AP news on Google

“After a couple years of spirited negotiations, Google has signed agreements with the Associated Press and AFP that will reduce the amount of traffic Google News refers to news sites. First, Google News will start hosting full versions of AP stories instead of linking off to them. And second, Google will begin to filter out duplicates of the same AP story. So you won’t see multiple versions of an AP story from various newspapers, listed with the most recent at the top. Google said the end result is less duplication and a better variety of stories.” — Lost Remote

Do radio stations still subscribe to the AP? It’s been years since I was in radio stations, talking with managers about news and where/how they get it. But even back then, a lot of stations really only relied on AP for state news and high school football scores. Our company offers a “poor man’s wire service” that still has an amazing number of subscribers. [Yo, David. Can you give us an update on this?]

Perhaps the bigger question is… how much do listeners rely on their local radio station for news. I would think a lot. But what’s the order of importance? Local…state…national…world? What can/do I get from my local radio station (on air or online)… and what do I get from a Google search (perhaps on my mobile phone)?

These are interesting times.

Mark Ramsey: “You’re not in the ‘radio’ business anymore

Mr. Ramsey says the advertising industry is about to redefine radio’s “category.” According to a report by MediaVest, radio is now “audio”:

“In a new report being circulated to clients, MediaVest has adopted the position that terrestrial broadcast radio should no longer be looked at as a discrete medium in communications plans, but as part of a greater array of audio media–including satellite, online, mobile and a variety of personal media device technologies, such as iPods, other MP3 players, and even television, which increasingly is being used as an audio-only medium.”

“…radio should no longer be looked at as a discrete medium, but as part of a greater array of audio media.”

Ouch.

I agree with Mr. Ramsey that a) this has been coming for a bit and b) it is an important shift that too many “broadcasters” still don’t get. I encourage you to read the full post.

Portable wifi hotspot

Avis has begun to offer a product called Autonet as an add-on to some car rentals, giving customers with a mobile device such as Treo or a laptop access to the net (and Internet radio stations, one assumes).

The service, called “AVIS Connect” allows customers to rent the router and service for $10.95/day, less than most hotels charge for daily WiFi access in a room. AVIS currently offers the service to rental car customers in San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles, with plans for service to seven additional cities expected soon. [RAIN]

Future of TV? Live video from your cell phone to the world

“At the 2007 National Association of Broadcasters show, ComVu Media demonstrated live video transmitting at 30 fps at 640 x 480 resolution from a mobile phone over a wireless data network.

ComVu used its PocketCaster software to broadcast full screen video from a Nokia N95 multimedia device, transmitting over HSDPA data connection. Anyone using a Nokia N95 device — including field reporters — can now capture and broadcast video directly to air and concurrently stream live video to Web-portals, blogs and 3G-enabled phones. ComVu CEO William Mutual called the end-to-end solution “the future of news gathering worldwide.” — Podcasting News

If I was running a news operation, I think I might invest in one of these and see if it’s as cool as it sounds.

Voice-to-text-to-blog?

Planet Nelson points to Jott: “…is a free service (to the extent that your cell can call anywhere in North America for free) that allows you to dictate a 30-second message into your phone and then have it sent as a text email to a friend/colleague/self/offending politician/anyone whose email address is in your Jott address book.”

From Jott.com: “Using Jott, yoau can either Jott your blog directly or just jott yourself and post later. Better yet, your readers can listen to you too — a great way to connect?”

Blog with Jott

If I understand this correctly… a news reporter could be posting audio and text reports directly from their mobile phone to their blog. And given the evolving definition of “reporter,” this tool could be used by anyone, whether they went to J-School or not.

Update: Jamie at Planet Nelson Jott’ed back on this post. The voice-to-text was close. “Blogroll” became “blog rule” and “Gnomedex” showed up as “noon desk.” But pretty slick all the same.

“Radio” listening up UK

According to figures released yesterday, the number of radio listeners in Britain is at a record high of more than 45 million every week. The increase is attributed to growing numbers of people tuning in on the internet, digital television and mobile phones.

