Station web alliance chooses design firm to upgrade sites
Originally published in Current, April 19, 1999
By Steve Behrens
A group of 13 public radio outlets, including the big ones in New York, Boston and San Francisco, has hired thoughtbubble Productions to design parts of their web sites.
The ad hoc group--the Public Radio Internet Service Alliance (PRISA)--chose the Manhattan web-design firm over bids from nine others, including the new web projects by Minnesota Public Radio/NPR and PRI/NewMarket Networks.
After hearing bidders' presentations at a meeting in Boston, March 23-26 [1999], station reps unanimously named thoughtbubble and the big Atlanta-based firm iXL Enterprises as their top two choices, with thoughtbubble having the edge, says Mark Fuerst, consultant to PRISA.
The MPR/NPR and PRI/New Market responses to PRISA's January request for proposals focused on national web services and left a big gap in local web-site development, according to Fuerst. PRISA members, however, are insisting that the new designs be compatible with web services the two radio networks will offer. PRI/New Market had made impressive strides in a few months, Fuerst observes.
PRISA is asking thoughtbubble to develop improved systems for navigation within stations' web sites, for meshing local and national news briefs online, and for handling memberships online, among other things. The stations also want to be able to post real-time "what's-on-now" information, including music now playing on-air. Fuerst hopes the contractor will complete a design plan by the end of June and the design work by the end of September. The stations initially are committing $25,000 each to the project.
A presentation on the project will be held at the Public Radio Conference in May, and the products may be made available to additional stations after they're designed, Fuerst says.
PRISA members now include WNYC, New York; WBUR and WGBH, Boston; KQED, San Francisco; KPBS, San Diego; WKSU, Kent; WXPN, Philadelphia; KPLU, Seattle/Tacoma; WILL, Champaign; and the state nets in Nebraska, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wisconsin.
The selected firm, founded in 1995 by psychologist Scott Rigby and film school graduate Jon Heck, has done most of its work for Bravo and its sister cable nets owned by Cablevision Systems Corp.
Outside link: Web site of thoughtbubble Productions, New York City, and iXL Enterprises, Atlanta.
Web page created April 22, 1999
Current
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Copyright 1999
Earlier stories: PRI allies with NewMarket Networks for web offerings,
January 1999; Minnesota Public Radio offers web services, and (separately)
PRISA comes together to hire web assistance, November 1998.