How Not To Program A Radio Station With Podcasting

Infinity station KYOU in San Francisco launched its podcast format at 6 a.m. today with 445 shows in the bank and a process that almost dares people to listen. First, you have to jump a registration hurdle that include questions like where are you listening from (work, office, school, other); how many employees in your company (assuming everyone who listens works at a company); first and last name; and email address whether you simply want to listen or want to submit podcasts to be aired. User names and passwords must be chosen. Would-be podcasters must verify their e-mail address — that actually makes sense. The opt-in box for emails from KYOU is already checked, a practice used/abused far too often. The good news: the registration system can be gamed. The bad news for Infinity: it can be gamed.
Ready to listen? Click on the Listen Live link for word that your computer configuration is “incompatible” with “our audio service” because there’s no ActiveX plug-in to allow its sonixtream software to run. (The problem is my version of Firefox. If you’re willing to go through the process, use IE for the first run.) That will take you to a page so complicated that anyone who has made it that far will be tempted to cut their losses and run.
Did I mention that the station programmed by the people with podcasts for the people doesn’t offer an RSS feed for podcasts of its programs or direct traffic to links for the podcasters? Yeesh.

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