Comments on: Broadcasting to Communities

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 17:26:59 +0000

Hmmm. I think things like the Audi Channel have appeared because it’s very easy to do. However, they’ll only begin to engage when they have actual programming rather than Audi puff. As a consumer I have no reason to ‘trust’ them. Well not yet ayway…

By: Ash

Ash — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 17:20:28 +0000

I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned new ventures, like the Audi Channel on Sky.

It is a station that is entirely self promotional, but without any hard sell. A new way for advertisers to avoid mainstream advertising after all?

By: JH

JH — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 19:40:40 +0000

An old fart reports:

Back in the early to mid 1980s, when Neil Tennant was editor and it had a readership of over a million a fortnight, Smash Hits was ‘eclectic’ rather than ‘tribal’.

You’d have Paul McCartney next to Five Star next to New Order next to The Fall. Plus it was fucking hilarious.

I guess someone destroyed it along the way. My money’s on that Thornton woman, but admittedly only because I want to thump her.

By: Bern

Bern — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 19:39:05 +0000

Hi Matt – lots of good thought here. As available bandwidth enables more consumer choice, the need for strong personalities and brands is more vital than ever. Brands, as you understand here, are about so much more than marketing messages – people are resistant to hype and nonsense, but want authentic experiences, real relationships, and ways to express themselves through their choices. People aren’t demanding more channels any more, they’re looking for the right experiences which make them feel good and give them the dignity of being in control.

For my part, I’m proud to be part of two ways of doing this which I think should work for different people, or maybe the same people in different moods – Core offers to “put you in control”, including a choice of fresh hit music in lots of styles, and Chill offers “to help you chill”, including a very distinctive choice of music for a certain feeling. Both will succeed if people get what’s special about us, share what we’re into, make the emotional connection and feel empowered as a result. Both will fail if we’re not special, if we try and be too broad and end up being confusing, or if we’re not bothered about empowering listeners.

I also like the way you’ve taken the idea to make transparent the personality of stations through blogs and pushed it to an extreme rather than just want to settle for presenter blogs. I think you’re dead right there. On this slight tangent, let me recommend a book that’s not about broadcasting but is amazingly helpful on creative thinking and pushing ideas to their limits through “edgecraft” rather than settling for the little ideas “brainstorming” tends to produce. “Free Prize Inside” by Seth Godin is especially useful to people trying to be distinctive on a small budget (hello!), a hallmark of the digital age. It’s always a challenge to think and work this way, but it’s fun, as well as pretty much vital for survival now.

sh! r.i.p.

Bern