The CBC Faces Controversy and Cuts

Ottawa's Globe and Mail does a good job of explaining the issues facing the CBC. The CBC is going to be taking cuts in funding as the conservative Tory party looks to cut the governments deficit. Right now the CBC is funded $1.1 billion by the government to fulfill its mandate.
There are also fears that Troy calls to privatize the CBC would damage the service. A group called Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is mounting a defense of the service.
You can read more in the Globe and Mail.

CrowdSourcing and CrowdFunding Combined

American Public Media Buys Spot.Us

American Public Media announced they have bought Spot.Us. APM will use Spot.Us within its Public Insight Network.

Spot.us uses crowdfunding to fund journalism. At their website they explain it this way:

Spot.Us is a nonprofit project to pioneer “community powered reporting.” Through Spot.Us the public can commission journalists to do reporting on important and perhaps overlooked topics. Contributions are tax deductible and we partner with news organizations to distribute content under appropriate licenses.

The Public Insight Network uses a network of 130,000 sources to add depth and texture to their coverage. PIN explains it this way:

Every day, sources in the Public Insight Network add context, depth, humanity and relevance to news stories at trusted newsrooms around the country. American Public Media provides journalists with the tools and training to tap our growing Network of more than 130,000 sources, engage their own audiences, and produce high-quality journalism. Using our industry-leading platform, journalists and citizens reach beyond pundits, PR professionals and polemics to inform themselves and each other, strengthening the communities they serve.

There's more information about the partnership at Mediabistro.com and NetNewsCheck.com.

Broadcasters at Odds In Helena

Haggling over sharing agreement imposed by the FCC is holding up completion of a new radio station in Montana. Last Chance Public Radio Association and Calvary Chapel of Helena are ordered to come up with a sharing agreement. That has not happened.

The issue is further complicated by challenges by other religious groups including Family Stations, Inc. Family Stations gained attention this year for its prediction that the world would end May 21, and then another prediction that the world would end in October. There was conjecture that Family Stations, Inc was having financial difficulties after the Harold Camping prophesies proved false. (He has since apologized.)


Saying that this is complicated might be understating the issue. It could take years to sort out. All of this to reach a potential audience of about 29,000 in Helena.
You can read more here in helanair.com.

Hartford Metro Drops Rank

This and That

According to the Arbitron Ratings Service, the Hartford Metro is no longer in the top 50 markets. Recent ratings releases show the Hartford Metro has fallen to number 52. In the 2010 Census Hartford County actually had a population increase of 4.3%. The increase was  not enough to increase the growth in other markets. The Hartford New Haven DMA is still ranked 30th. Market rank and population help determine the rates commercial radio and television stations use for advertising. Public broadcasters also use the market designations as a benchmark for hiring staff.

WNPR is the top ranked public radio station in the Hartford Metro. Nobody else is coming close.
According to Arbitron and RRC (Hartford Metro PPM Person's 6+ October 2011):

WNPR     4.1% Share

WJMJ      1.4% Share

WFCR     0.9% Share

WYBC     0.9% Share

WQTQ     0.7% Share

Everybody else is listed as having a 0.1% share. WNPR may be benefiting from the way PPM collects information. PPM picks up actual listening among those chosen to be in the sample. The diary method used recalled listening. Under the diary system, WNPR used to run neck and neck with WJMJ and WFCR in the Hartford Metro. WNPR's decision to focus its format on Public Radio News and Information from a split format also has helped improve its share. WFCR's numbers in the Hartford Metro are skewed by it's signal. WFCR's signal covers the northern half of the Hartford Metro. Signal strength also skews WNPR's coverage. WNPR effectively covers the southern two-thirds of the Hartford Metro. 

WNPR recently reached an agreement with WAIC and American International College to broadcast on their frequency out of the Springfield area. The added frequency fills in some of the holes in the northern part of the Hartford Metro for WNPR.

A Market Opportunity
The region's only full-time AAA station, WRNX, Amherst recently switched formats to Country Music. WRNX has a weak signal into the Hartford Metro, but could be heard in the northern portions of the Market. A full-time AAA station might be an opportunity for a non-commercial station in the Hartford and Springfield markets. WRNX used to pull in between a 1.5 and 2.0. WRNX is owned by Clear Channel.

WPR - St. Norbert Poll Creates Buzz

Check out the buzz surrounding the latest poll published by Wisconsin Public Radio and St. Norbert College. The poll comes at a time when the recall petition for Governor Scott Walker gains momentum.
I have a link to one of the stories here.

