Public Radio Exchange

Feeling the Love from iPhone Users

rekha posted on Friday, May 8th, 2009 | Press Releases | No Comments

Here at PRX, we’re all about spreading public radio far and wide. Well, we really did it this time.

This release went out this morning:

With 1.5 Million Downloads, Public Radio Feels the Love From iPhone Users
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Just 17 weeks after launch, the Public Radio Tuner application for the iPhone has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times. Thanks to the iPhone community’s enthusiasm, the Tuner cracked the top 10 free music apps soon after launch, and has been the top free app on all of iTunes.

Learn more at http://www.publicradiotuner.org.

The Public Radio Tuner comes from a unique collaboration of major public radio organizations:

• American Public Media (APM)
• National Public Radio (NPR)
• Public Radio Exchange (PRX)
• Public Interactive (PI)
• Public Radio International (PRI)

The project is led by Public Radio Exchange (http://www.prx.org) and supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

“The Public Radio Tuner has clearly struck a chord with iPhone users,” says PRX Executive Director Jake Shapiro. “The app is expanding the audience for local public radio stations and national programs, and is a great example of a successful collaboration and innovation in public media.”

For the Public Radio Tuner project, CPB and the collaborators have brought together the collective talents and resources of the public radio system to reach existing listeners on a state-of-the-art platform while attracting new listeners, too.

Stations across the United States value their presence in the app. “The Public Radio Tuner helps us expand our reach into areas of Georgia that aren’t covered by our airwaves. It fits into GPB’s overall goal of expanding its reach through new technologies.” — Susanna Capelouto, News Director, Georgia Public Broadcasting

The Public Radio Tuner allows anyone with an iPhone or iPod Touch to listen to more than 300 U.S. station streams. It has the features iPhone users expect from any “tuner” application — search, a favorites list, and fast loading times. What sets this Tuner apart is a listening experience custom-made for public radio’s high-quality, diverse content. Listeners can hear their stations’ broadcasts of their favorite shows, from “This American Life” to “Morning Edition”, along with local news and music. With over 800 public and community radio stations in the United States, new streams are added all the time.

Coming up in June 2009: The Public Radio Player, with a program guide, enhanced search, and on-demand content. Additional mobile platforms, such as Google’s Android, RIM’s BlackBerry, and the Palm Pre, are under consideration.

Learn more at http://www.publicradiotuner.org.

PRX + CBC = Good Stuff!

John posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 | Blog, Press Releases | No Comments

We’re thrilled to announce that PRX and the CBC are collaborating on bringing the fantastic Outfront series to US stations in a format that stations tell us they want.

This superb first-person, produced essay series has aired to much acclaim in Canada, but its excellent content is a challenging ‘fit’ for a lot of public stations here. So we have combined forces with the CBC to produce six one-hour shows based on Outfront programs — all along different themes. Take all six; cherry-pick; run in any order you like.

And, as you can tell from our announcement, both the CBC and PRX hope there is more to come:

CBC Radio and PRX Embark on Content Development Project

Outfront available as limited hour-long series

            April 30, 2009 — The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Public Radio Exchange (PRX.org) are launching six hour-long versions of CBC Radio’s award-winning Outfront personal essay series in response to interest and feedback from US stations.

          Outfront has previously been available only as extended modules. CBC Radio and PRX are making programs more accessible to station programmers by curating and combining some of the best works into hour-long thematic shows. They are hosted by the CBC’s Natasha Fatah and produced by Neil Sandell and Marieke Meyer.

         ”For more than ten years, CBC Radio has amassed a remarkable archive of over 1,400 personal stories collected by the Outfront team. This new relationship is part of CBC’s plan to expose those stories to new audiences,” said Chris Boyce, CBC Radio’s Program Director.

         The programs are being offered exclusively to US public radio stations at PRX. They can be previewed and licensed by stations at http://www.prx.org/series/31125-cbc-radio-s-outfront

          The Outfront programs can be used as a series or selected by stations individually in whatever order programmers wish.

