

Why NPR will have a tough time duplicating its broadcast success online - ilamont
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/03/24/npr-broadcast-audience-surges

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mahmud
True, NPR can't compete in the internet for information, because the internet
itself is the source of much of the news they synthesize.

I can also add that what _I_ value most about NPR is hard to translate to a la
carte online format. You see, NPR fits into my daily schedule: I'm doing a
certain thing when Morning Edition is on, another thing when Diane Rehm or
Kojo Namdi is on, yet another thing when it's time for Market Place or Wait
Wait Don't Tell Me, or This American Life or All Things Considered.

During those times I'm probably driving, at the office, or doing household
chores. NPR on the radio allows me to multitask. NPR on the Internet will have
to compete with my work, which is on the computer, my visual entertainment
(Hulu, Netflix) which is also on the computer, and also compete with incoming
mail and other electronic chores. Allocating an specific time for "NPR" and
hearing my news programs out of order at different times isn't just the same.

I listen to NPR when I'm overseas, and my listening schedule mimics the exact
broadcast times of WAMU, my local Washington DC NPR affiliate. Morning Edition
just doesn't make sense to me after 9AM :-P