Wisconsin Public Radio is using the poll results for news stories, their Ideas Network and on-line. Poll results has also been picked up by media through out the state.

It's a remarkable partnership between two cultural institutions.

Other stories can be found by searching "WPR St. Norbert."
Here's a sampling of what I found...
From the Chicago Tribune  Poll shows most favor recall of Wisconsin governor
From WPR's Ideas Network 
From the Ashland Current
From the Huffington Post   WI-Walker Recall: 58% Remove, 38% Keep In Office (St. Norbert/WPR)
From WLS, Chicago Wis. Legislature approval rating rises to 37 pct.
From the Green Bay Press Gazette Approval ratings rise for Wisconsin Legislature

Chart: States Squeeze Funding for Public Media - The Atlantic

Chart: States Squeeze Funding for Public Media - The Atlantic

The funding battle at the federal level is quite prominent. The rhetoric from the current crop of presidential hopefuls all seem to support cuts in funding for public broadcasting.

There have been significant cuts at the state level. New Jersey, Florida, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania have cut out all state aid. The cuts are putting more pressure on stations to raise funding from listeners. Not all stations are prepared for the sudden cuts in funding.

The chart linked to in the Atlantic shows what has been happening to public radio funding from state governments since 2008. The chart comes from "On the Chopping Block" a report published by the advocacy group Freepress.

"State funding cuts have had perhaps the greatest impact on stations' capacity to provide unique local programming, which is expensive to produce. In many rural states, the loss of state support could mean drastic reductions in locally produced programming and news. This would be especially devastating in areas that local commercial broadcasters have left unserved or underserved."

NY Times Blog Reviews In-Car Streaming System

For those who can afford it, you'll be able to stream music in your car. Gadgetwise contributor Sam Grobart reviews the system (MOG) available in a high end BMW for the New York Times. There are a couple of telling comments about public radio. Grobart says the music on public radio is a lot better than commercial radio but, can be inconsistent. He also mentioned "the possibility that you’ve stumbled into the minefield of boredom and haranguing that is Pledge Week." 


Those two observations are related.

• Listeners were telling us in 1998 that they disliked public radio's fund drives. 
• Your audience audience data will tell you about the consistency or inconsistency of your content. 
• Inconsistent quality of content leads to longer fundrives.

Can Partnerships Save Joint Licensees?

There have been some financial collapses over the past two years among public broadcasting's joint licensees. 

WMFE-TV is being sold to a faith based broadcaster while hanging on to it's radio operations.

NJN collapsed completely. The state of New Jersey decided they could no longer underwrite the operation with tax dollars. Their assets are now under the control of New York and Philadelphia stations.

As of August San Mateo Community College District said it was offering KCSM-TV up for sale. KCSM radio will remain a part of the school district.

WKAR in East Lansing saw deficits grow dramatically. The result was cuts in staff and a growing involvement by Michigan State, the license holder. It was announced this week by State News.com that WKAR and Michigan State will be offering "students a chance to engage in public broadcasting operations, such as TV and radio production, along with opportunities in public relations, branding and sales."


WJCT in Jacksonville Florida is also running deficits. They announced this week they are exploring a partnership with the University of North Florida. "WJCT, UNF in talks about partnership."

 The Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network (CPTV/WNPR) announced a partnership with Hartford Public Schools. The press release says, "The total immersion” learning laboratory where seniors at the district’s Journalism & Media Academy will receive continuous hands-on training in all aspects of television production and other forms of broadcast communication under the guidance of CPBN professionals.  Construction on the project is expected to begin in 2012." There's a video that helps promote the project.


Will partnerships with educational institutions save public broadcasting? The partnerships certainly improves their chances. Collaborations and partnerships that strengthen community ties among non-profits and educational institutions increase the value and standing of these cultural institutions.

WJCT Seeks a Partner

News Four in Jacksonville is reporting that WJCT is talking with the University of North Florida about a partnership. Michael Boylan, The President of WJCT, hopes the partnership will revitalize WJCT. Their funding has dropped considerably in the past few months. The talks are in the preliminary stage.

Partnership Talks

Partnership in Georgia Results in Important Series

Georgia Public Broadcasting, The Southern Education Desk, and The Juvenile Justice Information Exchange are teaming up on a radio series about bullying. The four part series began airing today. There's more at the jjie website and at the GPB radio site.

Reading Service for Visually Impaired Goes Quiet

The reading service for the visually impaired in Montana is going off the air. Despite low overhead and signals provided by Montana Public Radio and Montana PBS, the service could no longer meet its costs.
There's more information from the Deseret News and from The Missoulian.

