Crowdfunding

Radiotopia’s Kickstarter funds will support internships, health care and more podcasts

By |

Public Radio Exchange’s podcast network Radiotopia has raised $620,000 from 21,808 donors on Kickstarter, setting a record among publishing, radio and podcasting projects that have used the crowdfunding platform. “We were dazzled by the response,” said PRX CEO Jake Shapiro. “It shows how dedicated the listeners are to the shows. And it means we’re going to be shipping out a lot of T-shirts.” After reaching its initial goal, the campaign achieved stretch goals as well.

Quick Takes

Thursday roundup: Serial spawns much chatter; Music X to launch at SXSW 2015

By |

• It’s Thursday, which means that fans of Serial are getting their weekly dose of podcast crack. The This American Life spinoff, which digs into the details of a 1999 Baltimore murder case, has spawned a bevy of equally obsessive commentary, including a podcast about the podcast from Slate. But the vortex of meta-analysis doesn’t end there — an English professor has started a weekly video chat with Rabia Chaudry, the lawyer who brought the murder case to the attention of Serial’s Sarah Koenig (and who is also blogging about Serial). “I am interested in exploring how new media engagement affects narrative and knowledge, and Serial presented an fertile ground in which to ask those questions,” writes Pete Rorabaugh. There’s also the Serial subreddit, which as a listener I am studiously avoiding lest I fall into a wormhole from which I cannot return. Plus, I haven’t listened to today’s episode yet.

Quick Takes

Thursday roundup: USDA backs digital projects; PBS hires Fox exec for digital

By |

• Public TV stations in four states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will receive a total of $2.5 million in federal grants for upgrading transmitters, translators and production equipment. The grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, announced Wednesday, are part of the 2014 Farm Bill reauthorized by Congress. We’ll have to expense a trip to the islands to report back on their new equipment. • PBS has hired Don Wilcox, a former executive with Fox Broadcasting Corp., as v.p. of digital marketing and services. At Fox, Wilcox was v.p. and g.m. of branded entertainment, overseeing websites including Fox.com, American Idol’s and TheXFactorUSA.com, which now just redirects to a YouTube page, so maybe he left Fox with that one on his thumb drive.

Programs/Content

New podcast network from APM includes six new shows

By |

Infinite Guest, a new podcast network from American Public Media, brings together feeds of broadcast programs, existing podcasts and new shows in an effort to build a digital following for audio content. Headed by Program Director Steve Nelson, Infinite Guest debuted Wednesday with 12 shows, six of them new. The podcasts are headlined by a mix of established pubmedia talent and outside personalities. “We really wanted to be able to have a way to work with people who already have a great fan base, to develop their voices in a new way,” Nelson said. “So we went out and found some people we really think are talented and great and wanted to do something different.”

Three of the network’s shows are existing APM programs Wits, The Dinner Party Download and The Splendid Table, and another is MPR Classical’s Top Score, a program devoted to video game scores.