Is It Possible to be All Things to All People?

 

Not on the Radio

Bonnie Gillespie Quote: “When you try to be everything to everyone, you accomplish being nothing to anyone.”

It's a lesson learned a long time ago in public radio. The phenomenal growth of the system in the 90's and early 2000's was because we knew our audience and we served them with programming strategies aimed at that specific audience.

If we want to diversify our audience, we have to think about who that audience might be. And it is likely, people from that demographic will be running the show.

Thinking in terms of programming for one big diverse audience is foolishness. There are many audiences left unserved, and to serve them will take consistency in appeal of the programming.

Remember Afropop Worldwide? The original effort was to seek a more diverse audience for public radio. Did it work? Not really. Afropop brings African pop music to a mostly white audience. The idea that a one hour program is going to serve an African American audience is wishful thinking. It can't even come close to covering the cultural diversity of Africa. One hour a week is not going to make difference.

John Sutton's recent essay in Current has it right. Choose your demographic, and serve that demographic with consistent appeal and programs that resonates with your targeted core audience. (Why Public Radio's Efforts to Reach New Audiences Aren't Moving the Needle)

Public radio's audience is driven by two programs, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. To reach another audience means another programming stream.

This does not have to be a one or the other proposition. Stations have found work arounds before by finding different streams for different formats. The same could be done in this instance. Would something like the differing formats of the streaming services be a viable option?

So, why are we learning this again?

Putting On-line Numbers in Perspective

I was looking at the most emailed stories from NPR today. (You can find the list here.) It struck me that the numbers listed are quite small when compared to those who listen to these stories in their cars, at home or on-line. I'm not  trying to diminish the importance of sharing the stories but, live broadcasts and streaming still generate a much larger audience. 


According to research figures released by Ben Robins at NPR, In Spring 2011, we see that the total number of persons who tune in each week to an NPR member station holding at or near record-high levels. The weekly audience to NPR Stations* has reached a new high of 34 million listeners each week.  (You can read more here.)


34 million represents radio listening. The figures remain steady. What's the point? Put on-line usage in perspective when you decide how to use your resources. The vast majority of your listeners still use the radio.

*NPR stations are a mix of newsmagazine and music-only stations (which carry the NPR Newscasts).

Ben Robins is the Research Manager for NPR Programming.