HR Problem?

Sexual Harassment's Tough Lessons

I posted this several months ago when allegations about sexual harassment started to break. An article in The Atlantic suggests that public radio grew so fast that HR was unable to keep up with the extra demands. Given all that is still transpiring with #MeToo, public radio was (and is) woefully unprepared. WNYC is cited in the article for it's phenomenal growth, but at the same time not keeping up with the HR challenges that accompany that expansion. A article published by Nieman Lab wonders if WNYC can pull itself out of the toxic work environment that is dragging the organization down.

As soon as an issue arises...

Don't let it go. It won't get any better.

Don't approach it alone.
Listen!

Have a plan in place ahead of time.

Make sure everybody is aware of and has signed off on policies.

Be consistent with policies.

Seek professional advice.

Use your EAP.
Strive for a safe and nurturing work environment.

Podcast Income

Can Podcasts be a source of income for public radio? From a station's perspective...Yes ...as long as expectations aren't too high.

There are three sources of income for public radio. Member Support - Underwriting - Grants. Listener support for podcasts has lagged. Is that changing?

The headline reads...WNYC boosts podcast income with text-to-donate efforts...which is a little misleading. Digging deeper into the article in Current you will find that the amounts are small ($10), and there's no way to mine the data for follow-up information.

Voluntary Support

Does this mean the experiment is a failure? No! It means there is the possibility stations could cover the cost of podcasts, and WNYC is continuing the experiment to find ways to continue the funding discussion with text-to-donate contributors. The willingness of podcast users to voluntarily contribute for the content they consume is a hopeful sign. Obviously, not everybody is willing to pay, but how is that different from the current membership model?

WNPR experimented with a text-to-donate fundrive in 2008. The sames issues arose. The donation amounts were small and the link between the donation and the donor was non-existent. WNPR's text to donate drive differed in that we used the airwaves to generate texts. The pitch breaks were short and the number of breaks were limited. We got about 100 texts and about $1,000.

Self Sustaining?

Given the huge demand for revenue to operate a public radio station, there was no follow-up on the project at WNPR. If the funding source is viewed as an additional revenue stream related to a separate platform, expectations might be more in line with reality. The other challenge is to convert the podcast cohort into public radio supporters. At least text to donate is a beginning. When combined with other sources like grants, advertising and pay walls, some podcasts could pay for themselves.

The Funding Trifecta

The renewal of grants depends on meeting stated expectations. The same could be said for advertising. As long as the podcast delivers an audience, the revenue will continue to come in. The public radio funding model has always been sustained by voluntary contributions. The most stable source of income for public broadcasters has always been its donors. If the other two sources lagged (grants and underwriting), contributions offered stability. The success of podcasts in public media will be measured by their appeal to the audience.

August Wilson Plays Coming to WNYC

Drama's Return to Radio
Ten plays by August Wilson are being produced for performance in WNYC's Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. The plays will be webcast on the greenspace.org one time only. Starting in January they will be broadcast on WNYC and other radio stations.

Taking a Risk
WNYC is taking a programming risk presenting plays on the radio. This despite doing this for all the right reasons. Drama was a staple of radio in the 30's and 40's. After Television took over the form in the 1950's, drama on radio faded to black on the radio. That is, with the exception of some public radio stations. In the 1990's, drama on public radio finally faded to to black. There just wasn't that much listener interest.  One of public radio's researchers was asked (many times) what's the best time to air drama on the radio? The answer was 1947. That answer is still true. Listening to long form plays is not how radio is used by listeners. Listeners tune in and tune out at all times at their own convenience. Appointment listening is rare and getting rarer on the radio. On demand and time shifting is increasing in importance but TSL is not in hours but in minutes.

You can read more about the series in Newsday.
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/columnists/linda-winer/august-wilson-plays-coming-to-public-radio-1.5926653

Is video the new radio star?

Inside Radio posted an article today about the importance of Video on a radio station's website. The article focuses on data gathered by comScore.