           “PRX is changing the way public radio is distributed and experienced on air and online. We seek creative partnerships that result in outstanding programs, and are excited to work with CBC Radio on this project and more to come,” said PRX executive director Jake Shapiro.

            Stations wishing to join PRX can send email to membership@prx.org.

            CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest

cultural institutions. With 28 services offered on Radio, Television, the Internet, satellite

radio, digital audio, as well as through its record and music distribution service and

wireless WAP and SMS messaging services, CBC/Radio-Canada is available how,

where, and when Canadians want it.

               Stations wishing to learn more about CBC programming can go to http://www.cbc.ca/radio/.          

               PRX, Inc. operates the Public Radio Exchange, an online marketplace for distribution, review, and licensing of public radio programming. PRX is also a growing social network and community of listeners, producers, and stations collaborating to reshape public radio. The mission of PRX is to create more opportunities for diverse programming of exceptional quality, interest, and importance to reach more listeners. 

Tags: cbc

Agreement Reached for Public Radio’s Webcasting Royalty Rates

Jake posted on Friday, January 16th, 2009 | Blog, PRX in the News, Press Releases | No Comments

After a long and winding road of discussions and negotiations, public radio now has an agreement covering payments for music rights for streaming internet radio. We are grateful that PRX is included in the agreement with NPR, American Public Media and Public Radio International.  Our colleagues at the Station Resource Group played a key role alongside CPB and NPR in hammering out the deal. Thank you! (and just in time for the Public Radio Tuner to take off…)

Here is the full press release on CPB’s site.

An excerpt:

The agreement establishes the amount of royalties that will be paid by CPB on behalf of the public radio system for streaming sound recordings on a variety of public radio websites during the period January 1, 2005 through December 31, 2010. The agreement [...] will cover approximately 450 public radio webcasters including CPB supported stations, NPR, NPR members, National Federation of Community Broadcasters members, American Public Media, the Public Radio Exchange, and Public Radio International.

Both parties praise the agreement for reinforcing the value of artists’ performances, while recognizing the unique mission of public radio.

Tags: internet radio, royalties, soundexchange, streaming, webcasting

PRX Becomes Independent Mass. Non-Profit

Genevieve posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 | Blog, Press Releases | No Comments

As of Jan. 1, PRX is officially PRX, Inc., out on our own as an independent organization. Here’s a letter from Tom Thomas and Terry Clifford of Station Resource Group, our “parent company,” about the successful transition:

With the turn of the year PRX – the Public Radio Exchange – begins an exciting new phase as an independent organization.

In the final days of 2008 the SRG and PRX boards of directors ratified an agreement transferring SRG’s Public Radio Exchange activities and assets to PRX, Inc. As SRG’s stewardship of this unique and important public media asset comes to an end, all of us should be very proud of what we have created and the remarkable accomplishments of the PRX team. PRX leaves SRG with:

* An amazing audio archive with tens of thousands of pieces ready for broadcast, presentation on the web, and individual listening
* Thousands of reviews and ratings, the largest body of critical writing about radio productions in the nation
* Just-launched new generation core software, PRX 3.0, with features and functionality driven by stations’ and producers’ experiences and needs
* Leading roles in collaborative projects, such as the development of a shared public radio application for the iPhone
* GenerationPRX, a resource center and exchange for several dozen youth radio groups across the country
* Respect as an innovator and thought-leader within our field and outside it
* Core staff with talent and experience in both programming and technology
* A healthy cash reserve and a budget plan for 2009 in which most of the needed revenue is already committed or identified

PRX, Inc. is a Massachusetts-based nonprofit created by SRG in anticipation of this move. PRX is governed by a station-experienced board chaired by Laurie Ahern, former chair of Puget Sound Public Radio. Other board members include Henry Becton, former President of WGBH, Torey Malatia, President of Chicago Public Radio, and Ashton Peery, who has served as a General Partner of Lucent Venture Partners and as the Chief Strategy Officer and corporate head of Business Development for Lucent Technologies. PRX Executive Director Jake Shapiro is also a member of the board.

