The Country's Top Morning Radio Show remains National Public Radio's "Morning Edition"

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
NPR's 'Edition' top of the 'Morning'
By DAVID HINCKLEY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, March 30th, 2005
Now that all the fall 2004 ratings have been crunched, the country's top morning radio show remains National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," heard here mostly on WNYC (93.9 FM, 820 AM). Like WABC and other talk stations, "Morning Edition" picked up listeners from the presidential campaign.
NPR estimates 13.2 million listeners tuned in at some point during the average week, up from 12.4 million in the fall of 2003.
While no firm numbers are available for Howard Stern, whom many would assume to be the country's top show, Talkers magazine estimates Stern's weekly audience at "more than 8.5 million."
Part of the reason for the difference is that while Stern is now on 46 stations, "Morning Edition" is on hundreds of stations, in virtually every market.
But "Morning Edition," which until last fall was hosted for almost 25 years by Bob Edwards - now on XM Satellite Radio - has built its own loyal following.
"NPR and 'Morning Edition' are a whole huge wing of the talk-radio spectrum," says Michael Harrison, editor of Talkers. "They sometimes are overlooked because they're part of the so-called noncommercial area, but they have a large, active audience that's very influential."
In some quarters, NPR and shows like "Morning Edition" are considered part of the "liberal media," a tag disputed by both NPR officials and liberal watchdog groups like Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, which says NPR tilts a bit right.
Still, Harrison notes, "Over the last 15 years or so, conservatives in the media have been successful in defining as 'liberal' everything that's not them."
Whatever anyone hears in the ideology, it seems clear a growing number of radio listeners has turned away from commercial radio to the lower-key style of a "Morning Edition."
And NPR, which nowadays must demonstrate to its funding masters in Congress that it's serving a broad spectrum of the public, not an elite, is delighted to credit NPR's broad philosophy and approach for the success of a "Morning Edition."
"Our audience growth is directly traceable to our increasingly unique position as a credible, trusted source of careful and responsible journalism," says NPR president Kevin Klose.

'Podcasters' look to net money

By Jo Twist BBC News science and technology reporter

Podcasting frees up content from the home, and from big companiesNasa is doing it, 14-year-old boys in bedrooms are doing it, couples are doing it, gadget lovers - male and female - are definitely doing it.
It is podcasting - DIY radio in the form of downloadable MP3 audio files.
They can done by anyone who has a microphone, simple software, the net, and something to say.
Some liken them to talking "audioblogs" because many complement text-based weblogs - diary-like sites where people share their thoughts.
They are essentially amateur radio shows on the net, on demand, and the "movement" is at very early stages.
"It's about real people saying real things and communicating," says Adam Curry, former MTV VJ and the Pied Piper of podcasting.
He was one of a community of people who created iPodder, a small computer program, known as an "aggregator".
We're the sources, the people doing stuff, and podcasting is a way to tell people who care what we're doing
Dave Winer, Scripting NewsIt collects and automatically sends MP3 files to any digital music-playing device that can play WMP formats.
Those with digital music players can select which podcasts they like, and subscribe - for free - to that show's "feed".
When a new podcast is available, it is automatically sent to the device when connected to a computer.
"It is totally going to kill the business model of radio," thinks Curry.
"I just did a tour of Madison Avenue where all the big brands and advertising agencies of the world are," he says.
"And they are scared to death of the next generation - like my daughter who is 14 - who don't listen to radio.
"They are on MSN, they've got their iPod, their MP3 player, they've got their Xbox - they are not listening to radio.
"So how are they going to reach these audiences?
"It is the distribution that is changing and the barriers are being brought down so everyone can be part of it."
Sound of money?
It is a fledgling movement, but it is gaining momentum now that people have started thinking about how to make a business from it.
Ian Fogg, Jupiter Research analyst, thinks there could be potential for business, but it could take an interesting turn if big companies, like Apple and Microsoft, get involved.
"It is a nascent area but quite exciting. It is yet another area that demonstrates the move to a digital lifestyle and digital home is not over," he says.

Podcasting is the ideal "hybrid" between the digital home and being mobile"Podcasting is one of those interesting areas that bridges what you do at home and what you do out and about - a classic hybrid.
It is another aspect of the "time-shifting" of content - the latest industry buzzword for being able to listen to what you want, when, and wherever you want.
Audiences are in the 10s, 100s, and 1,000s rather than millions. More than 4,300 podcasts are currently listed.
Curry's Daily Source Code - which he committed to doing daily to inspire the community - has 10s of thousands of listeners.
Pocket pence
But Dave Winer is doubtful.
He designed the format called RSS (Really Simple Syndication), which gives web users an easy way to keep updated automatically on sites they like. Podcasts rely on his technology because it is the way they are distributed.
He is also writer of the longest-running weblog on the net, Scripting News. He thinks its power lies in its democratising potential, not in its "over-hyped" business promise.