A new report from comScore shows that’s a smart strategy. The U.S. online video market attracts an average of 75 million viewers every day.  And content providers are doing a better job of monetizing those views. The gap between the number of video ad views and content views is narrowing, comScore data shows. The percentage of videos accompanied by a video ad jumped from just 14% in 2011 to nearly 23% in 2012.

Some public radio stations are on-board with this. Back in 2006 we did some early dabbling in video for radio at WNPR. We recorded and posted  the Steve Davis Quintet at Sweet Jane's in Hartford. It now has over 7000 views. WNPR's offerings are much more robust. WNPRVideo's Channel has 32 videos. The most watched is Kate Callahan and Two Doors with over 12,000 views.

WUMB919 (I had a cup of coffee with this station.) has 37 videos. Most of the views are in the 100's. The most recent video was posted about nine months ago.

WNYC has over 1500 videos. WNYC's Street Shots: Bruce Gilden, was posted about four years ago. It's a good example of the long tail of appealing on-line postings with over 600,000 views.

There are many more videos cross linked to each of these stations. An example of that cross linkage are videos posted by Colin McEnroe and the Real Life Survival Guide.

Still not convinced? YouTube is the second most utilized search engine behind Google. The platform is a must for your content.  A robust video strategy is going to bring more visitors to your station's website and will make more users aware of your content and your station.

And finally...According to the article from Inside Radio, advertisers (underwriters) are willing to pay higher cost per thousand rates for on-line video content and ads.

Has Journalist's Ethics Failed to Evolve?

Stop Forcing Journalists to Conceal Their Views from the Public - The Atlantic

Should journalists be allowed to participate in protests and movements? What about other public radio employees? Conor Friedersdorf writes in the Atlantic that WNYC over reacted when they fired Cailin Curan for attending an OWS protest.

I find the comments interesting. Both feel Public Radio should not allow staff to publicly support causes.

The Core Values of Public Radio's listeners seems to suggest our listeners hold us to a higher standard.
Should public radio employees be allowed to express their views on issues that are being reported on by public radio? What about advocating for issues of public concern? 

WNYC & Clear Channel Join Forces

WNYC Talk on A New Platform
WNYC's talk programming and the Takeaway will be offered on iHeartRadio...the digital service for for Clear Channel. That's according to a release on the Market Watch Website. This offers a new platform for WNYC's offerings on a digital platform. Digital delivery is becoming more popular with the rise of mobile media. Some automakers will offer 3G capable adapters in their cars soon.  

Will there be a negative reaction to this alliance?
It will be interesting to see and hear reaction from public radio insiders and its listeners.
For those of us on the inside, there's ample research to suggest that public radio listeners come to public radio to get away from commercial radio. This alliance may test our assumptions. Public radio listeners certainly use and appreciate commercial media.

You can read more about the deal here.

Web Content

I'm a proponent of putting public radio content on the station Website...first. 
There...I feel better already for admitting it. Many listeners are getting news on-line. They're not waiting for the hard structures of the newscast deadline. Once a feature is finished why not post it? You don't have to wait for an airing to try to push listeners to your Website. 


For some stations with the resources there's web only content.


There are two examples of Web only content this week. The most prominent is the announcement out of WNYC that Alec Baldwin will be posting 20 podcasts over the next several months called, “Here’s the Thing.” According to a New York Times Blog by Dave Itzkoff and WNYC the interviews will allow Mr. Baldwin to “pursue his passions and interests through conversations with a variety of news makers, artists, actors, writers and public figures who spark his fancy.” There are tentative plans to make the podcasts into radio programs with additional  content from other producers.


