you can do so from any number of music providers, not just your radio station.”

“What is YOUR group doing to be in front of this trend? What is YOUR group doing to be in every car in every way in 2007 and beyond? What content do you have that every Ford will want to stream?” — Mark Ramsey at Hear 2.0

If I were still a radio station program director, I might grab a program schedule and go through the day asking that question about each programming element. I think there will be lots of stuff folks in my local market will want to hear (news, weather, sports, etc) but they won’t want to make an appointment to listen to it. They’ll want to have it automatically downloaded to their cars so they can hear it when they want it. Podcasts.

Favorite blogs and podcasts

Henry wants to know my ten favorite podcasts and blogs. I read a lot more than 10 blogs a day, but if I had to pick 10, they would be:

Scripting News, Boing Boing, Dilbert Blog, Doc Searls, Jeff Jarvis, Mark Ramsey, Micro Persuasion, Podcasting News, Seth Godin, and GrowLearfield.com + all of the Learfield blogs. Links to the right.

As for podcasts, I don’t think I listen to 10 on a regular basis, only because I don’t have time. I sample others from time to time bu the ones I listen to regularly are:

MacCast, Keith and the Girl, Podcast 411, This Week in Tech, Diggnation, NPR Technology, This American Life, Cutting Edge (Business Week).

All are weekly except Keith and the Girl which is daily. Usually an hour.