Since I missed the ALA tour of NPR, I went to the regularly scheduled tour that includes the control rooms, the studios, and of course the infamous Studio 4A. About thirty people showed up for the tour. It was amusing to see this huge group traipsing through the halls of NPR, up and down stairs, through cubicles and aisleways, trying to fit into the vestibules the studios that are very, very tiny.
Our tour guide, Alan, talked about the challenges NPR faces with their business model, member stations, podcasting and digital distribution. Since programming is podcast or streamed live directly from NPR it bypasses the member stations completely. The concern there is that eventually people won’t see a need to support their local stations. So far it sounds like NPR is only allowing locals to stream certain content live like All Things Considered. Alan also talked about the NPR library and how much digital data they have that is not cataloged and the amount is increasing everyday, not just audio data but media for the web site, photos, stories and commentaries.
After the tour was over, three of us were asked if we wouldn’t mind doing an interview and a promo for NPR. Well duh! Alyssa, Keith and I were interviewed by a producer from NPR who asked us about what we listen to on NPR, who our favorite on-air personalities are, and when we first heard NPR, among other things.
