Mobile Media: Ringtones and wifi and—radio?!
By Shellie Branco
Janet Pearce Stenzel
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In the “Mobile Media” session moderated by Janet Pearce Stenzel of the Mobile Media Institute, NPR’s Rob Smith and American Greetings Mobile General Manager Bryan Biniak discussed the often unreported markets for mobile content and an old technology reemerging in popularity in the digital age: radio.
African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics are buying three to four times the mobile content of other groups, Biniak said. Of these, Hispanics spend $10 per day more on cell phones than any other demographic. These are the groups getting rid of landlines in favor of a mobile phone and are also the first to buy feature-rich handsets.
American Greetings is interested in the convergence of greeting cards, instant messaging, and mobile messaging. A lot of people use audio, smileys and pictures sent on a standalone basis, sometimes used to enhance their text-based conversations, he said.
When it comes to radio, the basic technology hasn’t fundamentally changed, Smith noted. “The basic idea of voices telling stories on the area is really a low-tech one.” Up to three years ago NPR was still using reel-to-reel editing, which required cutting and pasting tape, and it’s still used as a backup.
So when at the last Democratic National Convention he saw the use of audio-blogging, Smith found it a “treat” to see the radio industry at the hobby stage once more, with podcasting and informal networks arising.
"Radio is cool again,” said Smith. “The first wireless, portable, interactive medium is back.”
Longer commute times are keeping NPR going, as drivers can’t read print or look at video on the road. It’s fueled radio growth. Audiobooks have profited, too, becoming an $800 million industry.
The final piece of the puzzle for the success of radio’s online rebirth, said Smith, is going to be “the ability to program your own network.
Although newspapers are hopping on the technology to make sure they don’t miss the next big thing, podcasts – “a subscription model for little audio programs” — are definitely still in the hobbiest stage, said Smith. He presented an audio clip of some of the most popular podcasters of the moment, including a show that, he commented, sounds like it was recorded “in a cathedral.” One that has attracted advertising features a man and woman who talk explicitly about their experiences using a certain brand of condom.
Podcasting, he explained, “is more like old VCRs than Tivo for radio. It’s like an internet delivery boy for radio programs.” Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura and other big names are hopping onto the medium as well.
Smith predicted that podcasting has potential, “once big people move in with actual content.” For now, however podcasting is no different than trading cassettes, he said. Even statistics on podcasting are questionable, he said, since it isn’t clear if most people asked about their habits for a survey even knew for sure what podcasting is. But once it becomes possible to provide podcasts through a wireless medium, and it might be heard in cars during commutes, that opens it up to real potential.
One program, Air America, has rated between 20th-23rd in New York City, with a 1.3 share. “That’s pretty tiny in NY, but it comes in among the top five Internet streams for radio.”
Smith added a note for reporters. Podcasting can add great interest to your stories, noted Smith. “I would like to hear the story behind the story; not opinions, but just the things you couldn’t fit in , the funniest thing you saw: what did it feel like to be in the Michael Jacckson courtroom? How did you get that quote?”
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