Twilight of NPR?

[LDAHL]

There is an interesting article on Slate that cast uncertainty about the future of NPR in light of an aging audience (average age of 54) and competition from new media.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/04/the_fight_for_the_future_of_npr_can_public_radio_s urvive_the_podcast_revolution.html

I would have thought public funding would be a pretty decisive advantage, but they seem to be losing talent and younger listeners to the "podcast revolution".

[Ultralight]

The Right-wing can vote to defund NPR and simply blame it on liberal Millennials!

Excellent opportunity for the GOP to pit liberal Boomers against liberal Millennials. :)

[LDAHL]

The Right-wing can vote to defund NPR and simply blame it on liberal Millennials!

Excellent opportunity for the GOP to pit liberal Boomers against liberal Millennials. :)

Why bother? Apparently all we have to do is wait for time and technology to make them obsolete. After the pod people take over the market for serious deep thinkery from the self-satisfied left perspective, we can lease the frequencies to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.

[Ultralight]

Why bother? Apparently all we have to do is wait for time and technology to make them obsolete. After the pod people take over the market for serious deep thinkery from the self-satisfied left perspective, we can lease the frequencies to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.

Excellent points! haha

[LDAHL]

Excellent points! haha

I have to admit that I will miss Science Friday. I'll try to get my nine year old to teach me how to listen to podcasts on one of those "devices" I keep hearing about. I think it involves blue teeth.

[iris lilies]

I have to admit that I will miss Science Friday. I'll try to get my nine year old to teach me how to listen to podcasts on one of those "devices" I keep hearing about. I think it involves blue teeth.


You are way too young to have this sentiment which is also my own sentiment. I dont want to mess with more equipment when I am out gardening. I dont want to load up a bunch of podcasts on my device (which I Dont even have) and I dont want to stick something in my ear and on my person and keep them in place as I am bending, lifting, hauling.

i just want something broadcast to me through the open air and thats why we use boom boxes to get radio broadcasts.

I also get a laugh out of broadcasting NPR in my iris garden neighborhood, the ghetto. It raises the tone of the neighborhood, haha.

we are an audio household. While we never watch tv news, we have the radio on all of the gd time and I am often sick of it. We switch between 3 stations, NPR and two commercial stations.

However, it is just a matter of time before I get over my objections above and start with podcasts. I already am out of watching tv shows based on their schedule, not mine. Most all of the tv I watch is at a time I determine, I will not plan my days around a Broadcast.

later, I will comment on NPR programming.

[Ultralight]

I am an NPR listener and I am a dues-paying member, too.

[jp1]

I'm a few years younger than the average npr listener. I only listen to them if i'm in the car on the weekend. During the week my listening is podcasts while commuting and pandora when stationary. However, about half the podcasts i listen to are produced by npr so at least to me their oending demise is probably being overstated.

[Ultralight]

I'm a few years younger than the average npr listener. I only listen to them if i'm in the car on the weekend. During the week my listening is podcasts while commuting and pandora when stationary. However, about half the podcasts i listen to are produced by npr so at least to me their oending demise is probably being overstated.

I listen mostly in the car. I like their classical station here in Columbus, Classical 101.

[herbgeek]

I listen to podcasts at night when I am too tired to read. Sometimes I have to listen to Wait Wait Don't Tell me 4 or 5 times to get the whole show, because I keep falling asleep. :)

[Ultralight]

I listen to podcasts at night when I am too tired to read. Sometimes I have to listen to Wait Wait Don't Tell me 4 or 5 times to get the whole show, because I keep falling asleep. :)

Back in college we called it No Personality Radio. ;)

[LDAHL]

I listen mainly in the car, but only if I'm alone. My wife finds the general NPR tone to be "intolerably smug", and refuses to have it on in her presence. Since I feel the same way about her preference for country music, we typically compromise on engine noise and the voices in our heads.

I'd listen more if my local market offered classical music programming, as our local commercial classical station went out of business some years ago.

[Ultralight]

I'd listen more if my local market offered classical music programming, as our local commercial classical station went out of business some years ago.

I did not realize how fortunate I have been to have Classical 101 here. I thought classical NPR stations were nearly ubiquitous.

[bae]

I can't remember that last time I listened to NPR. In truth, podcasts have taken over my commentary-oriented listening habits. I can select topics of interest to me ahead of time, subscribe to channels that provide that material, and it magically piles up on my phone to listen to via headphones, or on my car's radio, or on my home's audio system. I send my support dollars to the podcast producers instead of NPR now.

[bae]

I'd listen more if my local market offered classical music programming, as our local commercial classical station went out of business some years ago.

Spotify has replaced over-the-air broadcast in our household for classical and jazz programming.

