TALKING THE TALK

Alan Levy, CEO BlogTalkRadio

As blogging becomes increasingly popular Alan Levy takes the phenomena a step further with the introduction of a new concept. He tells Niamh Mac Sweeney why blogging radio is the next big thing.

As Ireland recently hosted the second Annual Blogger Awards, hundreds of budding writers, who’s online diaries range from political to business to humorous and personal journals, were short listed for blog awards indicating a growing trend in the bloggersphere phenomena.

With blogging becoming increasingly popular “citizen journalists” are finding a voice and an audience and are engaging and sharing opinions in a global domain. According to one American entrepreneur, Alan Levy, founder and CEO of BlogTalkRadio, the face of media is changing and there are millions of bloggers involved in the saturation of blogs.

Sowing The Seed

The seed of inspiration for BlogTalkRadio was sown when Levy first set up a blog for his father who was ill at the time. Levy created a blog so that family and friends could keep up to date on his condition and could post messages to him while he was in hospital. Amazed by the comments on the blog and the realisation that there were 50 million blogs online, Levy quickly deduced that while it would be interesting if blogs could talk he knew no such thing existed.

“Bloggers spend hours and hours in their passion communicating in the written word, but I thought about giving them the ability to engage an audience in a live and real time manner and have that conversation archived as a podcast. That is how I created BlogTalkRadio,” Levy explains.

Breaking Barriers

The first radio blog of its kind, Levy says that this is a fascinating medium and a new means of communication for individuals right across the globe. According to the innovative entrepreneur, it is not just bloggers who are embracing this global phenomena, but politicians, unions, and non-profit organisations to name but a few. Levy maintains that everybody has the ability to engage and communicate with audiences who live lives in real time.

“What blogs did to newspapers blog talk radio could do to the broadcast medium be that radio or TV because blog talk radio will incorporate video into the programme,” Levy says.

Embracing The Endeavour

The initial first steps required Levy to work on the technology behind the blog, but he was very confident that his aim was achievable. “We said yes we can host these shows, we can stream them, we can archive them, we can build the website and make the website in such a way that people can just come on and sign up themselves and we can offer it for free. We have 25 hundred registered hosts on BlogTalkRadio and we have only be up and running in the last five months,” he admits. The concept of talk blogging has grown very quickly in a short period of time, attracting bigger audiences, high profile hosts and a greater level of credibility for the content of the shows.

Building Bridges

Because 50% of all revenue generated from a personal blog goes to the host, Levy maintains that this approach is beneficial to all involved. He explains, “the host has the ability to build an audience and we help that host build an audience. Then the host can market their product by targeting their products to their audiences. We can share revenues that are generated on the blog shows so if you have a show we can upload audio commercials to the show itself just like regular talk radio and that host would have an opportunity to share in that revenue.”

Anyone Can Do It

There are no limits to the type of hosts that can produce their own shows. “If there is a politician in Ireland that wants to host a show they will be able to do that and listeners can call in with questions so it is very global,” Levy says. While anyone can become a host, he does warn that the more popular shows will be given the prime time slots, determined by the number of listeners they receive.

Defining Success

According to Levy empowering people and giving them a voice to talk and be heard is his driving force. “It is the conversation that counts and that is what BlogTalkRadio facilitates, it empowers people to speak to one or speak to ten thousand. Its a fascinating dynamic there is something very exciting about creating a platform that has never been done before,” Levy reveals.

With more than 750,000 listeners BlogTalkRadio runs 80 live shows a day. With these numbers set to continue to rise its obvious that people all around the word have plenty to talk about and plenty of eager ears willing to listen.

IRISH BLOG AWARD WINNERS

THE NUMBER OF IRISH PEOPLE BLOGGING HAS INCREASED MANY OF WHICH WERE RECOGNISED FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS AT THE IRISH BLOG AWARDS 2007 Best Videocast: Size Matters, Allyn Quigley Best Personal Blog: RedMum Best Designed Blog: Beaut.ie Best Group Blog: In Fact Ah Best Podcaster: EdgeCast, Conn O’Muineachain Most Humorous Post: Countdown to Next Election, Twenty Major Best Podcast: An Lionra Best Political Blog: IrishElection.com Best Business Blog: Ice Cream Ireland Best Music Blog: Nialler9 Best Current Affairs Blog: IrishElection.com Best Arts and Culture Blog: Sinead Gleeson Best Sport Blog: Tom’s Sporting Almanac Best Photo Blog: Headphoneland Best Technology Blog: Bernie Goldbach Best Specialist Blog: Ice Cream Ireland Best Use of the Irish Language in a Blog: Hilary NY Best Blog Post: You may feel a small prick, Conor Bandon Best Newcomer: Beaut.ie Best Blog: Twenty Major