BOB: A Short Subject Renaissance

In my neck of the woods around the Norfolk, VA area, we have a radio station that plays nearly everything. WPYA-FM is known around these parts as BOB-FM, one of the first "BOB" stations in the country, named after Bob Sinclair, owner of a chain of radio stations around these parts. The BOB phenomenon has spread throughout the country with two different names. Some call their station BOB. Others call their station JACK. New Yorkers are pretty ticked that WCBS-FM has changed its format from an "oldies" format to a JACK format. There's another BOB I'm interested in, and it's this new network currently in the planning stages.

It's name is BOB.

BOB stands for Brief Original Broadcasts. Apparently taking a cue from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim franchise, BOB will populate its network with short-subject programming. BOB will air comedy, drama, action, animation, and everything inbetween. Nothing's longer than eight minutes, and the lineup isn't quite so linear. One minute, you'll see a comedy piece (probably within a minute's time). The next couple of minutes, you'll be seeing a action segment, ala a classic movie serial. There won't be an hour of comedy followed by an hour of drama with about 30 minutes of cartoons to go. In short, BOB may actually inspire a renaissance in short-subject programming not unlike the golden age of cinema. And you'll never know what you're going to get. So, they're just like the BOB radio format - - -they'll play anything.

Want to learn more about BOB? Head over to http://www.watchbob.com and learn more about this interesting network, and tell them that you want it to become a reality. And I swear I'm not an employee of BOB. Just a fan who knows a revolution when he sees one.