In the news this week is how Jelli, the user driven online radio player, is now broadcasting live in Las Vegas on 2 stations, Jelli 96.7 (KYLI-FM) and Jelli 94.5 (KXLI- FM), 24/7. For those uninitiated with the Jelli online experience, listeners can, according to their website, “tune in and vote real-time with other listeners to decide what plays – online and during the live radio broadcast.” What gets voted higher moves to the front of the pack and that which “sucks” (their word) moves down on the list and possibly off the station forever. Listeners can vote online, on Facebook, and from their mobile devices – “completely powered by the social web,” says CEO Mike Dougherty.
The Jelli + radio concept has already been applied to radio dayparts in short order on stations such as Live 105 in San Francisco, but Vegas will be the first 24/7 station programmed this way. 100% controlled by the listener daypart in, daypart out.
It will be interesting to see if listeners can create compelling content all day and night, non-stop, forever, amen. Under traditional radio rules (you know the ones we live by that determine whether we succeed or fail with ratings), the 24/7 Jelli experiment seems destine to fail. I am sure the vultures are already hovering waiting to pick at the bones when it comes apart with a lot of ‘I told you so’s.’
Parts of the problem are that these 2 stations are on fringe sticks that do not have clear market signals. Those that can pick up the signals will have to determine whether they should spend their time voting for songs or finding some other entertainment in Las Vegas — If there is anything else to do in Las Vegas. Vegas may be the wrong market since Jelli will be over-shadowed by the countless other entertainment options.
As for programming, there will be a lot more ball-ups in the music lanes than with a scheduled station. Jelli programming will not have any controls to balance era, or currents, or tempo, or daypart. Certain songs on Jelli will be voted up again and again by the passionate few who spend more time online than the rest of us. Of course, with market research we see that the popular songs rise to the top, so I suspect that in the Jelli popularity contest really won’t let in any avant-garde artists from left field. The hits will live on Jelli too but the variety will seem limited.
The listening experience, in my opinion, will be excellent for a few, and a marginal for most. Radio programming isn’t rocket science, but it is a science and adherence to the rules usually brings the best success.
For one, I admire innovators that try new things risk stepping out in new directions so I don’t want to come across as a basher when we could be looking at a great new case study that can open new doors. I like Satellite radio, and Pandora, HD radio, and other services that bring listeners options. I also have downloaded countless apps that give me music at the click of a touch screen. I imagine you have too, but still prefer traditional Marconi wireless. So, for radio keeping up with the times, it seems to be normal evolution to link social media and traditional media – and admit it, you better have been thinking of ways to do this at your own station. Best to keep an open mind and look for some ideas to take away and bring back to our own stations. Perhaps we are all too good with the current rules of the radio game to be open-minded to Jelli. But, the future is here and Darwin is putting pressure on the dinosaurs.
I remember watching this TV news story some years ago about a guy who set up his family room TV so that his kids would have to pedal a stationary bike to get the electricity flowing and keep the TV on. It was user driven TV in one household where effort begot reward. When the kids wanted to watch something, they started pedaling to keep the TV set on. The story explained how at first it was a novelty and the kids enjoyed it, but quickly it became work and theybegan watching less and sought their entertainment elsewhere. Is that the fate of the Jelli broadcast? Will the constant pedaling for entertainment grow tiresome and the listeners seek entertainment elsewhere? Will the listeners stay if someone else is doing the pedaling? And who are those doing the pedaling? We will have to see how this plays out.