"Marvelous Mark" Is Back On The Air!

Dave M. alerted me to an e-mail he got from "Marvelous" Mark Larson, regarding his return to the air, albeit via the Web.  I will share the e-mail here with you, complete with the Web links for his daily broadcast:

"Hello, "Cherished & Valued Listener," fans and enemies....

If you are receiving this email, it's because you were included in my email address book. I apologize if you are receiving this more than once. Some of you have provided an address with a different "handle" or alias, which may not have been weeded out as a duplicate.

The Tampa Bay broadcast business climate, and for that matter, national broadcast business climate is basically no better now than it was a year ago. Budgets are still being slashed, large and small companies leveraged themselves to the moon during the boom and are still up to their eyeballs in debt load; and many of us traditional broadcasters who have worked behind the microphone or camera are not very encouraged by what we see. In fact, ABC just announced another round of cuts last week for the TV side.

On the other hand, Internet media continues to expand. Streaming audio, video and "podcasting" is free from the shackles of bad corporate behavior and also free from many of the government constraints on terrestrial or "over the air" broadcasting. Right now, over 42 million listeners a week are hearing their favorite shows online. With the expansion of wireless/mobile Internet service, that number will grow, along with advertising revenue. Generally speaking, wherever there are cell phone towers, there is wireless Internet, allowing those with iPhones or "Smart Phones" to listen to online shows in the car. This fall, some carmakers will be installing the first in-dash Internet radios, something I predicted years ago. That "Aux" jack on the front of existing car radios and tiny car radio "converter" attachments for MP3 players and smart phones, have already allowed webcasters access to cars for some time.

I love radio broadcasting. But there is now only one serious talk format player in the market. So, thanks to the encouragement of many of you, I am going to fire up a new show on Monday at:

http://www.markinthemorning.com/

The advantages are: Unlike satellite radio, it's free. You can start, stop or pause the show anytime if someone or something interrupts you. With a wireless smart phone or a cheap (under $30) MP3 player, you can take the show wherever you go, including in the car. And it's CD quality.

My web site and radio audience data always showed my biggest web traffic and listening between 7:30AM and 9AM -- the peak morning commute time. So I will have each day's podcast ready for listening/download at 7:30AM. Of course, you can get the show anytime during the day or night -- anywhere in the world!

And I even sprang the big bucks for a toll free call in line, so you can still call The Fone Zone to rant! (See the "Contact" page on www.markinthemorning.com )

Thanks again to all of you who have sent all of the good karma (sorry, I grew up in the '60s) and support. I would not be doing this if wasn't for you. But now I have a request for you. If you know anyone on your email list who enjoys talk radio, please let them know about the new podcast. While there are tons of you on this mailing, it will take tons more to make the show viable. The show's content is national, so please spread the word. The weather page has been expanded for the entire U.S. We are even slated to have U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R- SC) on the show Wednesday. And yes, our ol' pal Mike Schiano is back with us on Fridays for the week's financial wrap up.

Please visit the new web site and look for the "Podcast" button on the front page.

All the best,

Mark Larsen"

 
I was able to listen in this morning, and on the archived mp3 files, as well!  Congrats to Mark, great to hear you "on" again!
 
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)