The negative blow-back that WGBH is getting from listeners about the recent program changes is to be expected. In a way we in public media enable a sense of ownership over the programming through our membership campaigns. We ask listeners to become activists when we ask for their support, and they become invested. Despite the fact that ratings, loyalty figures and support dollars may be below what is needed to sustain programming, there those who did invest who will feel alienated by the changes.
Take a look at the article from the Boston Herald By Daniel Gerwetz and then drop down to the comments. Recent changes at KUT in Austin and WDET in Detroit have led to similar protests.
You can make changes for all the right reasons, but for some listeners those reasons won't matter. They're felling a sense of loss and betrayal. Management and the major stakeholders need to be prepared and be able to weather the storm.
To be sure there are other issues surrounding the changes made by WGBH. Not the least of which is the question; is there room for two public radio news and information stations in the Boston market. WBUR is well established as the NPR news station. WBUR's ratings are four times that of WGBH according to the Herald article. WCRB's ratings were three times that of WGBH. That made their NPR news service and classical music service second choice among both audiences. Being second choice directly affects the stations ability to raise listener sensitive income. In a down economy difficulty raising listener support is not a comfortable position to be in.
Take a look at the article from the Boston Herald By Daniel Gerwetz and then drop down to the comments. Recent changes at KUT in Austin and WDET in Detroit have led to similar protests.
You can make changes for all the right reasons, but for some listeners those reasons won't matter. They're felling a sense of loss and betrayal. Management and the major stakeholders need to be prepared and be able to weather the storm.
To be sure there are other issues surrounding the changes made by WGBH. Not the least of which is the question; is there room for two public radio news and information stations in the Boston market. WBUR is well established as the NPR news station. WBUR's ratings are four times that of WGBH according to the Herald article. WCRB's ratings were three times that of WGBH. That made their NPR news service and classical music service second choice among both audiences. Being second choice directly affects the stations ability to raise listener sensitive income. In a down economy difficulty raising listener support is not a comfortable position to be in.
Re "Take a look at the article...".
ReplyDelete1. Re "management and the major stakeholders need to be prepared and be able to weather the storm."
A. If the PUBLIC is not a major stakeholder of PUBLIC radio, who is? Please define "major stakeholder", I sense "corporate underwriters", but will give you the benefit of the doublt until I read your response.
B. In the two years from the time the radio broker approacehed WGBH to pitch purchasing WCRB, WGBH management did not involve the folk and blues communities, and pulled the plugs on the canceled shows in less than three weeks. Talk about being out of touch with the community!
2. The Boston Herald's article is 6 weeks overdue. A lot of the storm's intensity has subsided. For a more accurate view of the public's reaction, read the posts made by the 1200 memebers of "Supporters of folk and blues on WGBH" in Facebook, starting the day the programming changes were announced (12/7/09).
The major stakeholders are usually those who work for the station or are a part of the board. They have to deal with the storm when it comes. They need to be on-board with any change before any action is taken. As you are aware, the cries if dissent can be intense.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if WGBH sampled the opinions of the current membership or their corporate partners before they made the change in order to get an idea of what the impact would be.