CPB Digital Conversion Grant Deadline Approaches

The deadline for CPB's Radio Digital Conversion Grant round is drawing near. CPB's Djinni Filed, Radio Digital Grants Manager - Media Technologies, said the application period is open through June 15. CPB will be accepting grant applications for Priority I digital radio transmitter conversions and secondary Priority II & III projects.

Filed reminds potential applicants:

• Priority I grants provide financial assistance for the conversion of analog transmitters to HD Radio (this includes multicast equipment for first time converters).
• Priority II grants are for stations that have already converted and want to add services, such as multicasting. This category also provides funding for HD equipment that was unavailable to early adopters.
• Priority III grants are for equipment that will be used to demonstrate the feasibility of unique public service applications of digital radio technology, such as accessibility projects (there is one change to Priority III, this round will not allow for conversion of boosters and translators to HD-R).
  

Information on application process, including eligibility requirements, can be found at: http://www.cpb.org/grants/grant.php?id=195
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Reed Reflects: 'Power of Music Will Prevail'

The Ninth Annual NON-COMMvention is under way in Philadelphia, bringing together non-commercial Triple A programmers from around the country.

WXPN's music director and operations manager Dan Reed is the founder and producer of NON-COMMvention. Before the three-day event got rockin' Reed recalled some highlights of the gatherings, which this year includes performances by 20 different artists.

Reed reflected on the precarious nature of the economy and its meaning for radio:

"The radio business, like the rest of America, has seen better financial times.
It feels like a struggle sometimes to keep up with everything, to work to keep our organizations afloat and satisfy our members and listeners. One thing is for certain though. The power of music will prevail. Creative artists everywhere continue to create, and the hard-working and talented radio professionals in our format continue to strive to provide a forum for those artists and their music.

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The Man Behind Marketplace

Making Marketplace -- "business show for the rest of us," according to its EP -- work is no easy task. Business news can be pretty dry. The APM program is produced in LA when other business program are on the opposite coast. And, as a story on dailyfinance.com says, managing a newsroom is no cakewalk.

Enter J.J. Yore, Marketplace's executive producer.

Several current and former Marketplace staffers shed some light on how York makes the program successful.

David Brancaccio:
"J.J. has solved one of the most elusive puzzles in the science of leadership: how to manage creative people effectively. He gives his folks room to explore new ways to engage their material and the audience while still running a remarkably tight ship."

Cash Peters:
"When you talk to him in meetings, he whips out a pad and keeps notes of everything. I've often wondered where those notes go, he makes so many.

Executive Changes At NPR

NPR CEO, Vivian Schiller, yesterday announced a restructuring at the top of the organization "designed to support the current needs of the organization as well as my own leadership style." In the shuffle, the COO position was eliminated with the incumbent, Mitch Praver, leaving NPR. Schiller said that she will be:

...taking on many of the duties associated with that position, with the remaining duties moving to other executives. This is a strategic decision, not one based on budget. And it reflects a more hands-on approach to planning, management, and operations of the organization.

At the same time, a new poition was created - Senior VP, Strategic Operations and Finance:

...who will oversee the planning and financial management of NPR. Filling that role will be Debra Delman, who most recently served as SVP and CFO of Discovery Networks International. Her job will be to bring rigor to our planning and project management, and business leadership to key areas of NPR...

Reporting to the new SVP will be the leadership of finance and administration, business development, and human resources. The changes will take place immediately. Praver's last day at NPR will be tomorrow, May 29 and Delman will begin on Monday, June 1.
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Arbitron to Restate Some NY City Data

Some data from Arbitron's oft-questioned Portable People Meters (PPM) will be restated. Earlier this week the radio ratings company said it will reissue four months worth of ratings based on the PPM data for New York City.

They claim the data was bad because of incorrect population figures being entered. The new data for Holiday 2008 to March 2008 will be re-released June 8.

