Norm Goldman: "let's move people away from over-the-air radio"

Julia Chase and others have started a petition to keep progressive radio on the air in the Pacific Northwest.  See The attack on progressive radio in the Pacific Northwest. They contacted progressive talk host Norman Goldman, who responded as follows (and who asked that his words be shared with others):

What i would like to do is try to get folks thinking of “radio” differently. Over-the-air terrestrial radio is not what the future holds – and KLAY does not have a powerful signal. It is 5,000 watts based in Tacoma, owned by a guy … The station does not cover the market and is certainly no AM 1090, in power/coverage.

Be that as it may, i would REALLY like you and the good folks who signed your petition to read what i re-print below…i am sending this to folks and would LOVE and REALLY appreciate if you would forward this to all of them and let’s move people away from over-the-air radio….70% of folks don’t go to AM at all anymore – XM/Sirius has 24 million subscribers (and i am not on THAT, either!) and truly, i am in the “content delivery” business and over-the-air radio is devolving into a few formats and we don’t make the grade, for political reasons, i suspect.

HOWEVER, there ARE folks – and sadly – lots of them who cannot afford even the most minimal technology to end run these radio stations and they ARE relegated to whatever these corporate-owned stations put on and that is not only a shame but an abuse of the public airwaves. The problem is that Congress and the FCC allow for it, so there we are.

Sports is the hot topic these days and stations are flipping to sports like mad! Clear Channel and other companies are making deals based on dollar signs – they are consigning us to “niche markets” (that is what we “liberal talkers” are being called) and not caring about the audience we have. That is simply the cold, harsh reality.

I and the other hosts have been tied and COMPLETELY dependent upon these radio stations FOREVER. The good news is this is no longer true – the bad news is it requires some technology and monetary, plus time, investment to end run the radio stations. If you don’t want to be tied to a computer, where Internet streaming is free at www.normangoldman.com and want to hear the show live in your car, there are “kits” that can be installed inexpensively at auto audio places…..for example, go into a search engine (like Google) and type in internet radio car kit and watch what happens! Here is just an example:

http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Internet-Radio-Car-Livio/dp/B005FE7URM

But there are others. New cars have Internet radio built in. Ford’s Sync system and most other manufacturers now have Internet radio pre-built directly into your new car via their new car technology. For older cars, the “kits” can be installed quickly and relatively inexpensively at these “Al & Ed’s Autosound” type of places.

A podcast is also available for delayed listening. A podcast is simply an audio file transferred from one computer to another…and then transferred (by dragging the icon) onto an iPod, mp3 player or other device. The good news is that YOU are now in control…the bad news is that, to exercise that control, you need to spend some time and perhaps money, to do it. Our podcasts are $5 a month at www.normangoldman.com (or $50 for a full year, which is 2 months free) and the shows have all the clutter and commercials stripped out, so a show is a LOT LESS than 3 hours! Plus, our podcast subscription includes all the “Beyond The Norm” segments (one extra segment a day, not done on the air) and that means the entire archive of legal, consumer and other information we have done! All on your schedule to your convenience! AND, we stream the show live and free through Facebook – The Norman Goldman Show on Facebook!

I also have a free smartphone app for you that lets you listen on your phone, live, free and anywhere. Plus, there is the iHeartRadio app and the TuneIn app.

The bottom line is, for the future of our show and the others; we need to connect with you outside the gatekeeper status of the radio stations. They have forced us into this position. Sorry, and I wish I had more control of the situation!!

Norm

I only listen to AM talk radio when I’m driving the car — which I rarely do, since I commute by bike and bus. Good progressives shouldn’t be riding the car! At home, I get all my information from the computer.

In fact, when I ride the car I often listen to right wing radio (“Freedom Raio”) just for kicks and to get insight into how they think. I have to admit, sometimes the right wing radio is more entertaining, and sometimes I’m quite annoyed by the whiny rhetoric and and gimmicks of Stephanie Miller and some others on progressive radio. (Don’t worry, I’m still a staunch progressive.) Right wing radio is even whinier and gimmickier, but since I don’t share their values, I can laugh at them better, while for progressive commentators I nitpick and quibble over differences of strategy (like on how much to support Obama).