How I believe this will work, is to create a network that, in aggregation, will have enough numbers to support a return on investment for the advertisers and for the podcasters
Adam Curry, Daily Source Code"We're the sources, the people doing stuff, and podcasting is a way to tell people who care what we're doing.
"No matter how you look at it, commercialising this medium isn't going to make very much money," he says. "Podcasting is going to be a medium of niches, with 'audiences' measured in the single digits, like e-mail or blogs.
"Maybe in a few years, maybe six or seven digits. But it will have to sustain interest beyond the hype balloon."
Curry and associate Ron Bloom's new venture, called PodShow, is to help ordinary people produce, post, distribute and market their podcasts.
Because of the way podcasts work, based on RSS, the latest podcasts which people can select mean that they are ready-made targets.
"When you look at podcasting - wow this is a pretty interesting audience. The audience is pre-selected. They have decided to subscribe to your program," explains Curry.
Advertising, in his eyes, can be tailored to podcasts, to make it more imaginative and unobtrusive.
"How I believe this will work, is to create a network that, in aggregation, will have enough numbers to support a return on investment for the advertisers and for the podcasters.
"I have 50, 60, 70,000 listeners. I could make a couple of bucks of that, but not much. If you are talking a million podcasters, and then you can kind of divide that amongst ourselves, then that is kind of interesting."
Essentially, he says, if you are doing a bass fishing podcast, someone who is selling bait and tackle will probably want to advertise on your show.
He is clear the ads will not be the traditional "in-your-face" type familiar to commercial radio now.
"We are really going to see these microcosms and commerce will be all over the place."
Dotcom daze
It is happening already. Coffee-loving Curry has sold $4,000 worth of coffee machines through a referral link to Amazon from his site.

Podcasting is for anyone with the net, a mic, and something to sayOthers use in-show promotions, like The Dawn and Drew Show.
One, Eric Rice, has won sponsorship from Warner Bros. He can now legally play the music of a band Warner Bros wants to push.
Some commentators on the net say it has a similar feel to the dotcom days.
Others say it is just another element of setting media free from big companies and letting people be creative.
One thing is for sure; they are not about to disappear in a hurry. The creative forces behind radio are elated, says Curry.
For now, he tunes out the negative comments within the podcasting community.
"I should be knighted for this," he adds, with a wry chuckle, "People are going to be so happy to sit at home, make their podcast, and make a little money."

Xavier U. Sells FM's to Non-Commercial Group

March 14, 2005 By Tony Sanders
Copyright 2005 Billboard Radio Monitor

Xavier University is selling its seven FM stations and one FM translator to Cincinnati Classical Public Radio, which owns classical WGUC in the market. WGUC will become a fulltime classical station, with WVXU primarily focused on news and information, according to a notice on the University’s X-Star Radio Network Website.The sale price is $15 million, cash, with $250,000 due immediately as part of an escrow deposit and the remaining $14.75 million due at closing. FCC approval should be fairly routine, since there are no signal-contour overlaps between either WVXU, WGUC, or any of the other FM's being acquired.The notice on the University’s Website also said: “The sale of WVXU was a tough, but very necessary decision by the Xavier University Board of Trustees. The decision was made a bit easier by the possibility of ‘keeping it in the family’ so to speak with WGUC,” said Michael Graham, S.J., president of Xavier University. Richard N. Eiswerth is the president of Cincinnati Classical Public Radio.The sale contract includes a special provision if Cincinnati Classical flips WVXU to another buyer within 10 days of closing on the purchase from Xavier. In that case, Xavier and Cincinnati Classical would split 50-50 any additional money garnered by such a station flip. That split only applies to WVXU and not to the other stations Cincinnati Classical is buying. The other stations in the sale are: WVXA Rogers City, Mich., WVXC Chillicothe, Ohio, WVXH Harrison, Mich., WVXM Manistee, Mich., WVXR Richmond, Ind., WVXW West Union, Ohio, and W237CF Mackinaw City, Mich.Brokers on the deal were Public Radio Capital for the buyer and Patrick Communications for the seller.