Great to hear from a fellow community radio type person.

I think the reason I’m so grouchy about broad-audience podcasting is partly because of the bandwidth problem (podcasting gets really expensive for the hobbyist as subscribers and downloads rise), and partly because gunning for big audiences can lead to bad choices with regard to programming.

But I agree with everything you say in your comment — I love the flexibility and portability too. And, if a podcast is really good, and the person can stay with it even as it turns into a mass-audience thing, that’s really neat.

Hey Mike

I’m a former community radio jock. 15 years on KVMR FM in Nevada City, Calif. I also did my stints on the board of directors and the program committee.

I have listened to all of your shows and enjoying them. I think you have missed a very important concept in this particular podcast. You completely missed the flexibility of internet radio. It can work for the narrow caster – like me, I suppose (I have been broadcasting “traditional” Hawaiian music 24 hours a day since 1999), or the “broad” caster. It can be changed and molded on a moments notice. It can be extremely easy and cheap to get set up and running. And with high speed and wireless connections readily available in so many areas, it can even be extremely portable.

I have a friend in Vancouver, BC that has a “real radio station” that is only on the internet. He has a rotation of young DJs that come in ’round the clock to do air shifts on a firm schedule. It is exactly like a community radio station. I was blown away when he told me all about it.

I think that the convergence of all of these things – including podcasts and video blogging, are creating an unprecedented opportunity for those inclined to EASILY get involved on whatever level. It’s really exciting to see what some folks are doing with video, and that’s where I plan to branch out.

Anyway, thoroughly enjoying your thoughts on all of this and finding it inspiring. Got the ol’ brain cells buzzing trying to see what path I want to go down with all of these possibilities!!

http://videoblogging.info/ http://www.freevlog.org/ http://blogumentary.typepad.com/vlog/

Aloha,

Rich
Maui, HI