Ideas for a Smarter, Faster World

That the inexorable march of digital technologies has claimed yet another victim from the “traditional” communications world is, in and of itself, not particularly newsworthy. What is newsworthy in this case is the victim: one of the most trusted and recognized brand names in American broadcasting.

National Public Radio recently announced its decision to formally change its name to NPR, stating that dropping the word “radio” reflects the way in which many of today’s audience members tune in to the organization’s programming: increasingly through web sites and Internet-connected digital devices…in essence, “non-radios.” In fact, with so many web sites under their management, consuming NPR content is as likely to involve reading as it is listening.

For an organization that has been a leader in digital adoption – even going so far as to offer an iPhone app that skins digital delivery with a throw-back transistor radio-like user interface – the move is indeed smarter and faster. However, it’s not without controversy among the organization’s affiliate radio stations, many of whom fear that losing the word “radio” signals a seismic shift in NPR’s priorities and future funding allocations. The battle lines are forming as you read this post.  Read all about it here:

http://bit.ly/b86B8S

Tags: branding, Digital, General, naming, NPR, radio

This entry was posted on Friday, July 16th, 2010 at 9:42 am and is filed under General, strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.