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10 Questions with ... Brian Cooley
March 25, 2008
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NAME:Brian CooleyTITLE:Editor at LargeCOMPANY:CNET.comBORN:S.F. Bay AreaRAISED:S.F. Bay Area
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Radio guy starting at KALX/Berkeley in 1982 until moving on to CNET.com in 1995. Long stints at KKBT/L.A. and KMEL/S.F.
1. You transitioned from "regular" radio to CNET back in the days when the tech format got a brief trial on AM in San Francisco. But did your interest in tech talk predate that? Did you see a future in this material before then? How did it all come about?
I actually joined CNET in 1995 to do three daily tech news webcasts daily, that was back when RealAudio was just coming out and the concept of "webcasting" was brand new. The audio fidelity was horrible, but the uniqueness and on-demand nature of the content was absolutely magnetic for users. It was all audio then, no video. The interactive world always made sense to me because I spent 13 years doing what all radio people spend the most time and energy doing: battling the inherent problems of a linear medium. I had been interested in and comfortable with computers since I was a kid having from a Silicon Valley family where my father was an exec in the computer business. So online wasn't odd, "gadgety" or science fiction to me, just what seemed like the logical evolution of media.
In 2000 CNET and Clear Channel did a deal to take KNEW 910 AM in San Francisco to a tech news and talk format 24/7, and later we took the same format to 860 AM in Boston, as well as launching and programming Channel 130 on XM for its first 18 months and producing a 24/7 live webcast. It stands today as the most ambitious tech audio effort in history and a creative success. But it suffered from the "dot com crash" and being ahead of its time - there is much more relatable tech content to build a format around today then there was when we wrapped up the operation in 2003. But I don't think about putting that format back on the radio - new media platforms have supplanted that need.
2. Radio programmers and station operators are constantly being exhorted to move heavily into podcasting, with the primary objections being that the form hasn't yet been monetized and that it might cannibalize the audience for the broadcast product. If you're advising a broadcaster on what to do with the new media, and putting aside any competitive impulses for the moment, what would you tell them to do -- in brief, what should they be doing to ensure that they don't get left behind? Or are they always going to be broadcasters first and never a comfortable fit with new media?
Podcasting really fits with radio, but like all good media it requires work. Just shoveling your existing programming into a podcast is easy - and the results with show it. You need to at least come up with new packaging of the content to make it a value add and really you need to get something new in front of users via podcast, but something that extends on your stationality and brand. That's what broadcasters have: A local, personal relationship that most web sites and interactive media companies would kill to have. Build on that and make that your yardstick for whether a new media idea is moving to far afield for your station. I.e., if you are a classic rock station, don't cram your web site with syndicated AP News Video just so you can tell advertisers you are a video streaming play. That works for a news station, because it connects at the brand promise level, but it doesn't do that for the classic rock station.
As to the question of cannibalization, the short answer is that your listeners are going to consume podcasts anyway (at least those who are interested in podcasts in the first place) and the podcast numbers are very large. You have to at least be in the room if you want them to ask you to dance. Also, offering podcasts is a healthy strategy in that it can let your station reach the same listeners in more places and modes, and can get you in front of listeners far from your stick. As for monetization, it's no different than how you sell airtime: You either need a lot of average users or a much smaller number of very qualified ones, but users are users and advertisers will be interested in reaching them in a podcast that they can *sponsor* away from the clutter of the on-air cluster.
One caveat: True podcasts today have no tracking mechanism to determine if a user actually listened to the podcast, only that they downloaded it. This is the Achilles Heel of podcasting and I suspect market forces will bring about new technology layers to improve that tracking.
3. Do you approach podcasts and streaming differently from "regular" radio? What freedom do you have with new media that you couldn't do with radio?
Not as differently as you might think: Good communication is good communication. The formatics and mechanics change, but good writing, delivery, fresh story ideas and an honest, refreshing approach win the day on all platforms. Interactive media gives you all kinds of "Howard Sternian" freedom to be obscene or vile, but the internet has a glut of that. I prefer to pretend interactive media is FCC regulated (but 1980's FCC, not today's!). Do the right thing, even when regulators aren't looking, and your content will benefit from it.
