Shifts In Radio Listening Habits

The Personal People Meter…the new method for measuring radio listening habits…is changing the classical music landscape. Two high profile changes came about last year when WCRB and WQXR were sold to public radio stations. Recently KING-FM in Seattle reported they would change to a non-profit status and take donations. According to KING-FM, advertisers were no longer willing to support the station. At least in the numbers needed to sustain the programming.

A New York Times article by Stephaine Clifford from December 2009 (Never Listen to Céline? Radio Meter Begs to Differ) asserted that classical music fans listened to classical music on the radio a lot less than they had been reporting under the old diary method.  My experience in Connecticut would seem to confirm that. When the station I worked for started getting information from Audience Research Analysis (ARA), the Audigraphics information was adjusted to eliminate diary keepers who seemed to be listening to our station 24 hours a day. Eliminating those four or five diary keepers per quarter had a minimal effect on our weekly cume, but it had a great impact on core loyalty figures and station use figures. It was the first evidence I had that diary keepers were willing to put down what they thought should be in their diaries rather than a true reflection of their listening habits.

Do I listen to Celine? The answer is yes, but only if I have to. It depends on who I am with and who has control over the radio. If I’m riding in the car with my sons, I get to listen to a lot of hip-hop and urban contemporary. That is not my preferred format, but if I had a PPM device on my belt, those station would register as part of my listening habits. Under the diary system, because I did not choose hip-hop, I might not have put that station down as part of my listening. Under the PPM system, my listening might be considered collateral damage depending on your point of view.

According to research from The Radio Research Consortium, it turns out most of us listen to about 12 radio stations on a regular basis. That three to four times as many as previously thought under the old diary method. The common wisdom was that most of us shared our listening with three or four stations. In actuality we spend a lot less time with our favorite station than previously thought.

The resulting lower numbers means that advertisers are gravitating to stations that do better on the PPM system. According to the article in the Times, Country, Oldies and News have fared better. Niche formats like Smooth Jazz and Classical have not.

PBS, NPR Stations Get $10M Infusion for Local News

ABC News is reporting that five regional news efforts...collaborations between NPR stations and some PBS outlets...will get funding to enhance local news coverage. Funding is coming from CPB. 50 multi-media journalist will be hired. The funding will be available to the five regional hubs for the next two years. The program is an effort to bolster serious journalism which has been in decline in the past few years as newspapers continue to cut back.
In this two year period the stations involved in the project will need to find ways to make initiatives self-sustaining.

KPCC Poised For A Larger Role

An article by Steve Carney in the LA Times from March 20th highlights the station's willingness to take on a larger role for the communities it serves. Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) is furthering it's community involvement. KPCC is reinvesting in news and information at a time when most news media is cutting back.

• Tripled Its Audience
• Invested in a New Facility
• Hired Reporters
• Added Regional Programming
• Tapped the Support of Its Board

Without serious investment from the board and their network of contacts KPCC and SCPR's growth would not have been possible. Board Chairman Gordon Crawford touched on the core values of public radio. There is a belief among those who value public radio that civil discourse can empower us to find solutions. "Using these public airwaves for a public service that's devoted to discussing the issues of the day is kind of critical to our democracy," Crawford said. "Hopefully, the more we learn about each other, the better we'll get along."

PPM and Music Stations

There's an interesting article in Radio Intelligence by Sam Zniber and Emmanuel Legrand. In it they caution stations, "Get prepared for PPM, it’s going to change your business." Among the points they make is to be consistent with your programming, including your music selection.

• Learning #1: Check all your loose ends – everything matters!  If you have a weak morning show, it will affect your whole day; if your music programming lacks clarity and consistency, you will lose pockets of listeners; if your hosts fail to catch the public’s attention, you will pay the price instantly.
• Learning #2: Morning shows still lead - a great morning show will drive the entire day. To avoid losing listeners, programmers should allow specific times for specific features.  With PPM, setting appointment times for specific features is vital as it gives a compelling motive for listeners to tune-in on a daily basis.
• Learning #3: It’s (still) about the music - While PPM may give you some indications about the songs that work and those that don’t, what matters is consistency and clarity in your music output. You cannot tempt listeners with one format and deliver the wrong music.
• Learning #4: Success is in the package - This goes back to point 1. It’s all in the execution. And it has to be perfect. In a world of PPM and digital music streaming available for free, smart radio programmers understand that the assembly of the product is what makes music radio unique and exciting.

