Talk, Entertainment, Music

Submitted by mavis j on May 7, 2007 - 1:44am. ::

Hi,

Sorry to be dense but I just need a little help with the categories. "Music," I get, but I am not sure what distinguishes "Talk" from "Entertainment." I also get that Tavis and Terry are, however entertaining, probably examples of "Talk." But, what about programming that includes interviews or oral histories as part of a documentary? "Entertainment?" Perhaps a brief definition or example of each would help clarify this.

Thanks for any additional info.

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Yes, the catagories need to be broader
Submitted by ThumbprintMedia on May 7, 2007 - 5:31am.

This is my take on those categories:

Talk: Is cheap and easy to come by, most people's voices are half-way decent and can later be enhanced and imperfections masked. Another problem, as it relates to this contest-some have taken this category and have created "screamers" radio. If I wanted to hear people yelling and ranting I would tune into Fox News Radio or TV where all they do is shout all the while thinking they have some "personality" which can be ranked and paid for. Public Radio (PR) has not been and never should be a medium "Foxified" for ratings or money.

Entertainment: If I wanted to be entertained I would listen to various shock jocks and others on the dial whom do much of the same garbage as the "talkers", as above.

Music: If I wanted music in my PR show I would tune into those stations that stream, you guessed it, musical content only.

Clearly, the judges and creators of this contest are mining for a type of talent and show concept which can be narrowly defined. I hope that they are not looking for another This American Life type show or host. What PR should really be pursuing are those talents and concepts which reach well beyond the realm of the competition, those whom emphasize narrative structure and story over presentation and personality.

I have placed content on this site that steps into that direction. It can be found here:
http://www.publicradioquest.com/node/756

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Hi Thumb, Thanks for your
Submitted by izzi on May 7, 2007 - 8:13am.

Hi Thumb,

Thanks for your comments. We actually tried to make the catagories as broad as possible. Here's some background on our thinking.

Public radio, like all radio, programs in formats. The two biggest public radio formats are News/Talk like WAMU in DC and KQED in San Francisco, and News/Classical like WABE in Atlanta and KUHF in Houston. There are other formats too - Jazz, AAA, Community, and endless combinations of the above.

Entertainment programming like Keillor or Wait Wait crosses the boundaries of format, and airs on a wide variety of stations.

Since one end result of the Quest is three pilot programs, we wanted to structure the contest so those programs could have a good shot at finding airtime on stations.

Since nearly all stations either air talk, entertainment or music, we chose those as catagories for the Quest.

I think it was Duke Ellington who said, "If it sounds good, it is good." I'd like to think the first round of the Quest is a bit like that. Don't sweat the catagory. Pick one that you think is a "good fit," and then make us want to hear more.

Good luck!

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Thanks and one more thing . . .
Submitted by mavis j on May 7, 2007 - 2:23pm.

That really helped nail it down for me. Thanks. Just one more thing I should have asked in the first place --since you're generously giving away concrete examples -- where do shows like "The Next Big Thing," or "This American Life" fit? Or the shows created by the Kitchen Sisters?

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