KYRS Gets Approval to Grow

Thin Air Community Radio -- aka KYRS in Spokane, WA -- will soon build a full-power station.

The Federal Communications Commission granted a permit, allowing the non-commercial station to broadcast at 6,500 watts. KYRS has been broadcasting with 100 watts since October of 2003.
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A Sirius Letdown

Time magazine recently wrote:

"Sirius XM satellite radio was supposed to be one of the most successful consumer electronics devices of all time."

But, it hasn't turned out that way. In fact, Time listed it on its piece: Ten Biggest Tech Failures of the Last Decade.

The other nine? Well, they are:

• Microsoft Vista
• Gateway
• HD DVD
• Vonage
• YouTube
• Microsoft Zune
• Palm
• Iridium
• Segway.

See all the details.
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When Acronymns Collide: FCC vs. PPM

The Federal Communications Commission today said it will begin an investigation into the use of Arbitron's Portable People Meters (PPM).

The FCC says:

Broadcasters, particularly minority broadcasters, have raised serious concerns that the PPM methodology is flawed and that its undercounting of minority audiences will harm diversity and competition by harming the revenues of minority and urban-formatted broadcasters.
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NPR Announces News Changes

Effective June 1, NPR is making several changes in its news management hierarchy. Senior VP for News Ellen Weiss writes:

Ellen McDonnell will be Executive Director of News Programming, overseeing all radio news programs. Reporting to Ellen will be the executive producers of ATC, ME, TMM, TOTN and the supervising producers of Weekend Mornings and WATC. She will report to me.

Dick Meyer, currently editorial director of NPR Digital, will become executive editor for NPR News. He will oversee NPR’s newsgathering and journalism across all platforms. Dick will also report to me and we’ll hire a Managing Editor for Digital News who will report to Dick.

David Sweeney is assuming the position of Managing Editor. David will direct the daily editorial process -- determining which stories will be covered, how and by whom. The Foreign, Washington, Science, National desks and the Newscast unit will all report to him. He will report to Dick.

Brian Duffy will lead the effort to further develop and deepen the critical work of enterprise and investigative reporting. He’ll head up futures planning and take the lead in working across News and all NPR divisions to better coordinate and publicize major News initiatives so that stations can better leverage the value of NPR series. His new title is director of enterprise and Planning, and he will report to Dick.

Stu Seidel is moving from supervising senior editor to deputy managing editor and will run the News Desk being launched June 1. The News Desk will be the second generation of the news “hub” and will initially function 24/5 as a single information-gathering, sharing and decision-making unit for daily news with one phone number and one email address. Pass-offs will be coordinated through the Desk and it will be a resource for reaching quick decisions about news coverage across platforms. This will also create a single point where all stations can alert NPR about breaking news in their communities. Stu will report to David.
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Schiller & Anthony Discuss Media Disruption

NPR's Vivian Schiller and Scott Anthony, the president of Innosight and author of the forthcoming book: The Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times engage in an interesting webinar hosted by Microsoft.

Topics include:

• the challenges of today’s news business, NPR’s particular “business” and its need to “be its own disruptor”;
• the “misalignment” of business models with real value in some of today’s media companies;
• the role of technology in enhancing the user experience;
• the importance of good editors and harnessing the collective intelligence of informed human beings;
• framing disruption as not just a threat, but also as an opportunity;
• the viability of charging for content and other forms of monetizing content;
• the need to experiment *and* be willing to fail often;
• the importance of innovation even, sometimes, in the absence of a clear business model.

Hear the entire webinar.
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Conference Registration Now Open

Registration is now open for the 2009 Public Radio Programming Conference - to be held in Cleveland, September 15 - 18. This year's conference will begin on Tuesday and end at Noon on Friday. Register Now to take advantage of the lowest, "Early Bird" rates.