The entire PRX staff has moved from SRG to the new company. Long-time SRG Business Manager Kerri Hoffman, who has taken increasing responsibility for PRX activities, will also move to PRX as Associate Director.

The SRG-PRX agreement calls for some continuing links between the two organizations and ongoing reflection of SRG’s interests, including a commitment to a primary PRX focus on public media, an SRG representative on the PRX board, a share for SRG of any “windfall” net revenues from exploitation of the PRX intellectual property, and an ongoing commitment that a third of the PRX board will be individuals who have served as professionals or civic leaders at public radio stations.

We want to acknowledge the risk takers with whom we have worked to reach this point. We have collaborated with independent producer Jay Allison and Atlantic Public Media for the past seven years. Funders at the National Endowment for the Arts, NTIA’s Telecommunications opportunities Program, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Ford, MacArthur, Surdna, and Soros Foundations have made PRX possible. And the hundreds of producers and stations who are PRX members and supporters.

We wish PRX the very best going forward. We look forward to working with PRX as a full partner in building the next generation of public media service.

Terry Clifford & Tom Thomas

PRX Executive Director, Jake Shapiro, is unavailable for comment at this time (due to big family news) but plans to follow-up with more details on this important PRX transition.

PRX Hits the Classroom!

Emily posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 | Blog, Press Releases | No Comments

Graduate Students Create Database of Almost 300 PRX Pieces For Use in K-12 and College Classrooms.

Dr. Edna Reid

Dr. Edna Reid’s students at San Jose State University’s School of Library and Information Science used PRX to learn about metadata and databases, and to create a resource for K-12 classrooms.  They first created tags for almost 300 PRX pieces and mapped them to school subjects and grade-levels.  They then rated the pieces for their educational value and wrote reviews describing how each piece could be integrated into educational curricula.   Here’s one of the reviews:

Search for Alien Life in the Universe -  View Piece
Educational Rating: 5 (out of 5)

Dr. Michio Kaku makes science current events very easy to follow and understand, perfect for 4th to 5th grade but really interesting for all. This clip describes the Kepler satellite and the scientific search for signs of life in the galaxies around us. Students will be dazzled by the estimate of one scientist that we will have contact with other life forms within the next 25 years. It also describes a civilization rating scale which is based on the ability of a civilization to control energy and the external environment. Dr. Michio Kaku rates our civilization with this scale and then uses the scale to explore some different possibilities as to why we have had no contact with other life forms thus far.

PRX will also be featured in a workshop presented by Dr. Reid at the Pennsylvania School Library Association’s annual conference this spring. Her workshop will demonstrate how PRX can be used as a tool for understanding databasing and metadata, and as a resource in the classroom.

Dr. Reid is also collaborating with North Carolina lawyer and former English professor Dr. Mary Brown-Scott to create a course in which students map PRX pieces to National Council of Teachers of English standards and North Carolina educational standards.

Check out Dr. Reid’s profile on PRX.org

We’re excited about Dr. Reid’s work with PRX in the classroom, and encourage you to use PRX in ways we haven’t thought of, too. So how are you using PRX? Drop us a line and who knows—your ingenuity could find your story on our blog as well! Just email us at: info (at) prx (dot) org.

Tags: featured members

Ford grant to SRG for PRX technology, content, and capacity-building

Jake posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 | Blog, Press Releases | No Comments

As posted to the Station Resource Group list:

User-focused technology, new investments in content, and key steps toward sustainable, independent operation are the focus of a new Ford Foundation grant to SRG in support of PRX: The Public Radio Exchange. Ford’s $250,000, one year investment supplements the Foundation’s ongoing support of PRX as part of five-year, $50 million initiative in public media. Here’s what we will do:

Technology

In addition to ongoing upgrades to the core PRX web site and technical platform, Ford support will help us:

· Expand the PRX member directory into a searchable skills database, helping connect content creators for freelance and production opportunities

· Make use of user experience, so that station staff, producers, and listeners will be able to create their own playlists of audio pieces on PRX, helping curate and organize collections of works for use online and for broadcast

· Integrate web delivery of content with our broadcast-centered work and streamline the ability of stations and other site operators to integrate on-demand content geared towards local or issue-based themes.