The difference between growing your audience and watching it slide away is in the details.

LA Public Media mission: to create new multicultural audiences for public radio

Okay, but wouldn't it be more effective to create a format (stream of programming) with consistent appeal? I'm hoping they have more planned than a one hour show. Reaching a younger, more diverse audience is important and a laudable goal. (I found this in Current.)



Oscar Garza, senior assignment editor for the Los Angeles Public Media Service, is "one of those people who's been around for a while and his perspective is key to helping understand Los Angeles," writes KCET blogger and KPCC reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, in this Q&A about the newCPB-backed start-up. Garza is a 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles Times and former editor in chief of the glossy magazine Tu Ciudad. Los Angeles Public Media's mission is "to create new audiences for public radio," he tells Guzman-Lopez. "Public radio has a couple of problems. One is that their audience is older and getting older, their average audience. And they're not very diverse. It's an overwhelmingly Anglo audience." The new service will target listeners aged 25-40, and the ethnic mix will reflect the multicultural life of the L.A.: "[B]ecause of the diversity of the city . . . generations . . . are accustomed to living in this multicultural, diverse environment . . . , they're not just living in this Latino bubble. We all have Asian friends, African American friends." Los Angeles Public Media, a project of Radio Bilingüe, plans to launch a daily one-hour radio show and online news service later this year.
posted at 9:46 AM EST

Sustainable Local Programming

The relationship between programming and the willingness of the public radio audience to support and sustain it hinges on the content. 

Content providers need to be well versed in the core values of the audience and their expectations in order to deliver consistently appealing programming. Walrus Research and CPB released an interesting report in the mid 90's about audience expectations. The report was based on hundreds of focus groups conducted by George Bailey. Many of the points in the report were expanded on in the Core Values research done by the Public Radio Program Directors Association in the early 2000's. "The Qualities of “NPR” News Loyalists" gave insights into who the NPR news audience is and what they are looking for. In that report Bailey talks about how our efforts can fall short of audience expectations and the consequences of program content that comes up short. "We’ve done several news tests, rather formal A/B comparisons of network stories vs. packages produced by stations. News loyalists want local public radio news to match the network quality of news judgment, writing, presentation and depth." They also want the local reporting to reflect the world view they expect from public radio. According to the report, the educated listeners make connections between world events and what's happening in our communities. The news content provided by public radio should always go beyond local "since we are all connected to our history, society, economy, culture or environment."

Disappointing the audience means they will tune away. The more they tune away, the less likely it is they will give. If you are in a market with competing public radio news stations, the audience is more likely to be loyal to the station that best meets their needs. With this programming now available on many platforms from many sources, it is even easier to the audience to have their needs met without listening to the local stations.

With so many options, it is important for stations to distinguish themselves with their own content. Because of the expectations of the audience, the content still must meet their standards. 

Healthcare Debate on Public Radio

Living in a state that leads the country in the cost of healthcare insurance costs has peaked my interest. This year rates for those in healthcare plans will go up about 13%, and rates for those who get health insurance individually will go up more than 20% in Connecticut. There is rational discussion about the debate. I found it on public radio.

• The Takeaway offered some fact checking on the statements made by our leaders at the Summit.
• The GOP is saying they were set up by the Healthcare Summitt. That is, they were set up to lose more than the filibuster. The issue of a reconciliation bill came up. There's a lot more about that from On The Media.
• On Morning Edition, Steve Inskeep interviewed Cokie Roberts this morning about next steps for reform minded Democrats. The Democratic leadership is pondering a reconciliation bill to get around the issue of a filibuster.

I found this coverage to be much more informative than the televised summit. The summit was filled with political posturing. The analysis offered by public radio gave me insight.