In his article Only
half the story: Radio drama, online audio and transmedia storytelling, Lance
Dann first discusses radio shows and how in the past, they were mainly
programmed and controlled by big networks such as the BBC. Networks like BBC
had much autonomy over the shows, and “producers had to work within the
strictures of BBC’s schedules and systems of commissioning” (Dann 142).
He then talks about the rise of more
independently produced radio shows where producers are free from the
bureaucratic networks and have all the decision power when it comes to the
scheduling of the show, audience the show targets, or even how scenes are cut.
At the same time, however, these producers of these more independent radio
programs are also independently responsible for the financing, the marketing,
and the distribution of them, meaning that they cannot rely on receiving help
from major radio networks. Dann also writes about his personal experience
on producing his own show, The Flickerman.
When reading the article,
especially when I came across Dann’s experience producing The Flickerman, I
was reminded of a very intriguing podcast I enjoyed before called Welcome to Night Vale. It is a bi-weekly
show that chronicles the newscasts of a mysterious and spooky southwestern town
called Night Vale and is produced by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Like the
many major network-independent producers Dann mentions in the article, Fink and
Cranor find their own means when it comes to producing Night
Vale. In a 2014 interview with WNYC, the pair mentioned
that they recorded episodes in one of their apartment and used free software
application Audacity to record their voices. Also like the many independent
producers, Fink and Cranor also upload their episodes to computerized mediums
such as itunes or podbay.
The biggest concept in
Dann’s article that can be drawn to Welcome to Night Vale is
transmedia storytelling where a story “possesses a pervasive quality that is
intended to permeate the audience’s daily lives” (Dann 147). A radio show
that exhibits transmedia storytelling is one that has its story exist in
multiple mediums beyond the radio show it originated from. In other words, the
story of that radio show could exist as a novel, a website, or even a film.
The Flickerman, from Dann’s article, is a great example. Having been on its website,
Dann’s production exists in not only a radio form, but it also exists in novel,
journal, and even web media(featuring a blogsite and a google map widget of the
story’s setting) form. When on the homepage for Welcome
to Night Vale, I found that in addition to being a radio show, it was also
in the form of a novel and a live show. It also existed in apparel form, for
the website had a link to an online shopping site that sold clothing related to
the podcast.
After reading the article,
I compared Fink and Cranor’s Welcome to Night Vale, a podcast that has become so popular, to
the article’s podcast The Flickerman, and after noticing many of
their similarities in characteristics such as how they were produced, I came to
a conclusion that I believe will occur. Independently produced radio shows,
rising in popularity today, will not only be on the rise in present time, for
they will completely overtake mainstream and big market radio shows. Think
about it. They are so popular right now despite not being back by a major
studio and have even the abilities to have more downloads and listens than
major network radio shows. In a matter of time, independent podcasts will be
the dominant force in radio.
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