[Florence]

It is spring pledge drive week+2 here. It used to be one week twice a year, then they expanded it to 9 days and last fall when they didn't reach their goal, they just kept it going until they did reach it. Honest to God, I think the NPR folks taught televangelists and Home Shopping Network how to plead for money. And even when they aren't on official pledge drive, about every 10 minutes they are thanking some person, business, or foundation for sponsoring/contributing to them. They make a big to do over no advertising but how in Hades is thanking and naming different from advertising. It is a constant shill for money. I like NPR and contribute once a year and make sure not to do it during one of their pledge drives. Thank goodness for podcasts during pledge week+2.

[Ultralight]

I think that we could end pledge drives forever by taxing rich people and using that money to better fund NPR.

[ToomuchStuff]

You are way too young to have this sentiment which is also my own sentiment. I dont want to mess with more equipment when I am out gardening. I dont want to load up a bunch of podcasts on my device (which I Dont even have) and I dont want to stick something in my ear and on my person and keep them in place as I am bending, lifting, hauling.

i just want something broadcast to me through the open air and thats why we use boom boxes to get radio broadcasts.

I also get a laugh out of broadcasting NPR in my iris garden neighborhood, the ghetto. It raises the tone of the neighborhood, haha.

we are an audio household. While we never watch tv news, we have the radio on all of the gd time and I am often sick of it. We switch between 3 stations, NPR and two commercial stations.

However, it is just a matter of time before I get over my objections above and start with podcasts. I already am out of watching tv shows based on their schedule, not mine. Most all of the tv I watch is at a time I determine, I will not plan my days around a Broadcast.

later, I will comment on NPR programming.

NPR is not a radio station, but a producer of several shows on a local radio station. Some of the other article listed producers, have shows on that station. The show that started me listening to NPR, is no longer made and one of the brothers passed, this last year (Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers). So while still humorous in rebroadcasts, relavence is dying out as fast as technology changes. (good example of this whole discussion, which would have also been a discussion when we went from a radio based society, to a tv based society, for content)
Already, you can get content from them on other devices. There are devices that allow you to microbroadcast. to an FM radio, or with newer tech, things like Bluetooth (to speakers directly, a stereo, radio, etc). As you have said, not different then timeshifting your tv shows.


UA says he is a dues paying member, but I wonder if it is to NPR itself, or to a dues paying station? If NPR's financial input changed, wouldn't the direction of their output (less influence from stations, more towards web)?

[Ultralight]

UA says he is a dues paying member, but I wonder if it is to NPR itself, or to a dues paying station?

WOSU.

[LDAHL]

I did not realize how fortunate I have been to have Classical 101 here. I thought classical NPR stations were nearly ubiquitous.

Oddly enough, Wisconsin Public Radio has an excellent classical music service. They just don't broadcast in the greater Milwaukee area. When I'm driving to places like Minneapolis or Wausau, I plan on how many CDs to play before I get in range. It beats listening to call-in shows about the proper way to cook kale or why academic tenure is the bedrock of civilization.

My cable provider has a number of surprisingly well-curated music channels for when I'm at home.

[LDAHL]

NPR is not a radio station, but a producer of several shows on a local radio station. Some of the other article listed producers, have shows on that station. The show that started me listening to NPR, is no longer made and one of the brothers past, this last year (Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers). So while still humorous in rebroadcasts, relavence is dying out as fast as technology changes. (good example of this whole discussion, which would have also been a discussion when we went from a radio based society, to a tv based society, for content)
Already, you can get content from them on other devices. There are devices that allow you to microbroadcast. to an FM radio, or with newer tech, things like Bluetooth (to speakers directly, a stereo, radio, etc). As you have said, not different then timeshifting your tv shows.



Speaking of technology, I suspect that if self-driving cars ever become common it will be a black day for broadcast radio. People will be able to watch video on commutes or long trips.

[iris lilies]

I did not realize how fortunate I have been to have Classical 101 here. I thought classical NPR stations were nearly ubiquitous.
Here, the local npr starion took over the dying classical station.

[Alan]

I have two local NPR stations to choose from. Outside of the goofy NPR programming where they lament things such as white people appropriating other culture's food by cooking it themselves, they have nice music. One plays classical only and the other has a mix of bluegrass and indy rock. Years ago I read that listening to Mozart made you smarter, something about the mathematical precision of his compositions accelerating the firing of brain synapses, so I started listening to Classical music in the car occasionally as I needed all the help I could get. Still do from time to time.

One or the other is constantly begging for money, so I usually just listen to satellite radio where I have lots more choices.

[creaker]

It will reinvent - the larger corporate model of NPR may fall by the wayside, if it does, I expect it will go old school, more local low scale programming as opposed to the expensive subscriptions they pay now.

One thing I've seen is more of is "other format" "we live on your pledges" radio - like a local folk music station and one of the college stations (WUMB and WERS). If these stations all go away, the radio in the car is done. I don't do commercial TV or radio, the format is just too painful to deal with.

