Mike Janssen

Mike Janssen Served as Scanning The Dial's original co-authors from Mar, 2008 to Jan, 2010 and is a freelance writer, editor and media educator based in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. He has written extensively about radio, mostly for Current, the trade newspaper about public broadcasting, where his articles have appeared since 1999. He has also worked in public radio as a reporter at WFDD-FM in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he began his career in journalism and filed pieces for NPR. Mike's work in radio expanded to include outreach and advocacy in 2007, when he worked with the Future of Music Coalition to recruit applicants for noncommercial radio stations. He has since embarked on writing a series of articles about radio hopefuls for FMC's blog. Mike also writes regularly for Retail Traffic magazine and teaches workshops about writing, podcasting and radio journalism. In his spare time he enjoys vegetarian food, the outdoors, reading, movies and traveling. You can learn more about Mike and find links to more of his writing and reporting at mikejanssen.net.

Classical radio in a post-iPhone world

July 21, 2008 by Mike Janssen

Is the death of conventional radio imminent, and if so, which broadcasters will survive the jump to new platforms? Several bloggers and radio watchers took up these questions last week, prompted by the introduction July 11 of Apple’s newest iPhone. More than a million of the mega-hyped gadgets sold over their debut weekend, and according to the Radio and Internet Newsletter, Internet-radio applications were among the most popular downloads as buyers tricked out their new toys. Options include Last.fm, Pandora, allRadio and AOL Radio, which also features streams of dozens of CBS-owned stations around the country.

Some observers of the media world and the radio trade argue that, for radio, this marks the beginning of the end. Sure, the iPhone is far from universal adoption, and radios are still ubiquitous (even if members of the younger generations rarely turn them on). But as RAIN’s Kurt Hanson noted, “Keep in mind that what an iPhone can do today, most phones will be able to do in the not-too-distant future.” He adds:

Radio broadcasters could be leaders in this space, but except for the AOL/CBS partnership, none currently are. The problem is, radio broadcasters will have to develop new products and services appropriate for consumer needs and tastes in this new environment, and that means more than straight AM/FM simulcasts.

It means offering a broad spectrum of genres of music, offering playlist options that can be, at the consumer’s demand, very tight or very wide, offering other personalization options that are brand-specific, and, to compete effectively with the AOLs and Pandoras of the world, not trying to deliver 12 minutes of commercials per hour.

What WGBH learned from its Second Life experiment

July 16, 2008 by Mike Janssen

In May my co-author Marty and I told you about the virtual online world of Second Life and an intriguing experiment conducted by Boston-based public broadcaster WGBH. Classical pianist Jeremy Denk visited WGBH’s studios to perform live on-air and, at the same time, in a virtual performance space within Second Life. Afterward, he answered questions submitted by the Second Life audience.

Public media’s experience in Second Life extends to just a few isolated efforts, and WGBH had never staged such an event before. So Gary Mott, the radio producer at WGBH who oversaw the event, didn’t really know what to expect. Would anyone show up? Would they enjoy it? And would WGBH’s considerable efforts to stage a virtual performance be worth it?

I talked to Mott the other day to find out, and the answer on all counts was “yes”: “It surpassed what we expected,” he said. About 70 Second Lifers showed up to see Denk and ask questions, and Mott says they were polite, attentive and keenly curious about Denk and his music. They also chatted with each other via instant messaging throughout the concert — you can see their comments and applause in the image accompanying this post.

Jack Allen on the future of classical public radio: part 2

July 11, 2008 by Mike Janssen

This is the second part of an essay by Jack Allen, who just became president of KBPS-FM in Portland, Ore., in which he considers the future of classical public radio. Part one ran on Wednesday. Let us know what you think, and enjoy.

The Future of Classical Public Radio

Copyright 2008 — Jack Allen

Challenges

Will Rogers said it a long time ago: “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”

We have a sense that just because Mozart’s music is coming out of speakers every day, like it has for 40 years, we must be doing it right.

The business organization consultant Michael Hummer once remarked, “One thing that tells me a company is in trouble is when they tell me how good they were in the past. When memories exceed dreams, the end is near. The hallmark of a truly successful organization is the willingness to abandon what made it successful and start fresh.”

Our history in public radio pretty much included a guarantee of financial support from our government and license holders (as opposed to listener-sensitive revenue such as underwriting and donations), which in turn created a sense of entitlement and bred a kind of complacency. Our history also includes legacy ideas about programming. There’s usually a legacy sound as well. This is quite a bit to overcome. If we sound stuck, we probably are. Over the past 40 years, if a classical music station did rely primarily on listener support, without true regard for the listener, life at these stations was usually a half-step up from bare subsistence.

Jack Allen on the future of classical public radio

July 9, 2008 by Mike Janssen

Today’s post is the first part of a guest commentary by Jack Allen, who started work this week as president of KBPS-FM in Portland, Ore. Allen previously served as general manager of KMFA-FM in Austin, Texas, for five years, and before that was director of news and music at Minnesota Public Radio. We hope his commentary prompts some reflection about classical radio’s future. The second part is here. Enjoy!

The Future of Classical Public Radio

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.

It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.

Every morning a lion wakes up.

It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle.

When the sun comes up, you better start running.

—African proverb

This illuminates a pretty basic principle not only of the African savannah but of the business world. It is a perfectly salient point for public radio as well. For we find ourselves not in some kind of benign parallel universe of business and media, one which is safe, protected and warm, but rather one that is competitive, evolving and unforgiving.

Challenges

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