Exciting news!  Radio has re-discovered the importance of local content.  See these quotes from a story this week:

“We think local will be an important part of future.”

As traditional media struggles there is chasm of quality information at the community level. “That is the need we’re filling,”

“If we build this infrastructure now as the economy improves people are going to be conditioned to use Patch to really get their message out.”

“It’s the largest commercial opportunity that has yet to be won.”

The sales team hunts for three types of advertisers: small, locally owned businesses, banks and auto dealerships, and national advertisers interested in targeted buys.

Wow, has a radio company finally figured out how to fill and sell the local content voids in many medium and small markets? (Read More)

Younger Americans - especially young Latinos who constitute the “bridge generation” - are rapidly embracing the Smartphone for their communications.  The adaptation to the smart phone as this generation’s Swiss army knife underscores the importance of being on the smart phone’s menu.

(Read More)

My last two blogs focused on the new “LAFWD” public media service launching August 10.  Now I want to shine a light on the pioneers of young and diverse formats on public radio that preceded “LAFWD.”

Anyone who knows me knows that I have been trying to build this bandwagon for years.  As far back as the early 1980s, when I was student general manager of WUOG-FM in Athens (GA), I witnessed firsthand how public radio can attract and build a very young (college-aged) audience.  By playing independent music, local music and some familiar music all together, wrapped in a strong sense of the local music community, I learned at an early age that young audiences will listen no matter where the station is on the dial.  Re-branded as “90.5 FM, Athens’ Rock Alternative” and re-launched in early 1981, WUOG leaped from 3% to 37% of student listening according to local ascertainment surveys (remember those?). (Read More)

In my last blog, I introduced the new public media service called “LAFWD.”  What I didn’t mention were the innovators who are boldly creating a new multi-platform media outlet for young and diverse audiences in LA.

A rewarding aspect of this project has been to work with the incredible team that Hugo Morales at Radio Bilingüe has assembled.  I learned that Hugo has been on this path for over three decades!  Born poor in Mexico to a native tribe, Hugo became Harvard-educated and his life mission has been to create public media for Hispanic audiences.  Hugo, along with programming executive María Eraña and others, have built and grown Spanish-speaking “Radio Bilingüe” that serves the Spanish-speaking un-acculturated agricultural communities of northern California with a network of radio stations and a robust website.  (Read More)

Public media…well known as territory for older, white, high income and highly educated listeners…is about to get a facelift in Los Angeles.  The soon-to-be launched “LA FWD” is a radical change to the norm and provides a glimpse into the future of public media.

Since November of 2009, Paragon has researched and consulted the creation of this new public media service for Los Angeles.  The new service is a project of “Radio Bilingüe,” which started a new entity called Los Angeles Public Media (LAPM).  LAPM is a content production house with many different projects and programming being planned.  The first content product being produced and distributed by the LAPM studios will be “LAFWD” (for LA Forward), which launches as an online-only local media outlet on August 10.
Public media, meet your future.  (Read More)