Comments on: Mary's Notes, June 14, 2007

By: wgbh

wgbh — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 08:31:37 +0000

[...] Lydon, announced that Boston NPR affiliate wgbh had decided to pull the plug on funding. Nohttp://www.radioopensource.org/marys-notes-june-14-2007/Welcome to WGBH. [...]

By: bicyclemark

bicyclemark — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:21:54 +0000

terrestrial radio is sooo over. I consider this the cutting of the umbilical chord. Podcasting is the future and it is exactly the way Open Source should be ingested. The decision to cut ROS is yet another example of how out of touch Public Radio has become. Long live the internets!

By: Abby

Abby — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:49:37 +0000

I don’t listen all that often (and I was something of a Lydonista), largely because there are no live calls. My computer is acting wonky, so to listen online, I need to hunt down my headphones, and it’s not worth the effort without the live feel.

Sometimes I watch Charlie Rose, but I’m starting to find it boring. Having a blog is great, but some people are great talkers without being great writers.

I don’t really like Terry Gross all that much, but her thing is different.

My favorite show which doesn’t have live-in callers achieves a simialr effect by having different guests on to discuss their own thing. Radio 4′s “Start the Week” is great, but part of the fun is that you can hear people thinking aloud, not just see it. All of the guests read each other’s books too or go to their exhibitions.

I’m mostly tired of American talk radio. I’d hoped for more from Chris and Mary, but I have to say that I have been disappointed. And I really missed you all so much for a couple of years.

By: aaronread

aaronread — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:45:15 +0000

Mary & company – you might be aware of this, but you don’t NEED to be a member of PRI, or NPR, or anyone, to put a show out over the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS). Us folks over at The Infinite Mind have been independent for 10 years but we’ve always distributed over PRSS (now ContentDepot). Pacifica Radio and Pacifica-related shows (like Democracy Now) also distribute over PRSS, I believe. AFAIK, PRSS’s rates are pretty reasonable.

By: webcastboy

webcastboy — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:40:33 +0000

The problem with many people not knowing Lydon was “back on the air” does stem directly from ROS not being on WBUR; that’s the natural home for NPR news/talk and there’s really no way around that…sort of buying underwriting time on WBUR promoting the show on WGBH (something I doubt WBUR would sell).

After all, WBUR is “Boston’s NPR **news** Station” whereas WGBH is “Boston’s NPR **arts & culture** Station”. Despite GBH’s increase in news/talk programming as of late, there’s no denying that it’s not the core part of their overall branding.

Things have changed a great deal at WBUR since Lydon and Jane Christo had the meltdown that led to the end of Lydon’s tenure there (Feb.2001, IIRC). There’s a lot of new staff and, most importantly, a new general manager (Paul La Camera) with (as far as I know) no particular dog in that fight. So he could make an objective decision as to whether or not to carry ROS.

Of course, I’m sure Chris & Mary are (or soon will be) on the phone with WBUR already.

By: W.M. Palmer

W.M. Palmer — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 18:15:36 +0000

Perhaps ROS, being an open source show, should do a show on its history, including its successes-and current travails and troubles-and the larger picture of internet radio . . .. Perhaps it could do a series on the current media environment, and includes folks like Jay Rosen. This might also lead to more asture thinking by the staff concerning the show’s strengths and weaknesses, and the best future path for it to seek to take.

Perhaps podcasting and other WWW distribution is the show’s future-but, the universe of available podcasts is expanding so swiftly . . ..

By: jimmy

jimmy — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:47:18 +0000

I’ve been thinking the same thing as momos for some time. When the show fails to gain acceptance with the audience it is important to look at how something about the show itself might be causing this. It’s easy as an underdog to fall into the place of blaming the larger and more powerful decision-making forces and lose sight of the part oneself plays in it. The show did so well in its incarnation as the Connection and never took off in the transition to the blooging thing. Same host, same producer – it doesn’t seem like rocket science to wnder whether the change in format might be the cause. For me it definitelt lost something when it cut off the live call-ins. And at some point, when it repeatedly does not engage sufficient numbers of listeners, you have to consider that there are many others who feel the same way. Its true that some of the call-ins are dead-ends, but the vocal and human – as oppposed to the electronic detached – connection is more engaging. My sense is that Chris got carried away with his romance with the blogosphere as venue for live radio. It just doesn’t work. How much more evidence to you need?

By: Potter

Potter — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 11:05:49 +0000

rahbuhbuh- I am not pushing for call-ins not now especially and not if there is no enthusiasm for them ( or there are not enough folks on staff to handle this) but I would like to point out that many shows that have some callers are only one hour long. The Connection shows were one hour long (each topic) and Chris was terrific with the callers. Many times callers, with their thoughts and stories and opposing views, made a real difference to a show.

By: rahbuhbuh

rahbuhbuh — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:31:02 +0000

ROS does not need listener call ins. They would distract and derail more interesting conversations than contribute insight. It is only an hour-long show, one which currates guests interesting enough to listen to for the entirety.

I avidly listen to ROS because it is unlike much of public radio. I only listen to it as a podcast despite living within broadcast range. It feels more like premium channel cable than radio. It is something I would pay for. I know, as a demographic, I am not in the majority and constituents like me don’t pull the same weight as live broadcast listeners. ROS could be produced in advance for cheaper and broadcasted from a can. It could be produced under less hectic conditions and publish less frequently and still retain the quality we have come to enjoy. but, none of that speaks to any real world finances.

For what it’s worth: keep it up, however you can.

By: REjo

REjo — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:55:58 +0000

I’m really sad to hear this, guys. A local on-air home is, well, a local on-air home. Now you’ll just have to more fully realize the web 2.0 of it all, and sink or swim with web distribution. I’ll be pulling for you. Curahee!