Nowlive News

Today I have to get serious about Internet broadcasting. Nowlive's new featured network is nothing like older platforms. People are routinely getting audiences in the neighborhood of 10,000 listeners. For that, I am willing to do a little work. It may not sound all that impressive, but think about it. It's the same order of magnitude as the audiences Dennis Miller and John McEnroe used to get on CNBC. Okay, yes, their shows were failures. But that was big-time TV, not a humble Internet outfit. And Nowlive's venture has just started, so it will presumably grow over the coming months. Unlike CNBC.

I think content quality is the big problem for Internet radio right now. Many people don't prepare for their shows. And they don't act like professional hosts. There are a lot of shows where it's just the host and a bunch of his beer buddies, burping and making inside jokes for two hours. And instead of taking callers, letting them ask questions, and then moving on, they let a bunch of people call in and just sit on the line, doing nothing. It's terrible. Worthless. A waste of money and bandwidth. You wouldn't listen to that on the radio, so there is no reason to think anyone will listen to it on the web. Hopefully, as audiences increase and promotion improves, the cream--the people who are trying to do it right--will rise to the top. I just hope listenership doesn't increase so fast it attracts bloated media elites who will kick small fry like me off the network. What Internet radio needs is fresh, new people who will perform as well as old-media professionals.

I was going to fix myself a nice lunch of pole beans and ham hocks, with cornbread on the side. I thought I could film it for Youtube and Nowlive. I'm not sure now. I got ahold of some good pizza information last night, and I'm considering doing another pizza show. Or maybe I could divide it up between the two topics. Whatever I decide to do, you will see me on the air at 9 Eastern tonight.

Moxie now has TWO shows on the featured network, and they have moved her main show, Moxvox, to Sundays. For better or worse, they put her on right before me. It's positive because it helps our shows feed off each other. On the other hand, if her show goes over an hour, we'll be on at the same time. Oh well. That's life.

Moxie will be on tonight at 8 Eastern. I'm not sure what the topic will be. She was considering hosting a game, where she reads a quotation and asks people who said it. I'd tell you more, but I don't want to spoil it. It ought to be pretty funny.

While I'm on the subject of radio or reasonable facsimiles thereof, let me mention Elisson's new gig. I forgot to ask him about it, so I don't have details yet, but he's working for a real radio station now. I will quote his comment: "Sundays 4-5 pm EST on RST on Radio Sandy Springs, 1620 AM or at www.radiosandysprings.com." Tune in, if you're in his area. I'm sure it will be entertaining.

I have to go work on the show. Hope you show up tonight. I can't promise I'll be on the featured network, because they're still screwing with it, but if you like good grub, it's still worth a listen.