Content

$50,000 of Ford’s support will go to PRX’s Content Venture Fund, joining an initial $100,000 investment by the MacArthur Foundation earlier this year. The Fund enhances the existing PRX marketplace with new incentives for content creators. It also establishes a dedicated funding pool that PRX will bring to other public media funders as a matching opportunity for projects that would otherwise be too small or difficult to fund, such as “reversioning” archival works for digital distribution or providing royalty advances for completing new works..

Organizational Capacity and Sustainability

Ford funds will be used for two key steps towards PRX’s independent future:

· First, PRX will work to increase the use of, and revenue from, its many services. A new business development position will spearhead a series of initiatives that are tied to existing services and new capacities of PRX 3.0, with the aim of generating transactions and activity that result in both sustainable direct revenue and mission-driven distribution and access goals.

· PRX is establishing its own board to govern, support, and help lead its growth and bring a wider circle of perspectives to its work – 6 to 8 national leaders from public broadcasting, technology, business and nonprofit sectors. We will also convene facilitated advisory meetings that bring together stakeholders and representatives from key user groups and constituencies and review and update PRX’s multi-year business plan.

This new grant is an affirmation of the terrific work and innovative efforts of the PRX team and the forward –looking commitment of the Station Resource Group in nurturing this ever-evolving project. Congratulations to all!

Tom Thomas
Terry Clifford
Co-CEOs, Station Resource Group

CPB Congratulates PRX on MacArthur Award

admin posted on Monday, April 14th, 2008 | Blog, PRX in the News, Press Releases | 1 Comment

http://www.cpb.org/pressroom/release.php?prn=643

For Immediate Release April 11, 2008

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Congratulates the Public Radio Exchange on its MacArthur Foundation Award

Washington, D.C. — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) congratulates the Public Radio Exchange (PRX) for receiving a MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.

Established by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions recognizes and invests in small, emerging nonprofit organizations around the world that demonstrate exceptional creativity and effectiveness.

The MacArthur Foundation announced PRX was one of eight organizations in six countries to receive the award “by gathering and distributing new programming and using technological innovation to expand content choices, PRX is leading public radio to become more interactive, diverse and democratic.”

“PRX has transformed the way content creators deliver their product to the public radio marketplace,” said Pat Harrison, CPB president and CEO. “PRX has developed a unique service that has led public broadcasting along the pathway to emerging media and opened a pipeline of innovation that benefits stations and listeners. It’s fitting that they’ve been recognized for their creativity and leadership.”

About PRX: The Public Radio Exchange is an online marketplace for distribution, review and licensing of public radio programming. PRX is also a growing social network and community of listeners, producers and stations collaborating to reshape public radio. The mission of PRX is to create more opportunities for diverse programming of exceptional quality, interest and importance to reach more listeners.

About CPB: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,000 locally-owned and -operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related online services.

PRX selected for MacArthur Foundation Award

admin posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 | Blog, Press Releases | No Comments

We are totally thrilled to share this news!

The MacArthur Foundation has selected PRX as one of its 2008 recipients of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.

“Public Radio Exchange (PRX)/Station Resource Group – Cambridge, Massachusetts: By gathering and distributing new programming and using technological innovation to expand content choices, PRX is leading public radio to become more interactive, diverse, and participatory.

PRX is taking public radio in new and stimulating directions, giving a larger dimension to one of America’s most important intellectual resources.

PRX will use their $500,000 grant to establish a cash reserve fund, a content venture fund, and to develop new technologies.”

Read the full press release here.

