CBC.ca/Radio monetizing public content

CBC.ca/Radio is becoming a shopping mall, an itunes portal - a static encyclopedia of brand name URL place-holders.  The path ensconced:  Privatization, Digital Locks, and prison terms for 'Illegal Listening'

Of coarse we all know the conservatives have finally found some people at the top of the CBC that they can work with towards their dream of privatizing the CBC.

But to sell CBC it has to turn a profit, or at least break even. To push the institution towards this end, the majority Harper government (and before that, the Mulroney government) has been cutting CBC funding in every budget that they could. This directed an impetus by management to find other sources of revenue.

Now the push to monetize CBC.ca is in full swing.

Last year the CBC show "Wiretap" went from posting all their content online, to now, a brief window. Recent shows are up for 3 weeks - after which they disappear behind an itunes paywall.

I haven't been following the internet exsistance of "The Debaters" (another of my favourite shows) - so I don't know the history of their progress behind the paywall. All I can tell you is, as of now they offer 1 minute long snippets from each show. All content at "www.cbc.ca/thedebaters" is behind an itunes paywall. This is another way to copyright one's content on the web - these are audio URL place holders.

www.cbc.ca/thedebaters -
"Menopause & Home Ownership"

Why does this suck?

Today's installment of The Debaters had a segment on Home Ownership, "Is it better to rent or to own?" (each show has 2 topics up for debate, each runs about 15 minutes).

I thought that posting this show online at "Occupy Toronto Market Exchange" would be a good fit. But with out a link to content I'm whistling in the wind.

Instead of aggregating interested people to CBC radio content, the note in facebook becomes a plaintiff to get rid of the paywall. A negative experience tallied for CBC; and a negative experience for viewers of my stream, and my brand: 'the tech guy who LINKS EVERYTHING' - takes a hit. CBC, my reputation, and my listeners, lose.

So we go from what the internet is all about - links - to what broadcast was/is all about, sequestering content and doling it out at a specific time and date. The broadcast model doesn't work on the intent - the real internet isn't just another place to put a television screen - it's a way for producers and consumers to exist in the same place - out of which may come brand new content we cannot imagine.

(click to see bigger)

http://www.facebook.com/OccupyToronto/posts/305033589561298?notif_t=feed_comment

The broadcast model is nothing like what the new model promises - cooperation, communication, creativity - while broadcast offers deception, hidden content and a frustration of creative urges caused by this black boxing or "black magic" approach.

Why even have a website for "The Debaters"? (I know, so someone else doesn't steal the the brand, a place holder in the web.)

As is, the website is 'Web point Zero'. It's not as good as it's Wikipedia entry (which someone else at the collaborative has written). The Wikipedia article is a much better way to get info on the show than the show's own CBC/Radio page: it has no synopsis; it's a list of itune shopping opportunities; and an annoying audio player that brands Steve Patterson's voice in 59 second audio teases. Bounce!

But what I want from www.CBC.ca/radio is not a Wikipedia entry, I am expecting an interactive user Experience! For the most part, that means spreading the "magic" to my friends effectively, through the social tools - the social networking devices (FB, Google+, Twitter, Blogging.). From my experience that means a taste --- an entire episode embedded on my social network of choice best represents 'a taste' of a production --- and a link back to more of the same. (Then perhaps, a yearly archive that is behind an itunes paywall.)

The future of the internet is still unfolding - what it is going to be is still unclear - but we do know what it isn't.  From recent experience we know the future of the web is NOT what CBC radio's entire web presence is now --- a static encyclopedia of brand name URL place-holders.



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