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NPR: Struggling In the Modern Age.
By admin | July 15, 2011
Founded in 1970 and first broadcast in the spring of 1971, National Public Radio has long been one of the cornerstones of radio in American culture. Boasting close to one thousand affiliates across the country, an international team of correspondants and a bevy of popular shows and hosts, NPR has made many attempts at persuading many Americans to keep their radios on in favor of digital media players and online streaming content.
When it’s traditional radio listenership declined in the past few years, NPR has began to offer the majority of it’s most popular programs as downloadable podcasts. Shows like This American Life with Ira Glass and Fresh Air with Terry Gross are still regularly featured in the top ten most downloaded podcasts on iTunes each week.
While NPR’s podcasts still bring in regular advertising dollars, they are now potentially facing their biggest competitor in the form of larger media personalities starting their own podcast “empires”. In the past year, film director Kevin Smith, former Loveline co-host Adam Carolla and comedian Scott Aukerman have all launched podcast franchises with multiple shows featuring interviews with celebrities, stand-up comedy and entertainment news. NPR may have initially won the podcast battle, but a whole new and tougher opponent is readying to face them.
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