All-station webinar: June 30 at 3pm ET

Posted: January 28th, 2009 | Author: Rekha from Public Radio Player | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Greetings from the Public Radio Player team!

What happened to the Public Radio Tuner, you ask? Nothing, really. It’s still the same iPhone app, but with some key new features. The Public Radio Player (aka “version 2.0″) is working its way through the iTunes review process and will go live in the next few weeks.

The Player community continues to grow, with over 1.5 million downloads since January. We want to thank the hundreds of stations who have submitted their streams and promoted the app on air and online. Your content makes the Player compelling, and your enthusiastic listeners have made it a certifiable success!

You last heard from us in April for an all-station webinar. Well, it’s high time for another. This one will be on:

***Tuesday, June 30 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET***

Click here to register for the Public Radio Player webinar

The webinar is open to anyone in the public radio system, particularly stations, whether or not you’re already in the Player. We’ll update you on the project so far, share thoughts for the next phase, give pointers on stream formats and metrics, and invite your feedback and ideas. April’s webinar was well attended, and we’d like to see that happen again. So feel free to forward this email to people at your station.

A Google Group for you

We’ve created an invite-only Google Group for stations and other system members to share ideas and questions — promotion strategies, metrics tips, feature requests, etc. It will be a low-volume moderated list, and we’ll post occasional project updates there, too. Request to join now!

The Public Radio Tuner so far

The original version of the Public Radio Tuner was developed and launched by American Public Media in November 2008. With support from CPB, Public Radio Exchange helped bring together APM, NPR, Public Interactive, and PRI to collaborate on further development and promotion of the Tuner, launching a new version in January 2009 and version 1.2 (currently live in iTunes) in April 2009.

PRX also set up PublicRadioTuner.org (soon to be PublicRadioPlayer.org, though destination remains the same) as a blog and information center about the app and the project overall.

Since January, the app has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times. It has consistently been in the top ten free music apps, and has spent significant time as the top free app in the iTunes catalog of over 45,000 other apps. People have expressed their love of (and sometimes confusion about) public radio in App Store reviews as well as comments at PublicRadioTuner.org. The Tuner has had significant buzz in blogs and twitter feeds, and has appeared in mainstream media outlets including TUAW, MacWorld, Slate, WashingtonPost.com, AdAge, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. NPR’s “All Things Considered” interviewed PRX Executive Director Jake Shapiro about public radio’s own new media phenomenon.

In April, the Tuner was moved from APM’s store on iTunes to the PRX store. APM handed off the management of station stream submissions to Public Interactive. Submit your streams here.

Coming up: the Public Radio Player

In a few weeks, the Public Radio Player will go live on iTunes, replacing the existing version 1.2. The new version 2.0 will include a dynamic, searchable program schedule and access to select on-demand content.

We’re planning a promotional push in July, and we welcome testimonials from individual stations. What impact has the Tuner had at your station? What have you heard from listeners? How have you gotten the word out? Why is being on the app important to your station? Do you have plans to create your own app of some kind? Post your thoughts to the new Google Group or email us at iphone [at] prx [dot] org. Let us know if it’s ok to include your comments in promotional materials.

We want to help you promote the Player, too. If you already are please tell us how so we can share with other stations. Graphics and promo copy are in the Guide for Stations, which we’ll update with the name change. Plus, once the Player is live, visit the Guide for audio promos recorded by a public radio celebrity who shall go unnamed to pique your curiosity.

These improvements are intended to further the Player’s original and enduring purpose: to grow awareness of public radio and engagement with public radio stations, to reach public radio fans wherever they want us to be, and to grow the audience to new listeners as well. This project has resulted in code, process, and promotion insights that we plan to share with all of you to support your own mobile efforts.

Not already part of the Public Radio Player? Sign up!

Tuner users are always asking for their local stations’ streams. It’s never too late to submit your streams for inclusion in the app (a great way to get more exposure for your HD streams as well). We’re continually adding content.

To be eligible for inclusion in the Player your station must be one or more of the following:

  • CPB qualified
  • NPR (member station)
  • APM (affiliate)
  • PRI (affiliate)
  • PRX (paid station membership)
  • National Federation of Community Broadcasters (participant member)
  • Station Resource Group (member)

See you on June 30,

The Public Radio Player project collaborators

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