(above: three dorky public radio guys try to muster up some coolness for the photographer)
There’s a fascinating article in today’s Time Out Chicago about “Secret Radio Project,” a new initiative by Chicago Public Radio. CPR controls three stations — WBEZ, WBEW, and WBEQ. Right now, WBEZ is the primary signal, while the latter two stations simulcast BEZ programming.
Recently, CPR got permission to dramatically boost the wattage of WBEW, from 7,000 watts to 50,000. With that permission came an opportunity — what service could this new powerhouse station provide to Chicago that WBEZ didn’t already offer?
In a lot of markets (here in LA, for example), two carbon-copy NPR news & information stations battle at the bottom of the dial, offering the same key programs (All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Fresh Air), often at the same times. The audience for this programming is so big that this kind of move works out OK financially for both stations, but it certainly doesn’t benefit the public.
Much to their credit, CPR decided to use this new frequency to target new, younger, more urban listeners. Their plan is still brewing a bit, but here’s what they came up with:
“You won’t hear typical hour-long programs,” says Josh Andrews, a producer for CPR and team captain of what’s about to happen to 89.5 FM. As far as Andrews is concerned, we won’t hear typical anything. No one really knows what you’ll hear on 89.5 FM come April 2007 (if everything goes according to schedule, which is a big if). Here’s their plan: Hosts will be in charge of two-hour blocks of radio time, and they’ll be free to play whatever strikes their fancy that day. Maybe a host is still thinking about last night’s episode of America’s Next Top Model, so he cues up a field report from a recent casting call for the show. Next might come a slam poet’s musings on commercial beauty, then three of the fiercest songs off of a local band’s new LP, followed by a spoof remix of James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful,” then an interview with a fashion photographer. Or maybe a bunch of music, or a lot of commentary. The point is, pretty much anything goes.
But—and here’s the major innovation—there’s a communal element, too. 89.5 FM will also rely on content listeners create and upload themselves to the station’s website, YouTube-style: a track off their band’s new EP, a poem, a story, a mash-up, a skit, a dog barking, a ridiculous phone message or anything else . Hosts will weave their own content with the best and most relevant user-generated segments.
Will it work? Hard to know. Part of the problem with this sort of programming strategy is that the online world is deeply fragmented, while radio is entirely linear. Will the same listener want to hear that phone message that wants to hear that dog barking? Does anyone want to hear a dog barking? Also: again with the fucking mash-ups.
OK, sorry, got off track there for a second.
Their vision is a peer-reviewed system ala digg, but even digg is hardly all general interest all the time.
Still, they’ve got a great commitment to the future of public media here, and an amazing platform. Talented people are involved, and I have high hopes.
Here’s the the public radio of tommorow!