Positive Audience Trends for Public Radio

JC Patrick shared some positive audience numbers on the PRADO list today.


Subject: [PRADO] Article on Research Director Public Radio Benchmarks

From today’s commercial radio enewsletters -  this one from All Access:

§  RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC. recently published a series of ratings benchmarks
for radio stations in PPM markets. The original study examined over 1,700
radio stations in the 45 non-embedded PPM markets, and segmented them into
various format groups.

As a follow-up, RESEARCH DIRECTOR has now produced benchmarks for
non-commercial News/Talk and Classical stations. The same time period was
utilized (average of the OCTOBER 2010 through SEPTEMBER 2011 surveys). The
non-commercial News/Talk format group's performance was also compared to its
commercial All News and News/Talk counterparts.

Among the key findings:

* The average non-commercial Classical station has a P6+ total week time
spent listening of 3:19. This is higher than 15 of the 18 commercial format
groups analyzed.

* Non-commercial News/Talk stations do a great job recycling between drive
times. Of the typical non-commercial News/Talk radio station’s AM Drive cume
audience, 64% also tune in during PM drive. When compared to the average
station (all formats, commercial and non-commercial), that is 16% above the
norm.

* Non-commercial News/Talk stations also perform significantly better than
their commercial counterparts when it comes to weekday-to-weekend recycling.
Of the typical non-commercial News/Talk radio station's weekday cume
audience, 42% also tune in on the weekend. Compare that to 28% for
commercial News/Talk and 36% for commercial All News.

RESEARCH DIRECTOR Managing Partner MARC GREENSPAN said, "These benchmarks
are designed to help public radio stations assess their rating position and
determine ways they can grow."

Pres. CHARLIE SISLEN added, "With tighter budgets, it’s difficult to attract
new listeners, and therefore grow cume. Alternatively, stations can focus on
taking their existing cume and getting them to listen longer."

RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC.'s report, "How Is My Station Really Doing? Public
Radio Edition" is available here
<http://www.ResearchDirectorInc.com/newsvault.asp> . The complete PPM
Benchmark study for all formats, originally published in DECEMBER 2011, is
also available there.





J.C. Patrick

Marketing and Fundraising Consultant

Colleagues Helping Colleagues Fund

This is a repost of a repost. 
I saw this on PRADO today. It originally went out on a DEI email.


Friends, this is for those of you who did not already receive this through the DEI e-mail list.  Many many thanks to PRADO for allowing us to re-post this here!

Dear Public Media Colleagues,

I'm writing today to ask for your help.

In the last several weeks, the Colleagues Helping Colleagues Fund has been able to make a real difference in the lives of public media employees who suffered severe property damage in the wake of Hurricane Irene.  Thanks to the generosity of many past and current donors to the CHC Fund, we were able to act immediately to get funding to those who needed it. 

But now, the Fund's reserves are nearly exhausted.

We hope you will consider making a donation to the Colleagues Helping Colleagues Fund today.  With your help we can continue to provide immediate assistance to public media professionals who are struggling with the gap between insurance coverage and the real costs of rebuilding their homes and lives.  Your donation is 100% tax-deductible, and every penny we receive goes to your colleagues in need.

You can contribute online at http://dei.cloudfour.com/node/3830, or send a check to:

DEI/CHC Fund
401 N. 3rd St.Suite 370
Minneapolis, MN 55401

The most urgent expenses after any natural disaster are temporary housing, insurance premiums, and clean-up costs.  Here are some of the stories we've recently received from your public media colleagues in the last several weeks:
  "[Our insurance claim] included the cost of pumping out the basement, disinfection, renting a fan, repairing the furnace, re-pointing the foundation where it was blown out by the flood water pressure, replacement of the garage door and other items. As you may know, a number of things do not get covered, such as removal of silt outside the home, removal of logs and river debris, and driveway washout. This is in addition to the $1,000 deductible..."

  "I have just had my home flooded (with approx. 9 feet of water due to the recent flooding in the region). I have been busy trying to clean up -- it is amazing how much damage water can do... My first concern is getting the electrical box fixed and a hot water heater and furnace so we can shower and have heat..."

  "When there is flooding, it's hard to imagine how much time, money, physical energy and emotional energy need to rise to the surface to get life back to normal. Thanks to the Colleagues Helping Colleagues Fund, we are so much better situated to move ahead. I am so proud to be a member of the public radio community and so grateful to this fund for helping us out."
Please, if you are able, make a donation today at http://dei.cloudfour.com/node/3830 so that we can help more of your colleagues right now... and so that we have funds on-hand to provide immediate help the next time disaster strikes.  If you'd like more information about the Fund, you can read more here:  http://www.deiworksite.org/colleagues-helping-colleagues. 

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Doug Eichten
President
DEI

P.S.  Your donation in any amount makes a genuine difference.  Thank you so much for your generous support!

KEIF-LP fined for underwriting infractions, and antenna and power issues

Radio Business Report/Television Business Report - Voice of the Broadcasting Industry

The article in RBR.com spells out what the FCC found to be violation of the guidelines of allowable underwriting.

Among the issues were the use of rate cards and language in the materials used to promote the spots aired by the station.

The credits aired by KEIF-LP may have been in violation of the guidelines. The ruling seems to reach beyond announcements aired by citing language used off air to promote the advantages of airing credits on KEIF. Is the FCC trying to regulate how public radio's development professionals recruit underwriters?  

WBUR Auction Goes Green

Newton Solar Company is helping WBUR raise funds by offering two solar units for it's silent auction. The donation seems like a perfect fit for WBUR's. According to the release from The Daily News Tribune the contribution is a  nod to the green-mindedness of WBUR's listeners.It's a good partnership because it will also raise awareness for Newton Solar Company. 

The silent auction will be held Monday, June 7, at the State Room in downtown Boston. Past auctions have included items like lunch with Click and Clack, Trips to Greece and the island of St. Barthelemy, and tickets to the Red Sox with seats in the GM's box. 

Auctions won't replace the on-air drive, but they do promote some high-end giving.

Raising Awareness

In public radio circles we've often discussed raising awareness about what we have to offer. Getting outside the building and actually participating in the community is a great way to increase awareness. Just waiting for the audience to come to us can be painfully slow. The increased connections created by these events not only increases public awareness but can also enhance marketing opportunities.
Where I used to work, Where We Live goes on the road regularly. Bringing A Prairie Home Companion and Wait Wait to Connecticut greatly benefited the station, the programs and the audience.
Now Michael Barone and Pipedreams are doing the same. According to an article in the Miami Herald, "Michael Barone, the host of American Public Media's Pipedreams, is bringing the first ever Pipe Organ Weekend festival to Miami."