Recognizing the challenging economy, our host stations, WCPN (Ideastream) and WKSU, have arranged significant savings on air and ground travel for the conference:

1) A week-long transit pass included in your registration fee - unlimited use of RTA rapid transit good for:

• Easy, non-stop round-trip rail to & from the airport and the conference hotel (stations inside both).
• Direct transportation to Opening Receptions at Ideastream (WCPN) and a WKSU/Folk Alley party following at the House of Blues.
• Unlimited use for any other RTA travel in Cleveland.-

2) Discount airfare on Continental Airlines, the official conference airline.

The conference will be held at the historic Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, centrally located in Cleveland's Tower City overlooking Public Square.

PRPD's conference committee is currently developing another compelling agenda covering:

• programming on multiple platforms;
• on-air fundraising;
• marketing for program directors;
• making the most of social media;
• new paradigms for program creation;
• improving your management skills;
• and much more.

Exhibitor registration and event sponsorship information are also now available on our website.

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Performance Royalty Bill Moves to Full House

The House Judiciary Committee today approved the proposed Performance Rights Act that would levy royalty payments on radio stations for music they air. The 21-9 vote clears the way for the bill to be taken up by the full House of Representatives.

FMBQ.com reported:

The committee reportedly rejected the idea of a six-month delay as well as cutting record labels out of royalty distribution.
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WBAI PD Suspended

Yesterday's NY Daily News reported that Bernard White, longtime PD at Pacifica's NY station WBAI, has been placed on 10-day suspension. White is quoted as saying that this really means that he's been fired.

According to the article:

Critics of White and former station manager Anthony Riddle, who was offered a reassignment last week, say these moves are necessary to rebroaden WBAI's audience without compromising its original mission as a free-speech alternative to commercial media.

"We hope this will be the beginning of a renaissance for WBAI," said Steve Brown, a member of the Local Station Board governing WBAI, who argues that under White, the station has served an increasingly narrow audience..

McDonnell Recieves PRRO Award

The Public Radio Regional Organizations last week named NPR's Ellen McDonnell the recipient of the 2009 PRRO Award. The award is designed to:

...honor the "unrecognized and unsung heroes" of public radio - the ones who are mostly off the air, and can sometimes seem to be off the radar - but who have toiled ceaselessly to make our industry better, and who deserve recognition from the system.

Recently named Executive Director of NPR News, McDonnell was part of the original staff that signed on Morning Edition in 1979. The announcement says she:

... has been the guiding force behind the show, public radio's most successful program, with an audience 60 percent larger than ABC's "Good Morning America" and about one-third larger than the audience for the NBC's "Today" show.

Even more impressive is that during all that time, our honoree has never stopped pushing the show to deeper levels of listener service. When that effort involved significant and sometimes controversial change, hers was the steady hand keeping her Morning Edition staff focused throughout the transition.

This year's award was a working 1948 Stromberg-Carlson radio.

The Envelope Please: NPR Wins Webby Awards for Project Song

Update: NPR won a total of seven Webbys.

Webbys are to online content what the Emmys are to television, and NPR just won an award for an innovative video project created by NPR Music.

Project Song, an online video documentary series, allows a singer/songwriter 48 hours to create a song. NPR furnishes the studio and records it ... and documents the process.

The video of Nelly McKay was tapped for the Webby.

The Webbys are awarded by the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

The New York Times, where NPR's President and CEO Vivian Schiller formerly ran online efforts, won three Webbys.
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Smiley in World's 100 Most Influential

PRI personality Tavis Smiley has been named to the 2009 Time Magazine "Time 100" list of the world's most influential people. IN addition to his weekly radio program, Tavis hosts a daily interview program on PBS.

In a press release late last week, PRI said:

TIME’s “World’s 100 Most Influential People” list is comprised of individuals spanning politics, business, arts, science and more – all considered to have transformed the world in some way. This year’s honorees include President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, champion golfer Tiger Woods, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, rapper M.I.A., media mogul Ted Turner and actor Brad Pitt.
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