[LDAHL]

It will reinvent - the larger corporate model of NPR may fall by the wayside, if it does, I expect it will go old school, more local low scale programming as opposed to the expensive subscriptions they pay now.

One thing I've seen is more of is "other format" "we live on your pledges" radio - like a local folk music station and one of the college stations (WUMB and WERS). If these stations all go away, the radio in the car is done. I don't do commercial TV or radio, the format is just too painful to deal with.

I've heard that referred to as "artisanal media".

[Dhiana]

Using the Public Radio app on my smart phone, I listen can listen to ALL the NPR stations...I started listening to the Dance/Trance NPR station out of Seattle about 15 years ago. C89.5 is a high school training program with a good mix of pro and student DJs.

Many of the NPR stations are on the TuneIn Radio app also: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tunein.player&hl=en

I just plug it into my little Bose speakers; my device charges and receives the "radio" signal through wi-fi. No bluetooth necessary.

This coming Science Friday, my friend Michelle will be on talking about her Artist-in-Residency on the science research vessel, Falkor. Her trip was from Honolulu to Papeete, Tahiti. 8AM Hawaii Time on 89.3
http://schmidtocean.org/cruise-log-post/artist-at-sea-update-designs-patterns-from-nature-data/

Yes, you can probably listen in from your computer also :)

[Rogar]

I must fall into the old geezer age group they reference in the article. I think the NPR news is a refreshing summary relative to commercial TV or radio, although the liberal bent tone gets a little over the top at times. I sometimes read the news from their web site and think the reporting is decent and covers a nice variety of topics from music to science I don't get from any other newspaper type source. I have a few news type podcasts I like, but they are more in depth singular topics.

I do think some of NPRs syndicated programs like Lake Wobegon, Wait Wait, and even This American Life are becoming dated and there are more fresh programs you can get on Podcasts. . I have spotify and pandora, but do like some of the public radio music and it's far better than any commercial radio music programming. It's nice to have a real person with a personality behind the play lists. NPR could use a good face lift if nothing else, but I don't think it's state of decline is quite as dire as the article represents. There may be another generation of people connected to smart phones that I'm not very familiar with.

What I think is closer to the brink of extinction is commercial broadcast TV, which was only marginally good at one time and has much better options now.

[KayLR]

I'm a geezer type. Where do you all find the podcasts you enjoy?

[herbgeek]

Where do you all find the podcasts you enjoy?
Most of mine are found doing a search on itunes for the topic. The rest come from the shows websites or NPR.

[iris lilies]

I'm a geezer type. Where do you all find the podcasts you enjoy?

the article cited in this thread says that something like 40% of the bestselling podcats are NPR shows.

I listened to Serial and was bored by it. Byt the end, I did not care whodunit.

i have listened to other podcasts, just a few, produced by former NPR employees. They were ok, some were very weak.

I like pretty much everything on The Moth so I could load those up on a device.

[bae]

I'm a geezer type. Where do you all find the podcasts you enjoy?

My kid tells me they are on something new called "the Internet", and you have to have blue teeth.

:-)

Seriously, I just Google something like "Top Podcasts about Obscure Topic I Am Interested In", then subscribe to a couple of them with the built-in "podcast" app on my phone/tablet. You can stream directly to your computer too if that's your mode of operation, I generally slap them onto my phone however, so I can listen while hiking with the dogs or driving.

[klc14]

You are way too young to have this sentiment which is also my own sentiment. I dont want to mess with more equipment when I am out gardening. I dont want to load up a bunch of podcasts on my device (which I Dont even have) and I dont want to stick something in my ear and on my person and keep them in place as I am bending, lifting, hauling.

i just want something broadcast to me through the open air and thats why we use boom boxes to get radio broadcasts.

There are a few boomboxes around but now with USB ports to connect things, if the change must come. I think Heartland America (http://www.heartlandamerica.com -- closeouts, liquidations, etc.) has one or two still.

I have a friend with a son in IT--she has an iPhone and he set things up so she can connect to an outdoor speaker (the blue teeth option mentioned somewhere here). As long as none of the settings change. :D

[iris lilies]

There are a few boomboxes around but now with USB ports to connect things, if the change must come. I think Heartland America (http://www.heartlandamerica.com -- closeouts, liquidations, etc.) has one or two still.

I have a friend with a son in IT--she has an iPhone and he set things up so she can connect to an outdoor speaker (the blue teeth option mentioned somewhere here). As long as none of the settings change. :D
Ah, thats what I need. i still want audio broadcast out into the air and
I am free of physical emcumbrances.

[Rogar]

I have a mini boom box that I use outdoors. It has bluetooth which frees up and USB wires and a range of maybe 15 or 20 yards. I use my tablet with pod casts or music from itunes or tune in radio apps and an iPhone probably works the same. I have a "UE Mini Boom" which is small and has surprisingly good sound for it's size. It is made to take jostling around in a pack or other light abuse.