MacArthur Announces 2008 Winners of Award for Creative and Effective Institutions


Chicago, IL (April 10, 2008) – Continuing its tradition of encouraging creativity and building effective institutions to help address some of the world’s most challenging problems, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced today that eight organizations in six countries will receive the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.

These nonprofit organizations have diverse missions – from helping public radio thrive in the digital age to defending human rights in Nigeria to seeking a more fair juvenile justice system in the United States. Still, they have much in common. All are highly creative and effective organizations that have made an extraordinary impact in their fields, while driving significant change on a modest budget. Each organization will receive up to $500,000, a large sum considering their annual budgets are under $2.5 million. The organizations will use their new funding for a range of purposes, including purchasing new office space, developing training and research facilities, upgrading technology, and undertaking new research.

“From its founding, the MacArthur Foundation has sought out people and organizations that have the creativity, energy and breadth of vision to change the world for the better,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “These imaginative and influential small organizations have an impact altogether disproportionate to their size. They are addressing problems and injustices, finding fresh solutions, and proving themselves as leaders and innovators.

Make sure to read about the other remarkable recipients of this award here.




How is PRX planning to use the award?

3 areas over the next 2 years:

1) Strengthening the Technology: PRX Version 3.0. $150,000.

PRX’s core asset is the web application and related technology that are integral to its distribution, review and networking services. Early in its planning PRX made an important strategic decision to make software development a key internal capacity, demanding expertise throughout the organization and a commitment to ongoing technical innovation.

Few nonprofits have excelled at developing their own technology that can perform at scale as Internet applications. It requires an ability to attract and retain talented software developers and technical specialists in related roles. It also requires an ability to translate the dynamic nature of Internet-based technology to the programs, activities and economies of the nonprofit sector.

PRX has invested in two major cycles of development of the core technology platform, managing to stay abreast of relevant web trends and techniques, while focusing on the basic needs of our target users.

PRX is currently developing version 3.0 of its custom software, making a fundamental shift from Java — the well established language for large-scale web applications — to the web’s most promising open source technical platform for social network and media applications, a language and framework called Ruby on Rails. A vital feature of the Ruby platform is the ability for software engineers to more efficiently and creatively develop applications and new functionality, drawing on an emerging community of open source developers sharing leading uses of the technology.

In addition to these back-end improvements there are several important new features and functionality:

talent network: PRX is expanding the member directory to become a searchable skills database, helping connect content creators for freelance and production opportunities;
playlists: users will be able to create their own playlists of audio pieces on PRX, helping curate and organize collections of works for use online and for broadcast;
direct donation: PRX will create an individual donation system, streamlining support from the listening public directly to the producers of pieces on PRX. As an alternative to paid access and advertising, direct donation will be an opportunity to experiment with new revenue models for creative content.

2) Content Venture Fund. $100,000.
PRX pays royalties and other fees to hundreds of independent producers and other content creators — over $650,000 to date — through an online marketplace that brings broadcasters, producers, and online services together to buy, sell, share, license and recommend radio works directly from each other. As a result PRX is a very efficient means of supporting public media content creators.

In addition to fees generated by these licensing transactions PRX is uniquely positioned to provide seed funding for other kinds of content creation, such as “reversioning” archival works for digital distribution or providing royalty advances for completing new works. PRX has managed two successful reversioning rounds already, distributing over $100,000 to dozens of producers and stations and demonstrating a clear opportunity for this service.

Examples of recent reversioning projects include:

The Migration Project, a youth radio special combining stories about border crossings from youth groups across the country, presented by KUOW in Seattle and licensed by 17 other stations.
Award-winning producer John Rudolph completing work on an ambitious documentary history of the New York City Police Department, in time for the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11 and broadcast by WNYC.

PRX is unique among networks in public media in actively promoting an open model, not asserting exclusive rights in content, and developing a “long tail” approach to distribution that encourages new voices and niche creators to participate.