The second example is from WBUR in Boston. WBUR and reporter Martha Bebinger launched Healthcare Savvy, an online community of patients who are starting to shop for health care based on quality and cost. It's and example of crowd sourcing information. Healthcare Savvy has more than 150 members. It's a mix of patient and healthcare providers. According to Amanda Hirsch of PBS' Media Shift, Healthcare Savvy was born to provide a space for discussion as well as a compendium of resources on health costs.  The project is funded in part by the California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships, a program of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Collaborative Marketing for Public Radio

As I read some of what was said at the Public Radio Development Conference about the need for consolidation and collaboration, I thought about a similar effort in public television. Connecticut Public Television, WTTW and a few others created a marketing partnership to garner underwriting funds for stations by pooling efforts.  Market exclusivity was one of the key points. The agreement was competitive. Not only would these station have more marketing clout against local commercial affiliates, but they would also have more clout against public television stations not in the consortium. The consortium failed. They were unable to sign clients interested in underwriting on these stations as a group.

What if the idea was focused on markets? What if public radio stations within a market were to pool resources to garner underwriters?

This idea would work best in markets where there is very little program overlap. Baltimore might be a good example. WBJC offers classical music with an audience share o 2.2%. WEAA offers Jazz and programming aimed to serve minorities with an audience share of 0.6%. WTMD is a AAA station with a share of 0.7 percent. WYPR is Baltimore's NPR station with a share of 3.1%. Individually, station shares are moderate to small. Collectively the audience share is a respectable 6.6%. The top station in the market is WWIN (MAGIC95.9) P6+ in BALTIMORE in JUNE with an 8.9 share.

Of course, this assumes the stations within a market would be willing to collaborate to create more marketing clout.

Philadelphia is another market where the public radio stations could benefit from a combined marketing effort. The combined cume of WHYY, WRTI and WXPN is 6.2% according to Arbitron PPM figures for the Spring Quarter provided by RRC

Some stations already benefit from having more than one signal in a market with a different format on each of the signals. Minnesota Public Radio, Colorado Public Radio, New York Public Radio and WGBH, Boston benefit from cross-format marketing. This is something I proposed at CPBI. If approved, the combined share could have been 6%.

Combining shares:

• MPR                  10.8%
• CPR                    5.6% (CPR is about to add a third format)
• WGBH/WCRB    3.1% 
• WNYC/WQXR    4.2%

How could individual stations share combined underwriting revenue? A simple idea would be to divide up the revenue by listener hours. That could be done for the entire topline or for specific dayparts depending the client's contract.

New York Public Radio Buys NJN

New York Public Radio to Buy New Jersey Stations - WNYC

While WHYY will purchase the stations in the southern part of New Jersey.
WNYC is promising Jersey centric programming.

Public Radio Pledge Humor and Alec Baldwin

Public Radio Pledge Drives. Funny?
They're more like a the movie Ground Hog Day...or a root canal that never ends. (Root canals actually do end, it just seems like they go on forever.) Listeners perceive fundraising to be painful. PPM data demonstrates about half of the audience tunes away during the drive. This can make raising money on-air difficult.

Occasionally, there is something funny during a drive. The latest group of spots creating buzz for the system is a set of five featuring Alec Baldwin.  (KPLU has posted the spots on their website). Baldwin first made fun of public radio on Saturday Night Live. Many of my collegues were afraid the humor was dragging down the image of public radio. The bit made me laugh. We even had a show on our air that was a little like the food show being parodied.

The effectiveness of humor during pledge (if done right) should not be a surprise. Think about some of the spots created by Tom and Ray - Wait, Wait - Garrison Keillor - This American Life.

The Listener Focussed Fundraising Project that came out of Audience 98 examined various modes that appealed to listeners and didn't appeal to listeners during a drive.

Six Modes of Fundraising Messages Identified by Listener Focused Fundraising
Project. The modes line up (from those perceived by listeners as most likely "tune-outs" to most likely "stay tuned") as:

Frantic: More sound than message. It's noisy (ringing phones, loud or
busy music beds under pitches, etc), urgent, and nervous. We think it is
high energy, the listeners do not. Very unlike the usual sound of the station.
Listeners perceive this mode as highly negative.

Blame & Pleading: Characterized more by sound than message. It
includes threats, whining, "poor mouthing," guilt, self-victimization, and
weakness (such as a stated lack of control over financial circumstances that
require asking listeners for money). Very negative.

