Zeitfunk 2008

Here are the annual Zeitfunk awards — this time for 2008. Each spring we release the results of the "mostiest" stations, producers, and listeners for the previous calendar year. It's like a zeitgeist — only funkier!

2008 was a great year: PRX won a MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, launched PRX 3.0, moved twice, and prepared to become an independent non-profit. Two of our Talent Quest winners got CPB funding, we documented the presidential campaign (remember that?) with an archive of campaign audio and a blog. To top it off, we celebrated PRX's fifth anniversary at the PRPD conference in Hollywood, and hosted our dance party at the Third Coast International Audio Festival.

And, PRX stations, producers, and listeners continued to make us what we are: a growing community of public radio lovers looking to expand opportunities and audiences.

Congratulations to our winners — trophies coming soon! Scroll down to view all winners in each category and PRX stats and fun facts.

Zeitfunk 2008 First-Place Winners

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Complete Zeitfunk 2008 Results

For each category, the first few places were usually quite clear, but after that there were a lot of ties. Some categories, therefore, only have three or five places; this accommodates large gaps after clear winners, when there were many people or pieces tied for the same place.

You can learn more about the winners by clicking on their links.

 

Image by Alex

Most Licensed Producer

Which individual producers had the most content licensed by stations and outside purchasers in 2008? Here, we combine all producers into one gargantuan final report card.

1. Fred Flaxman
2. Philip Nusbaum
3. Pat Florez
4. Paul Ingles
5. Robert Karl Skoglund
6. Jamie Hoover
7. Curtis Fox
8. Peter Bochan
9. Sarah Elzas
10. David Freudberg

 

Most Licensed Group

Groups are not stations, but are small or large collections of producers. Here are the groups that had the most content licensed by stations and outside purchasers in 2008.

1. Vinyl Cafe
2. NPR Music
3. LA Theatre Works
4. Joyride Media
5. Listener Directed Productions, Inc.
6. Radio Netherlands
7. StoryCorps
8. National Endowment for the Arts
9. Hearing Voices
10. 800 lb. Productions

 

Most Licensed Station

Stations are big producers of content, and these stations sold the most work on PRX in 2008.

1. WXPN - Philadelphia, Pa.
2. WNYC - New York, N.Y.
3. WFIU - Bloomington, Ind.
4. WHRV - Norfolk, Va.
5. KUOW - Seattle, Wash.
6. Kansas Public Radio - Lawrence, Kan.
7. KUT - Austin, Texas
8. WBEZ - Chicago, Ill.
9. KQED - San Francisco, Calif.
10. WGUC - Cincinnati, Ohio

 

Most Licensed Piece

This is the PRX best-seller list. Regardless of the producer, which individual pieces were the most licensed by stations and outside purchasers in 2008? All bow — here are the Zeitfunkiest.

1. The Bo Diddley Beat: The Music of Bo Diddley and His Disciples from Paul Ingles
2. American Purgatory: Political Asylum in the Age of Terrorism from Sarah Elzas
3. Tie:
   Picking Up the Pieces: Veterans Day Special from Prime Time Radio
   Jack's Last Call: Say Goodbye To Kerouac from Sue Zizza (combines clean and explicit versions)
4. War and Place from Liner Notes
5. Peace Talks Radio: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Path To Nonviolence from Good Radio Shows, Inc.
6. Our Time: Teens and Politics from KUOW and Generation PRX
7. Three-way tie:
   Humankind: Meeting Hate With Love — Stories of King and Gandhi from David Freudberg
   Brazil Rising from The Stanley Foundation
   Max Roach — Drums Unlimited from Ben Shapiro
   
8. Tie:
   Saving The Sierra from Catherine Stifter
   Jump for Joy — Duke Ellington's Celebratory Musical from WFIU
9. Tie:
   The Clash: Revolution Rock from Joyride Media
   Dear Martin: Jazz Tributes to Martin Luther King Jr. from WFIU
10. Four-way tie:
    Carole King: Tapestry from Joyride Media
    Sand, Still in My Shoes from Liner Notes
    HEAT — George Carlin from Murray Street Productions
    Church Music from Charles Lane

 

Most Licensed Series

Series — a special breed: weekly, monthly, occasional. More than a piece, that's for sure. Which series attracted the most licensing by stations and outside purchasers? Now we know!

1. Vinyl Cafe from Vinyl Cafe
2. Compact Discoveries from Fred Flaxman
3. Blues & Beyond from WXPN
4. The Play's the Thing from LA Theatre Works
5. Virtuoso Voices: Funders from Listener Directed Productions
6. Jazz Profiles from NPR Music
7. The Bluegrass Review from Philip Nusbaum
8. Jazz Masters Moments from the National Endowment for the Arts
9. StoryCorps from StoryCorps
10. 11 Central Ave from 800 lb. Productions

 

Station that Licensed the Most Content

Big or small, there's always a station need that PRX can meet. Here's the proof: These are the stations had the most hunger for PRX content.

1. KXOT - Tacoma, Wash.
2. WSNC - Winston-Salem, N.C.
3. Tie:
   KOSU - Stillwater, Okla.
   KUOW - Seattle, Wash.
4. WNPR - Hartford, Conn.
5. WBEZ - Chicago, Ill.
6. KUT - Austin, Texas
7. WMNF - Tampa, Fla.
8. WNCU - Durham, N.C.
9. Tie:
   New Hampshire Public Radio - Concord, N.H.
   KUFM - Missoula, Mont.
10. KZYX - Philo, Calif.

 

Most Licensed Debut Producer

Consider this the "best new artists" category on PRX. These are the individual producers who were new to PRX in 2008 who sold the most pieces.

