"We make a considerable step forward, it seems to me, when we use a system of broadcasting which promises that the mediocre will not survive" Lewis Hill

Without regard to his political beliefs, a great many of the suggestions made by Lew Hill in his 1951 writing "The Theory of Listener-Sponsored Radio" merit the attention of today's media professionals. "Listener sponsorship is an answer to the practical problem of getting better radio programs and keeping them" wrote Hill. "The play's the thing" so said Shakespeare, it was ever thus. You may find an excerpt from Hill's writing here

Michael S. Malone, the Boswell of Silicon Valley, writes...

Let me make a prediction. Five years from now, the blogosphere will have developed into a powerful economic engine that has all but driven newspapers into oblivion, has morphed (thanks to cell phone cameras) into a video medium that challenges television news, and has created a whole new group of major companies and media superstars. Billions of dollars will be made by those prescient enough to either get on board or invest in these companies. At this point, the industry will then undergo its first shakeout, with the loss of perhaps several million blogs — though the overall industry will continue to grow at a steady pace.

And, at about that moment, Forbes will announce that the blogosphere is the Next Big Thing for investors.

Michael brings a wealth of experience and, most importantly, he brings perspective. As the good doctor Gary Hamel has said "perspective is worth ten IQ points" You will find Michael's writing, an ABC News commentary, Silicon Insider: Forbes Fumbles the Blogosphere here

While we're at it allow me to recommend yet another Fred Wilson post. Fred has seen the future of media and offers "The Future of Media (aka Please Take my RSS Feed)"...

Leaving aside the rights issues, which I know are large, if I were a television executive right now, I'd take my content, microchunk it, put a couple calls to a video ad server in the middle of it, and let it go whereever it wants to go, safe in the knowledge that whenever the show is viewed, I'll get to run a couple 15 second spots in the middle of it (which I could change whenever I wanted to and which I could measure).

This is where media is going and its not going to be stopped. Read the entire post here

LA Theater Works offers up a fresh production of the classic "War of the Worlds" the H.G. Wells writing, adapted by Howard Koch. Leonard Nimoy, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner and fellow cast members from the TV series “Star Trek” recreate this classic science fiction thriller, which became known as the “panic broadcast” when it first aired in 1938. Via 89.3 KPCC Radio here

From the writings of the legendary genius Larry Haeg ("Haeg's 10 Program Concepts as Proposed to Arthur Hall Hayes")...pure gold...

2. If we are doing things the same way today as we were last season, we are behind the times. Find a better way to reach the same objective.

3. The best promotion for building audience is the sound we are making on our air right now. Guard that air. Make the sound "right". You can't correct it later.

10. Ideas are our stock in trade. Contribute new ones without fear as to who will get the credit. As we pool ideas and fit them to the most appropriate personalities and programs, all of us will prosper.