The Content Venture Fund enhances the existing PRX marketplace with new incentives for content creators. It also establishes a dedicated funding pool that PRX will bring to other public media funders as a matching opportunity.

3) Capital Reserve. $250,000.
PRX will establish a capital reserve as the first step in a growth capital campaign for further expansion of services over a multi-year period. PRX has begun working with the Nonprofit Finance Fund Capital Partners on a planning and design phase for the next phase of PRX’s development, and this initial capital reserve allocation helps set a benchmark for subsequent investment.

After six years under the leadership of seasoned public radio professionals on the Station Resource Group board of directors, PRX is establishing its own board to govern, support, and help lead its growth and bring a wider circle of perspectives to its work.

PRX will cultivate and recruit 6-8 national leaders from public broadcasting, technology, business and nonprofit sectors to serve on its board. Funds will support this board development work and the facilitation of initial board strategy sessions, along with board travel and meeting expenses.

PRX will also convene facilitated advisory meetings that bring together stakeholders and representatives from key user groups and constituencies, such as independent producers and station staff.

PRX’s initial work was guided by a multi-year business plan that helped clarify value propositions for different constituencies, set priorities in the sequencing and scale of activities, and informed the case for philanthropic support. PRX will renew its business plan to guide activity through the next several years, building on accumulated experience since launch and a new assessment of the environment.

PRX is also actively pursuing high-impact relationships with other leading entities in the digital public media sphere, up to and including potential mergers and acquisitions. The business planning and investment in organizational capacity will help guide the exploration and pursuit of these opportunities.




Watch this video for a short overview of PRX:

Introducing the PRX campaign curators

Andrew posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 | Blog, Introductions, Press Releases | No Comments

Contact: Jake Shapiro, Executive Director
617 576-5455
jake@prx.org

PRX is pleased to introduce two Campaign Curators who will help lead PRX’s contribution to the recently announced Public Media Election Collaboration.

Campaign Audio Curator
Charles Lane is a freelance radio and print reporter who files frequently with WSHU, NPR new magazines such as Justice Talking, Here & Now, as well as VOA, Radio Netherlands, and Soundprint. He also writes for the Religion News Service, Catholic World Report, and Penthouse (!) among others. His fourth full-length radio documentary will be distributed by Soundprint this spring, and his fifth will be distributed on PRX in mid-March 2008.

Charles’s reporting has been funded by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media, and the PRX/NEA Reversioning Fund. He studied Patristic History at Oklahoma State University. He now lives in Harlem with his wife and her cat.

As Campaign Audio Curator Charles will work with PRX to find, select, annotate, and promote public radio and other audio material on Campaign ‘08 and related issues. The collection will include produced pieces, interviews, raw audio from campaign appearances, issue-based and local or regional stories that can be edited or excerpted for re-use by stations and other project partners. An initial campaign collection is underway and located here: http://www.prx.org/articles/905

Social Media Curator
Katherine Bidwell is a producer and writer who most recently worked for Open Source, the pioneering public radio program that actively integrated blogging and “web 2.0″ approaches in the production, presentation and promotion of the show. She was also a producer for NPR’s “The Connection” and has worked for a number of environmental nonprofits and as a freelance editor. Katherine lives in Watertown, Massachusetts.

As Social Media Curator Katherine will work with PRX to discover, review and promote citizen media and “user-generated content” from blogs, YouTube, podcasts and other sources. Selected content will be showcased on local and national public media websites.

About the project

Public media has a unique opportunity to cover Campaign 2008 and elevate public engagement around critical issues at stake nationally and locally.

The democratization of the tools for creating and distributing media has resulted in an explosion of conversation, connection and content. This in turn creates a critical need for ways to sift, filter and find value amidst irrelevant or even harmful expression.

One important role is to use public media’s presence and journalistic values to showcase and highlight examples of the diverse range of content and conversation already taking place online.