Give & Get: Sound and message. It's the sounds of selling, similar to a TV
infomercial, with the message "give to get stuff." Usually the "getter" is the
listener (sweepstakes, drawings, premiums) but it can also be the station
(challenge grant matches). Mostly negative to lightly neutral.

Funding Facts: Sound and message. "How to give" and "Why we need the
money" messages, always characterized by a calm, rational, respectful
tone. Informative, honest, professional, succinct. Neutral to positive.

Personal Importance Personified: Sound and message. Resonates with
our listeners' values, beliefs and interests, always characterized by a calm,
rational, respectful tone. Centers on appeals about the heart of our public
service, programming. Very positive.

Lighten Up, Public Radio: Sound and message. An intelligent humor
mode about taking our fundraising less seriously. Not always involving
public radio celebrities, but when they pitch it's in character - in the roles
they play on the air. (Tom and Ray Magliozzi are the quintessence of this
mode). Highly positive.

People in the system always seem surprised when well-crafted humor works. Obviously, you cannot use humor all the time. The limited number of well-crafted spots will burn out rapidly. But spots, like the five produced at WNYC featuring Alec Baldwin, can help lighten up the drive.  Obviously, you cannot use humor all the time. The limited number of well-crafted spots will burn out rapidly. Humor might not always be appropriate, especially when coming out of heavier news items featured during public radio's news programming.

Now that I've been on the outside for a while I find myself thinking, "Please, stop being so earnest all the time."  Actually the words I use are more blunt than that, but I want to hired again someday.

Freakonomics for Radio

American Public Media and New York Public Radio Announce Production Deal with Freakonomics Co-Author Stephen J. Dubner

WNYC and American Public Media have come up with an interesting program idea...Freakonomics for the radio.

The launch this fall will include podcasts, web content and bi-weekly features on Marketplace. In 2011 plans are to offer the features weekly on Marketplace. Five one-hour specials will also be available.

There's a lot more information about the offering at PRWeb. The link to the release is above.

WUSF buys WSMR Splits Formats

WUSF buys WSMR, looks to programming format changes - Tampa Bay Business Journal

WUSF is joining the growing list of public radio stations who are willing to split out their news and classical formats. There is risk involved. WUSF bought WSMR for $1.3 million. WSMR will carry the classical format but the signal footprint does not cover the same geography as WUSF.

Those who will be in the WSMR signal area will be blessed with full-time classical music programming. The Tampa/St.Pete market will now be able to listen to NPR news and information programming all day. This strategy seems to be working in New York, Boston, Cincinnati and Minneapolis/St.Paul.

There are plenty of comments on the blogs and online news outlets.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/aug/04/041550/wusf-fm-switches-npr-format-moves-classical-progra/news-breaking/

http://blogs.tampabay.com/media/2010/08/tampa-public-radio-station-wusffm-to-purschase-wsmrfm-in-sarasota-for-12million-shifting-classical-m.html

Saving Public Media in New Jersey

A group out of Princeton is suggesting some radical changes that will result in a revitalized NJN.
The report came out of the Sandra Starr Foundation, a small Princeton nonprofit. Among the recommendations:

Sell off some TV properties

Invest in New Media

Have WNYC run the radio properties

The report says NJN failed to invest in public radio in time because it is a PTV centric organization. The report also suggests the current organization is not prepared to manage the changes needed to launch new media or develop the public radio network. The report should generate plenty of heat and controversy.


A Future for Public Media in New Jersey: How to Create a New Basis for Public Radio, TV, and Online Media in One of American Journalism’s Worst Covered States

More but Selective Music for the New WQXR

Here's a first look at what the playlist will be like at WQXR. Based on my experience, WNYC is headed in the right direction . Everything that is put on the air matters, and the selection of what music to air when is as critical as what the announcers say in the breaks. Because classical music fans are passionate about the music and feel invested in the music, there's going to be a lot of heat around WNYC's (WQXR's) choices.
I'm wondering what they mean by a younger audience. A median age of 55 would be a lot younger than the median age of most classical music stations (65 to 70).
This articles was in the New York Times on September 30th.