4. The image of podcasting to non-users is still like the Wild West, with amateurs doing shows from their mom's basement (ostensibly in pajamas when they're not blogging), but the list of most popular podcasts on iTunes is populated by "amateurs" like NPR, Oprah, ESPN, Leo LaPorte's TWiT podcasts, and CNET, all of which have high production values. How important are professional production values to podcasting these days? Are the days of the amateur production over, or is there still opportunity for the "little guy"?
Before we get to production, look at what really separates those "amateurs" from the rest: Positioning and promotion. They are well known and liked brands with established media bases to promote their podcasts. That's an ace in the hole that broadcasters have. Yes, there are very successful "home brew" podcasts out there that grew by grassroots community discovery, but that's a tough row to hoe. I can't count the number of failed efforts by media companies to create viral successes or communities from scratch. You don't create those, they create themselves and they are as often a mystical accident as the result of planning and preparation.
Good quality production is always better than the alternative. People don't like bad sound and poor delivery. Period. That said, check all the hackneyed radio stuff at the door when you walk into the podcast studio. Get into the show quickly, without all the rigamarole of radio. Of course avoid traditional stopsets. Decide if your radio delivery is really the most honest and genuine delivery you can offer, or is there another sound and personality that reaches the listener better - one that is more honest and respectful of their time and attention. Think of interactive media as a chance to reinvent yourself and/or your station a little to a good result.
5. You're a car aficionado and host a Car Tech show, so let's ask a car tech question: how long do you think it'll be before streaming WiMax or LTE or some sort of 3G or 4G streaming Internet audio will be commonly available for in-car use? (You can do it now with a 3G phone, but when do you see it being a common in-dash option or standard the way broadcast and satellite radio are today?)
I think the connected car may be solid by 2010, which is a very short time in "car years." But carmakers know things move faster in-cabin today and that interactive services in the car can create all kinds of new relationships with the car owner/driver, as well as potential revenue streams. Today we are already seeing market arrival of internet-connected GPS navigation devices, in-car wi-fi routers and full in-dash web browsing on BMW cars (in Europe to start.) This is the future and it is both a threat and opportunity for radio as the streaming media era in cars could be just a few years off. Yes, drivers will now have 10,000 streaming radio choices on top of CD, iPod, and sat radio to take their attention away from radio, but your station will also become a national media outlet in the process.
Also, be on the watch for emerging services and portals that the driver will access from the car to get local information of all kinds. This mode of usage is going to be big. It's quite similar to the nascent revolution in phones that have GPS navigation and web browsing. Users are starting to think of those devices as a local commerce and information tool and you want to be there.
6. In a crowded tech talk field in podcasting, what differentiates CNET from the competition? Besides longevity, what makes CNET a leader?
Longevity creates expertise and that's important. We provide answers, not just information. We have a community that can only come from having 18 million monthly uniques. And we have always built on the personality of our voices & faces, not just on the information we provide. Trusted, independent and engaging are the attributes we used to build the large scale we operate at today.
7. What does James Bond mean to you?
Nothing short of the most entertaining franchise ever created! I am a founder of the Commanders Club (commanders.com), which is a 007 society here in San Francisco. It's a throwback to another era and a marvelous fantasy that has just enough hooks in reality to keep it engaging. I travel overseas frequently and always set aside a few days to let the literary and cinematic adventures of 007 be my tour guide (beats relying on one of those hackneyed travel books!) . Ian Fleming was a tremendously lucid and visual writer, which I think I draw upon somewhat in my media work. But Bond is just plain fun.
8. Who are your influences?
From John Evans (KYA/KMEL/KFRC/now KDFC/S.F.) I learned how to do radio news that rivets. John London (KMEL, KKBT, KNBR) let me rub up against his enormous ability to entertain - I like to think a little of it stuck. Walter Sabo taught me the art of the possible and the new, and how to inspire people who have worked for me. And Dr. Don Rose (KFRC) taught us all that nice guys finish first.
9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _______________.
...the internet or my cats. Tough call, there.
10. What's the best advice you ever got? The worst?
The best career advice might have been making the cliff-jump from major market radio to a little startup called CNET that nobody I knew had ever heard of. The worst: All those urgings I got as a kid to go to medical school! I would have missed great years in morning drive radio and being in the middle of the interactive era. Those are not lightly traded away.
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