Almost 8 per cent of people aged 15 and above listen to the radio on their mobile phones, a 24 per cent increase over the same period of 2005. A quarter of 15- to 24-year-olds said they tuned in this way. Listening over the internet rose by 10 per cent and by 9 per cent on digital television.

Podcasts are also more popular. More than two million people, the equivalent of 17 per cent of all owners of MP3 players, listen to the audio downloads – a rise of 15 per cent on the previous three months. [Thanks, Bob]

Chris Pirillo: “Apple gets the consumer”

“My brother Adam isn’t a geek – and he’s never written to me about any other device (from Apple or any other manufacturer). It’s not even out yet and I already hate the iPhone… largely because someone else didn’t make it four years ago. Seriously. Apple gets the consumer in ways that no other company ever will. It makes my new Smartphone seem so… ancient.”

Internet access in your car

It’s early days but it is here. And Mark Ramsey looks (not so very far) ahead at what it means for radio stations:

“In the world of mobile radio, our distribution is currently both universal and exclusive. But when “the box” belongs to a third party, we are assured of neither easy distribution nor universal access. The “box owners” will do what Apple does with iTunes: Yes, anyone can post a podcast. But a very few are “featured” while most are not. The “filters” control the value. And in this scenario you and I are no longer the filters.”

I think it’s just very hard for most radio folks to believe that their listeners would listen to another station if they could. If a market has three radio stations, one might be pop…another country…and one doing news/talk. The listening pie is nicely divided, everybody gets a pretty good slice.

When all cars have high-speed net access (and they will), your station won’t be one of a hand full of listening options, it will be one of hundreds.

Movie computers

Computer usability expert Jakob Nielsen has compiled a top 10 list of the most egregious mistakes made by moviemakers. My favorites are:

The Hero Can Immediately Use Any UI
Break into a company — possibly in a foreign country or on an alien planet — and step up to the computer. How long does it take you to figure out the UI and use the new applications for the first time? Less than a minute if you’re a movie star.

Integration is Easy, Data Interoperates
In the show 24, Jack Bauer calls his office to get plans and schematics for various buildings. Once these files have been transferred from outside sources to the agency’s mainframe, Jack asks to have them downloaded to his PDA. And — miracle of miracles — the files are readable without any workarounds.

Remote Manipulators
In Tomorrow Never Dies, James Bond drives his BMW from the back seat with an Ericsson mobile phone that works as the car’s remote control. And 007 drives fast, while also evading bad guys.

You’ve Got Mail is Always Good News
In the movies, checking your mail is a matter of picking out the one or two messages that are important to the plot. No information pollution or swamp of spam.

“This is Unix, It’s Easy”
In the film Jurassic Park, a 12-year-old girl has to use the park’s security system to keep everyone from being eaten by dinosaurs. She walks up to the control terminal and utters the immortal words, “This is a Unix system. I know this.” And proceeds to (temporarily) save the day.

Gannett “Information Centers”

The Des Moines Register is not a newspaper anymore, it’s an “information center.” Excerpts from a Gannett memo:

“What is it? The Information Center is a way to gather and disseminate news and information across all platforms, 24/7. The Information Center will let us gather the very local news and information that customers want, then distribute it when, where and how our customers seek it.

“The Information Center, frankly, is the newsroom of the future. It will fulfill today’s needs for a more flexible, broader-based approach to the information gathering process. And it will be platform agnostic: News and information will be delivered to the right media — be it newspapers, online, mobile, video or ones not yet invented — at the right time. Our customers will decide which they prefer.”

This caught my attention because one of our networks (Radio Iowa) is headquartered in Des Moines and I’ve had some dealings (nothing recent) over the years with the paper. The Register is a big deal in Iowa.

If I learn anything about how this new concept is playing in the newsroom… er, the “information center,” I’ll let you know.

Anyone have thoughts on what the radio “newsroom of the future” should look like? [E-Media Tidbits]