Friday, March 1, 2013

Report: Radio Guru Turns Podcast Curator


The man who made a fortune bringing the Super Bowl, Bill O'Reilly and Grateful Dead concerts to listeners nationwide via their local radio stations has returned to programming. But now he's bypassing conventional radio.

Norman J. Pattiz, who created and turned Westwood One into one of the biggest and most recognizable radio networks in the country, is this week launching PodcastOne.com, a one-stop site that offers shows from hundreds of online broadcasters for listeners to browse and download.

"You can't look at radio as a bricks-and-mortar operation, and consumed on a radio over a certain frequency," Pattiz told the LA Times. "That's a recipe for disaster. So much of radio is being consumed online, and on the Internet."

Podcasts are shows available online that listeners can hear on their computers or download to their smartphones, iPods, tablets or other devices. Unlike conventional radio, a podcast can be saved, stopped, replayed and consumed at the listener's leisure.

Pattiz said PodcastOne gives him "the opportunity to put out content to a mass audience, without the constraints of having to convince a program director or a station group."

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