1. Sue Zizza
2. Charles Spira
3. Addie Goss
4. Bill King
5. Nathan Kupel

 

Most Licensed Debut Group

Here are the groups who were new to PRX in 2008 that sold the most pieces.

1. Liner Notes
2. Backstory with the American History Guys
3. A Way with Words
4. Sing Out
5. Are We Alone? SETI Institute

 

Most Licensed Youth-Produced Piece

We have hundreds of youth-produced pieces on PRX. Here are the ones that were licensed the most by stations and outside purchasers.

1. Our Time: Teens and Politics from KUOW and Generation PRX
2. Perceptions Shattered: African American Masculinity from WBEZ, Generation PRX, and the NBPC
3. Chasing the Crescent Moon: The Story of Dr. Frempong and Sickle Cell Disease from Aaron Schwartz

 

Image by Pietro Sanchirico

Most Listened-To Piece

Of course you know — we let anyone come to PRX and stream any piece for free. Here are the pieces that were listened to more than any others.

Our new listening data is more refined than in the past years', so these are the most listened to pieces from the date of PRX 3.0's launch on Nov. 21, 2008, to the end of 2008.

1. The White Album Listening Party: Revisiting The Beatles' Top-Seller from Paul Ingles (combines the listens of the newscast and non-newscast versions)
2. Joe Strummer's London Calling - Episode 1 from Joyride Media
3. Joe Strummer's London Calling - Episode 2 from Joyride Media
4. Joe Strummer's London Calling - Episode 3 from Joyride Media
5. A Musician's Life: Tegan and Sara from WXPN
6. Joe Strummer's London Calling - Episode 4 from Joyride Media
7. Austin Music Unlimited Holiday Special - Home for the Holidays from KUT
8. Just Another Fish Story from Salt Institute for Documentary Studies
9. Good Friday: Lincoln's Last Day from Craig Wichman
10. Chasing Love from Miguel Macias

 

Image by noggin_nogged

Most Active "Commenter"

PRX lets anyone who registers post comments about pieces on the site to give producers valuable feedback and to help stations see what listeners enjoy. These are the PRX members who commented the most in 2008.

1. James Reiss
2. David Srebnik
3. Robert Karl Skoglund
4. Margo Kropp
5. Scott Meyers

 

Most Commented-On Piece

Which pieces and programs got the most comments from listeners in 2008? Here they are — the programs that generated the most typing!

This data includes comments from 2008 only. Some comments may have since been removed by their writers.

1. Serbian Church Choirs: A Musical Tradition from Cissy Rebich

   "This piece provides a rich portrait into one of the core fabrics of the mosaic that is America..." -Nicholas Prodanovich   read more

2. Tie:
   My Dad and Pre-Socratic Thought from KUFM

   "Rib-tickling. Refreshing. Insightful. Cracks me up! Induces humorous family images in the same vein as 'A Christmas Story'..."
   -Renata Birkenbuel   read more

After the Forgetting from Erica Heilman

"A beautiful and touching piece that reminds us that love has no limits..." -Nina Curtis
read more

3. Four-way tie:
   Bonjour Chanson from Charles Spira

   "What better way to travel a cultural road but in the presence of a charming host and beautiful music?" -Elizabeth Long   read more

   Democracy Yes, Change No from WAER

   "I felt like it was...very informative about all sides of the issue. It was very careful not to be biased..." - Kristian Rodriguez   read more

   The White Album Listening Party: Revisiting The Beatles' Top-Seller from Paul Ingles

   "Thanks for revisting this piece of art history. Still amazing today." -Ski Sullivan   read more

   Radio Lab Show 405: Pop Music from WNYC

   "...a credible candidate for your midday schedule, post-ATC and for weekend airings. The driving pace of audio probably places it later, rather than earlier in the day..." -David Srebnik   read more

 

Image by Margarida

Most "Favorited" Piece

People love to save their favorite PRX pieces so they can listen to them again later. These are the pieces that were most added to PRX members' Favorites playlists. (Learn more about playlists.)

1. Joe Strummer's London Calling - Episode 1 from Joyride Media
2. Dylan: Blowin' in the Wind from Joyride Media
3. The Emergence of Joni Mitchell from Paul Ingles

 

PRX Stats and Facts

Image by Ben McLeod

In 2008, PRX had...

• 8,810 pieces licensed by stations and outside purchasers
• 19,831 new members
• 863 new reviews/comments

As of April 2009, PRX has...

• about 150 member stations
• 77,000+ individual members
• 19,891+ published pieces and over 35,000 pieces in five years
• paid just under $850,000 in royalties in five years
• had 1.4 million+ downloads of the Public Radio Tuner iPhone app

Weird Google Searches

We have pieces on every topic on PRX, so seeing how people get to our site is always entertaining. Here are a few funny Google searches that have brought people to PRX. (See last year's weird Googling for more laughs.)

• is it possible to read minds
• handsome men
• cooking camel
• turkey hunting tips
• mother daughter dresses
• alaska fashion
• shoplifting 101
• cat bath
• tater tots history
• turkey butt
• wishy washy people

Staff Yearbook Awards

PRX employee...

• who should tell her crazy stories at the Moth: Kerri
• who can bake amazing cookies, install a new hard drive in your computer, and give you investment advice in the same day: Robert
• who could now be hired-out by IKEA to build office furniture: Emily
• who can outlast anyone at any PRX social event: John
• who can win foosball and deploy an iPhone app at the same time: Matt
• who is the best elevator and under-desk tap-dancer: Andrew
• who always goes big and just doubled his household size: Jake
• who likes to keep the office at sub-tropical temperatures: Genevieve
• who would open a PRX-Europe office in Paris if we let her: Rekha
• who gets to support the cutest PRX producers: Jones