Nathan Lubeck » KCRW

KCRW iPhone Applications Released

Nathan Lubeck — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:18:41 +0000

After much hard work, Apple finally approved a set of iPhone video applications from KCRW (for In Studio on Morning Becomes Eclectic and Good Food). Both apps cost $0.99 and proceeds go to supporting KCRW.

There were quite a few components of the project that needed to come together in very short period of time: the overall look/feel of the applications (including functionality), RSS news feeds and events, the video media, subscription section, and analytics.

Design and Functionality
Using an outside company to develop an application can sometimes limit design somewhat. We went through various iterations of the splash screen and over-all look/feel. The icons and brand recognition were particularly important — especially since there are numerous applications associated with the KCRW brand. An important aspect of the main navigation was the ease in which listeners can join the station.

News and Event Feeds
Our primary website developer created a custom RSS feed in Plone specifically for the iPhone. Users can now stay up to date with Good Food and music related KCRW events and the RSS feeds can be used for other projects.

Video Format
Media is encoded in H.264 and uploaded to our CDN at 640×480 then auto-transcoded into high and low versions. The application detects bandwidth and serves appropriate versions.

Analytics
Pinch Media provides the (almost) real-time analytics on usage and uptake.

Subscribe to KCRW
A feature that was later removed was a “join” section. All KCRW applications were to include a section for member support but it was later found out that Apple doesn’t allow this functionality built into the application. The original plan was to host this section on the KCRW servers for easy updates. I used iWebKit_4.5.3 to make the website — which would’ve eventually been integrated with a secure mobile Ecommerce solution for the iPhone. Magento was an obvious option (with an iPhone skin already available) but found the integration with non-profit CRM systems lacking.

COMING SOON: A KCRW Fringe Benifits application for members, and a tricked out media player…

KCRW Acquisition Campaign

Nathan Lubeck — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:32:30 +0000

Recently setup an email acquisition campaign where sign-ups are verified through a two step process and users are sent an iTunes code to download the new KCRW Mix. Acquired sign-ups are exported in CSV and imported into CRM software. The system is entirely integrated into Plone (email templates and all) and the confirmation/verification emails are sent locally through white listed servers. Referrers are user inputted but also tracked based on URL.

It’s a great mix, go here to sign up and stay on top of KCRW events. All emails have an opt-out if you would like to stop receiving updates.

McCabe’s at 50 Nominated

Nathan Lubeck — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:11:18 +0000

The McCabe’s at 50 Plone page I created is a finalist in the 2nd Annual National Entertainment Journalism Awards by The Los Angeles Press Club for Best Feature Online.

UPDATE: The McCabe’s page was beat by the LA Times — it’s still pretty cool to have been a finalist.

KCRW Tracklist System

Nathan Lubeck — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:54:08 +0000

Just completed the new KCRW tracklist system. Instead of the old (and outdated) table based static system, KCRW.com now has an auto-updating tracklist complete with AJAX effects, integrated ads, RSS feeds, etc…

NEW FEATURES
User Experience: A significantly improved user experience through better design and functionality.

Search: Unlike our previous playlists these pages are fully searchable with data going back to 2006. Want so search by artist, song, label, channel, host, date you can do it.

Sharing: Track lists for specific shows and custom searches can now be bookmarked on your browser or shared with friends on Facebook, MySpace, etc.

MP3 Ecom: Auto search Amazon and iTunes with “buy now” links

Also: DJ Comments, Band members (when there is a live performance), and advertisement support (two banner sizes that mirror the KCRW media player for consistency)

I created the design in-house and outsourced the html/css production. The application was programmed by two independent developers. Project managed in Basecamp.

Check it out at http://newmedia.kcrw.com/tracklists

UPDATE: It seems even with pinging Feedburner their RSS feed is still only updated at 30min intervals. Looking into a locally hosted/cached way of offering a feed. I’m also working on updating the usablility based on the feedback the KCRW interactive team has been getting.

LRC Live

Nathan Lubeck — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:51:58 +0000

This coming Sunday at 5PM I’ll be working with Interactive Producer Rob Lafond to do a live webcast of Left, Right, and Center Live at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. We’ll be using Flash Media Live Encoder and Limelight Networks to stream live video via Flash Player. Check out KCRW.com Sunday to watch Arianna Huffington, Matt Miller, Robert Scheer and Tony Blankley discuss the current state of politics — the show will be simulcast over the web and on the air.

Kyte.tv Mobile Content

Nathan Lubeck — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:20:32 +0000

A few months back I contacted Tesa from Kyte.com to find a way for volunteers during the KCRW pledge drive to interact with listeners. We setup a webcam streaming volunteer comments via branded Kyte player and received around 150,000 player hits in a week. Since then the station purchased Nokia N95 8gig phones to hand out to producers at various events. We can now produce quality mobile video content on the fly (even live streaming video if need be). So far we’ve gathered behind the scenes content from the Democratic National Convention, Republican National Convention, and now CMJ08 from New York. There’s a Kyte application for Symbian phones as well as the iPhone. Also, a Facebook app for social networking sharing, chat and audio comments from within the player, and embed codes.

Guest DJ Art

Nathan Lubeck — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 23:07:17 +0000

The Guest DJ Art I designed was featured on NBC.com. Check out the audio sets at the KCRW guest DJ Page (including Conan O’Brien, John Favreau, Danny DeVito, etc) — The “mic” branding at top I designed early this year.

KCRW Media Player featured on Adobe

Nathan Lubeck — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:52:24 +0000

KCRW Media Player

The Flash based media player we at KCRW and Digitaria worked so hard on was featured today in Adobe’s Customer Showcase as the “Site of the Day”

Previously mentioned in Wired and given a Webby honorable mention. The player serves up on-demand and live video through a CDN network. Ads and pre-rolls are served through Castfire.