While the CNN/YouTube debates are the highest profile attempt so far to incorporate participatory media into coverage of Campaign 2008, there are few focused efforts to help audiences navigate the growing ocean of “user-generated content” to find relevant, important and revealing voices and perspectives.

This social media curating project is an experiment to explore approaches to this task, in the context of a critical national moment of a presidential election.

For the election audio project, we will help bubble up stories that otherwise might get lost in the shuffle, create an collection for timely use during the campaign season as well as a helpful archive for further evergreen and “long tail” opportunities in the future.

With the proliferation of audio on-air and online there’s a critical role to play in sifting, sorting, curating and promoting the best of what’s available. The PRX campaign collection will be a vital resource for public broadcasting stations, partners and the public.

About PRX

The Public Radio Exchange is an online marketplace for distribution, review, and licensing of public radio programming. PRX is also a growing social network and community of listeners, producers, and stations collaborating to reshape public radio. The mission of PRX is to create more opportunities for diverse programming of exceptional quality, interest, and importance to reach more listeners.

Read more about PRX here http://about.prx.org

PRX is a collaboration of the Station Resource Group and Atlantic Public Media, with support from public radio stations and producers, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Surdna Foundation, and Google Grants.

Zeitfunk 2007

Genevieve posted on Friday, February 1st, 2008 | Blog, Press Releases, Zeitfunk | No Comments

The Zeitfunk results are in! 2007 was a truly exciting year for PRX. More pieces were licensed by stations in 2007 than any previous year: over 8,000. PRX attracted 14,079 new members, and racked up over 1,000 new reviews.

Thousands of public radio fans helped us find three of the “hostiest” new talents through the Public Radio Talent Quest. And we re-launched the Generation PRX site so it’s more interactive and encourages social networking among the dozens of youth radio groups already participating.

Image by Kaibara87

Congratulate our 2007 Zeitfunk winners. Scroll down to view more results in each category.

And, don’t miss the most popular piece lengths, “Favoriting” facts, weird Google searches, state and country membership stats, or staff yearbook awards and haikus!

The Hostiest Public Radio Talent Quest Contestants
Al Letson, Glynn Washington, and Rebecca Watson

Most Licensed Producer
Paul Ingles
(more in this category…)

Most Licensed Producer Group
Listener Directed Productions
(more in this category…)

Most Licensed Station
WXPN
(more in this category…)

Most Licensed Piece
The Two Sides of Sgt. Pepper: An Honest Appraisal from Paul Ingles
(more in this category…)

Most Licensed Series
Compact Discoveries from Fred Flaxman
(more in this category…)

Station that Licensed the Most Pieces
KXOT
(more in this category…)

Most Previewed Piece
My Lobotomy from Sound Portraits
(more in this category …)

Most Active Reviewer
James Reiss
(more in this category…)

Most Reviewed Piece
The Latvala Files: Hangin’ Out in the Vault from Justin Grotelueschen
(more in this category…)

Most Reviewed Youth-Produced Piece
Being Black from Radio Rookies
(more in this category…)

Most Licensed Youth Piece
The Migration Project: A Youth Radio Special from KUOW and Generation PRX
(more in this category…)

Most Popular Fundraising Piece
The Invisible Infrastructure of Radio from WNYC
(more in this category…)

Top Debut Indie
William Zukof/Western Wind
(more in this category…)

Most “Favorited” Piece
The Emergence of Joni Mitchell from PRI and Paul Ingles
(more in this category…)

The first-place winners will receive trophies in the mail. We’ll have a virtual award ceremony with pictures coming soon!

Some observations: As with last year, the top three or so in each category were very clear winners; after that, we had many tied places. Below you will see the top ten winners listed in most categories. Some categories only have two, three, or five places. We did this to accommodate the large gaps after clear winners, when there were more than four users or pieces tied for the same place.

We also added a few new categories this year: Most Favorited Pieces, Most Reviewed Youth-Produced Pieces, and Top Debut Indies. The Top Debut Indies are the producers and producer groups who joined PRX in 2007 and had the most pieces licensed.