SDRNews-HL

I need to put a production hold on the new short form programs that were introduced in December of 2008. They do not seem to be gaining traction from a subscriber standpoint that I need to balance the increased cost and effort of production. And that additional strain on resources could put the main SDRNews program in the lurch. This "production redirect"  will enable efforts in two new directions: building up the long form CMSWeekly show and creating a Special Events Feed to allow RSS subscription of the videos,audio, and specialized content that comes out of event coverage for trade shows and seminars.   In more normal times, (pre Reset-Recession) I would have continued to invest time and resources in the hopes that the word would spread through the regular SDRNews program and through listener recommendations. Given the current situation, I have to pull the plug and go to more productive tasks. Like in most things, you gotta hit your numbers. And this time I didn't. Thanks to the listeners who sampled the new programs. The framework is still there to turn the channels on again, but to do so will require some major ideas on how to get them to grow quickly and add to the business overall. Thanks for listening and giving the short programs a shot . And, thanks for helping SDRNews to grow. Tell your friends  ;)

Listening to Customers It occurs to me that Microsoft and the Detroit car companies have some degree of similarity, with both giants suffering through some down times because they listened to customers. One got slapped down just a little bit faster, and the other will have a longer road to recovery. Detroit enjoyed a good fifteen year run - cresting in the early 2000's-  producing SUV's. They were listening to customers who were voting with their pocketbooks, in spite of the CAFE driven sedan products. In fact, at least one of the Big 3 privately said that their strategic intent was to get out of the car business, and concentrate on building products that were both desired by customers and were highly profitable. In order to keep the marketing machine moving - and with the assumption of continued low gas prices, vehicles like the Hemi-powered SUV were pulled back from the grave. Those customers were served up by a dealer network, parts suppliers and other stakeholders. They all had a part of the SUV business. At the same time that auto makers were listening to their customers, Microsoft was doing the same: Listening to their customers. Getting trounced on security loopholes and the media production capabilities by Apple, the game plan was to  make Vista the "Most Secure OS ever". In order to get the type of content that Apple had negotiated with the studios, Microsoft sought out the content protection / DRM armoring that the studios and producers demanded. In order to keep suppliers firmly in the Windows camp, Vista was engineered to pull through ever increasing levels of memory and processing hardware upgrades. XP was ready for the trash-heap. Those customers were served up by a dealer network, integrators, suppliers and other stakeholders - particularly in enterprise accounts. They all had a part of the PC refresh business. Both camps have had a slapdown. I guess you have to listen to a wide spectrum of customers - not just the ones that you like to listen to.        

While the new GDrive is tempting, you really need to have your own cloud storage strategy that you  control physically and administer independently.

The $6B broadband stimulus bill will bring out lobbyists who will try to grandfather in obsolescent technology such as twister pair copper and coax. Will the new administration mobilize their new media expertise to do what is in the long term interest ?

SDRNewsroom introduces a new weekly program for job seekers.