SEO and Public Radio

I was doing a search on stories about the power outages in Connecticut. Around 800,000 power company customers were without power after the pre-Halloween storm. Many of those customers were still without power last night, the seventh night after the storm. Because of the slow response, CL & P (Connecticut Light & Power) has come under increasing criticism.  I was curious about how the public radio stations were covering the story. I went to Google and typed in CL & P and Connecticut Light & Power.

When I did a news search under CL & P, I scanned through 15 pages. When I searched under Connecticut Light & Power I scanned through 15 more pages. The primary NPR news stations serving Connecticut, WNPR, WSHU and New England Public Radio, did not appear.

A disclaimer or two - When it comes to website optimization, I'm a neophyte. I worked at WNPR for 21 years and at New England Public Radio for a month.

According to Wikipedia, Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. 


Despite the resources and efforts put in by these stations to cover the storm and the outages, finding a web presence through Google was futile. (I did notice a lot of links to Patch.com.) In order for potential listeners to find public radio on the web in Connecticut, I think it is going to take a better effort to use Search Engine Optimization. Perhaps, a concerted effort to use keywords when posting? Google says that would make a difference.

uh...really?

All pledge all the time | Marketplace From American Public Media

WQED TV in Pittsburgh has devoted a digital channel to all pledge all the time.

Station management is hoping that it can raise $2000 a week.

WQED and others believe there are viewers who love pledge shows. It's HSN for the Public TV audience.

What Is Your Station's Unique Value Proposition?

Public broadcasting: How viewers’ money is spent | ajc.com

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an article yesterday that questions the compensation for executives at Georgia Public Broadcasting and Public Broadcasting Atlanta. They also question the need for two public broadcasting services. They do not offer 100% duplication in services, but there is some overlap. 


The issue of duplication of services is not limited to public television. It exists in many markets for public radio. The question is, "Can these stations be self-sustaining as tax support diminished?" The questions raised in this article can result challenges for station management, but can also result in unique services that merit community support.


The station I managed from 2002 to 2009 refocused it's programming. The need for change was made clear by member surveys created for us by Whole Station Solutions and Market Trends Research.  We found out from our membership there was not a lot they heard on our station was unique and valuable. The station carried the public radio hits. We also had a local talk show, local news and local music programming. The line-up duplicated two other public radio stations heard in our market. We needed to solve that issue if we wanted to become more self-sustaining. Despite some misgivings within our organization, the change to the region's first full-time public radio news and information service resulted in a better community service and increased community support.

Public Radio Expanding Reach in New England

WSHU is acquiring two stations from Cox Radio. According to The Hour online Cox has agreed to sell WNLK (1350 AM) and WSTC (1400 AM) -- both based in Norwalk -- to WSHU.
WNPR added another set of calls to its legal ID. WAIC, Springfield was added to their groups of stations Tuesday afternoon. WAIC was or is licensed to American International College.


Here's the release from CPBN about the deal with American International...
HARTFORD, Conn. (October, 2011) – WNPR/Connecticut Public Radio and WAIC 91.9 FM at American International College (AIC) in Springfield, Massachusetts, recently signed an agreement to exclusively air WNPR programming on the college’s radio station. The new 24/7 service will provide listeners with popular National Public Radio (NPR) programs, such as “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” as well as WNPR’s award-winning signature talk shows: Where We Live, The Colin McEnroe Show and The Faith Middleton Show.


http://www.cpbn.org/waic-and-wnpr-launch-collaboration-bring-new-programming-springfield-market

Shake-Up at KUHF

According to Houston Culture Map there are big changes at Houston Public Media. KUHF CEO John Proffitt and Channel 8 General Manager John Hesse were dismissed from their current duties on Monday. They were assigned to other duties at Houston Public Media until the end of the year. Proffitt has been with the station for 26 years.

Proffitt guided the acquisition of KUHA from Rice University. The acquisition allowed the station to dedicate KUHF-FM to news and information. KUHA became the all classical service. Their most recent membership drive resulted in gains in membership.


The reorganization comes after the hiring of Lisa Trapani Schumate by the University of Houston to oversee the entire operation. Tripani Schumate takes charge today.

WPKT is now WNPR

It's official! Connecticut Public Radio's main signal at 90.5 in Meriden is now officially WNPR. It was WPKT. WNPR were the call letters for 89.1 in Norwich. The Norwich signal is now assigned WPKT.
Nothing is changing. It's a call letter swap within the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network. For those who think in concrete terms...life has become ordered. The rift in the universe has been partially healed. Although, the CPBN Website has not been updated yet.