John McDermott @mcdradio

John McDermott @mcdradio

John is VP Programming for DGital Media and handles the comedy stations for Slacker Radio. Previously, VP Comedy & Entertainment for SiriusXM and has been in the media for 22 years.

New station – Ralphie May: I Am The DJ on Slacker Radio

I always enjoy a day where I get to launch a new radio station.  Today we added Ralphie May: I Am The DJ to Slacker Radio.  This is the first non-music I Am The DJ station, so it’s an exciting extension of the I Am The DJ brand and of the comedy genre.  Big thanks to Ralphie for knocking this one out.  You can listen for free here.

 

Ralphie May: I Am The DJ

In 2003, comedian Ralphie May came in second place on the first season of Last Comic Standing, and his career skyrocketed from there. Ralphie curated and hosts this station featuring his favorite bits and material from comedians he admires, like Bill Hicks, Jeffrey Ross, Robin Williams and more. This station is explicit, so shoo the kids away and use your earbuds when you listen at work!

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Link: Livestreaming scofflaws are techs new innovators – May. 7, 2015

Good article about how to approach new technology without putting your head in the sand.

The PGA Tour recently revoked golf reporter Stephanie Weis credential after she used Periscope to show golfers teeing off in practice last Monday. This is justified in the eyes of PGA Tour legal counsel.But imagine if instead they saw this as an opportunity to reach her 33,000 Twitter followers on a Monday afternoon … and then worked with her to embed real-time ads in her feed?

via Livestreaming scofflaws are techs new innovators – May. 7, 2015.

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Link -> Media companies: Get adults to run your verticals | Craig Calcaterra

A very good read on the state of some sections of the internet.  Definitely worth reading the entire piece.

Attracting writers who, quite understandably, are looking for any break they can get. Often media companies sell this to them as “providing exposure,” but let’s be clear about it: it’s just a way for a company to get someone’s labor on the cheap.

via Media companies: Get adults to run your verticals | Craig Calcaterra.

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Link: New York Red Bulls launch internet radio network | New York Red Bulls

This is great.  Nice to see the team doing this on their own.  Should be interesting how sports broadcasts shake out in the years to come.  Now let’s dive in and do the road games too guys!

HARRISON, N.J. (April 17, 2015) – The New York Red Bulls announced today plans to stream live audio broadcasts of all home games from Red Bull Arena in both English and Spanish via the team’s official website, NewYorkRedBulls.com.

The Internet radio broadcasts will begin tonight, April 17 when the Red Bulls host San Jose at Red Bull Arena. In addition to the home broadcasts, New York’s games at NYCFC and Philadelphia will also be streamed live on the team’s website.

 

“We wanted to give our fans another option to follow Red Bulls soccer,” said New York general manager Marc de Grandpre. “Now fans anywhere with access to the Internet can listen. It was important from our perspective to provide both audio broadcasts in English and Spanish and we are excited to have a strong collection of voices to call the action.”

 

Fans can listen to the games on any mobile device or via their computer at www.NewYorkRedBulls.com/Live.

via New York Red Bulls launch internet radio network | New York Red Bulls.

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Link: For Lucasfilm, the Way of Its Force Lies in Its ‘Star Wars’ Fans – NYTimes.com

Mark Says Hi (Mark Seman) did a fantastic job anchoring quite a few Star Wars Celebrations on the radio.

Mark Says Hi (Mark Seman) did a fantastic job anchoring quite a few Star Wars Celebrations on the radio.

What a really nice article about Star Wars Celebration in the Times today.  I got to know a lot of the people involved during my work on Star Wars Celebration Radio and they are all really awesome people.  It’s been a melancholy week where my professional side is itchy to do more SWC Radio (and I guess there is no such thing this time), but my personal side is excited to see them live streaming the Con on Youtube and StarWars.com

It’s a fantastic event you should attend sometime if you are a fan, put on by some really cool people who are actual fans of the saga.

Here’s a fun read that talks about SWC and also mentions some other cool things like Wondercon that I was able to be a small part of:  For Lucasfilm, the Way of Its Force Lies in Its ‘Star Wars’ Fans – NYTimes.com.

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Link: Do you want poptimism? Or do you want the truth? – The Washington Post

A good read in the Washington Post.  The part that stuck with me is the below.

As an example believe me I LOVE Star Wars.  But the hype over the trailer yesterday because of three lines from Harrison Ford?  The trailer is nice but it’s not Godfather II.   I will now be shunned.  (Oh and half the people that tweeted it spelled the character’s name as “Chewy.”  Noooo.)

More on Star Wars in the next post!

He also wondered whether the hype machine had finally cracked the formula for perpetual motion: Fame begets fawning praise; fawning praise generates big Web traffic; big Web traffic perpetuates fame; rinse and repeat ­forever-ever.

via Do you want poptimism? Or do you want the truth? – The Washington Post.

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Good read about how streaming may get messy and fragmented

My handy cassette adapter I use in my car to connect my phone to the radio.

My handy cassette adapter I use in my car to connect my phone to the radio.

Good stuff here about how if artists start to become exclusive to one service that streaming will get messy.  Think of it as if you needed cable TV to watch baseball but football was only on AppleTV and whatever other sport you like only on Roku.  Would you have all three?  Would you do without one?

Tidals secret weapon isnt celebrities: Its Live Nation | The Verge.

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Survey: more than 4 in 10 people using music apps while driving

My handy cassette adapter I use in my car to connect my phone to the radio.

My handy cassette adapter I use in my car to connect my phone to the radio.

Not to question the survey, but this feels high to me.  If the penetration is already that high it should be really interesting in five years.

More than four-in-ten (44%) of people surveyed by the IT services company Lochbridge report already using music apps on their smartphone while driving.

via Survey: Music Apps Get a Test Drive. – Insideradio.com: Story.

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