Promiscuous Listening

It's happening. 

I'm no longer involved on a day to day basis.
When it comes to fundraising on Public Radio, I'm more like your typical listener. I tune away. If I can get the same content elsewhere without the funding pitch, I'll do it. The only time I didn't do that today was when there was content I knew I couldn't get anywhere else.

What's the Lesson?

It's the content. It's always been the content. To think otherwise is foolish. The listener/user comes to us for the content and their willingness to support us depends on the listener's relationship with the content. Consistently meet their expectations and you will have their loyalty. Fail to meet their expectations and risk losing them to somebody else. It's kinda' like relationships.

The Downside of Protectionism

Holy Cow! 

Are trade restrictions a good idea. It depends on who you ask. One of the lessons learned from the Great Depression was that protectionist policies made the depression worse. Here's a look at what trade restrictions can do. Canadian farmers are happy. Wisconsin farmers are not. "Dairy Farmers of Canada, a trade group, said in a statement in 2016 that protections for the country’s dairy farmers were in place before the Class 7 pricing rule, but weren’t being enforced, resulting in approximately $231 million in annual revenue losses for Canadian dairy farmers." The Canadians are being accused of protectionism. 

Isn't that what we want to do?

Wisconsin’s Got Milk, But Canada Doesn’t Want It

Why do I care? I grew up in Wisconsin. My uncle owned a dairy farm near Shawano. He was successful, but success is getting harder to achieve for the small farm.

This may not hurt the corporate farmers, but the mom and pop operations that are a part of Grassland Dairy Products will feel the pain. These 75 dairy farmers are in danger of going out of business. You may not be able to tell by the price of dairy at the supermarket, but currently, there's a glut of milk on the market. That limits the options for these 75 farmers.

Most Say Tensions Between Trump Administration and News Media Hinder Access to Political News

New research from Pew asserts that the tensions between President Trump and the Press are getting in the way of real information.

I'm willing to guess that where you place the blame would depend on where you lie on the political spectrum. Most Say Tensions Between Trump Administration and News Media Hinder Access to Political News: Large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans say the relationship between the two is unhealthy.

Other polls indicate the approval ratings for Trump are headed for all-time lows. The disapproval is not necessarily from his base but is instead from those who previously said they did not have an informed decision, but the poll numbers from Quinnipiac suggests erosion from his base too. If, Trump is trying to deflect blame to draw attention away from his mistakes by creating smokescreens of misinformation, it is not working.

You can find more information about Trump's approval ratings at The Hill. The results are from a Quinnipiac Poll.

"Tim Malloy, assistant director of Quinnipiac’s poll, said Trump’s approval has not yet reached the low point of former President George W. Bush, his most recent Republican predecessor."

“President Donald Trump continues to struggle, even among his most loyal supporters,” he said. "Many of them would be hard pressed to see even a sliver of a silver lining in this troubling downward spiral.”

Of course, Trump lashes back by making statements about fake news. Newsweek looked into the accusation from Trump. They conclude the polls are not fake. One of the issues with the election polls they found was that there were so many people unwilling to give an opinion about their choices during the election.

 "Possible reluctance of respondents to voice support for Trump has frequently been cited as a possible reason that pre-election opinion polling, and post-election surveys, may have underestimated support for the Republican."

They are weighing in now in increasing numbers. Something you might want to think about, the next election is about 18 months away.

A Change Is Gonna' Come

Once the change is made are you prepared? 

There's a whole lot that's involved in change. Just rushing in and making change for the sake of change can be challenging. The Republicans are in that spot right now. Benjamin Disraeli put it this way, The secret for success in life is for a person to be ready for their opportunity when it comes.

I've managed two changes in Public Radio. Both came with challenges.

Getting to Yes

Getting to yes requires more than the act of change. The follow through and clear direction after the change requires as much, if not more attention. The first change brought local control over the content. Unfortunately, there was no clear idea of the direction of the content. That lack of clarity brought dissension and confusion. Because leaders were not allowed to lead, it took about five years for the station to come about with a clear direction. To be sure, there was growth, The fits and stops stunted the growth as the majority of the staff each tried to assert their own vision. Those visions did not include the audience. They were all about personal agendas. On top of that, senior management was unprepared for the negative response from listeners. The atmosphere at the station became toxic until those elements were slowly weeded out.

The second change was more clearly planned. The direction of the programming and the content had the buy-in of the staff. There were clear estimates of the impact of the change among listeners and the supporters of the station.

Some will always resist change.

All of the staff was mobilized and ready for the impact, with the exception of top corporate management and the board. They were brought along every step of the process, but failed to clearly understand the negative impact the changes would have on certain sectors of the audience. They failed to understand the changes would not turn the audience on a dime.

Within six months the changes resulted in increased community service, significant audience changes, and increased funding within a year. That was forecast by the research. Those on top chose to ignore the findings of the research. The onslaught of phone calls by irritated members strained relationships within management. The negative feedback was also predicted and part of the preparations. The change agents paid the price, but the station thrives. A comprehensive approach to preparation led to a station that is thriving. We took the time to do it right. For those directly involved in the transition, the change went as expected.

The Republicans had seven years to prepare for their moment. For some reason, they weren't ready. True leadership is more than the act of the change. They did not invest in getting to yes.

Searching for Sanity in News Coverage

In Praise of Journalism

More and more, I find myself searching for sanity in news coverage. I find myself recoiling from the bombast and daily assault of half truths and false statements.

There was a time when I would avoid the PBS NewsHour. It seemed so slow, so dry. I've come to appreciate the comprehensiveness and evenhanded approach to the stories. It comes down to trust.
I trust journalism...not punditry. So much of what passes for journalism is based on the exception. The comments and assertions are based on the exception to the norm...not on what is actually going on. The exception feeds on our fears and takes our attention away from real solutions.

After the recent election and the continued avalanche of misstatements based on sketchy sources, I find myself being a lot more careful about what I read. And if something turns out  to be incomplete, I appreciate sources that continue to dig.

Other trusted sources:

• NPR
• APM
• PRI
• Reuters
• BBC
• and an assortment of newspapers, magazines and sites that take the time to check their sources.

What was it that Ben Bradlee said? Something like, "Check all your sources twice, except for your mother, check her three times.

Forward Promotion (You can't do that!)

At least that's what I was told. It's too commercial! 
(Heaven forbid we generate increased time spent listening.)

Reliving An Old Argument

I heard some forward promotion this evening on a commercial station. Most of the announcers on this station say goodbye with our any thought about what comes next. It's an invitation to tune out. Not this time. I was impressed. She mentioned the artist coming up after what promised to be a lengthy break. She even tied in the tidbit that the artist would be touring and stop in area this Summer. The break was, indeed, lengthy. I got out of my car after five minutes and the spots were still rolling out of my speakers as I turned off the radio. But still, the effort was there. I also learned something I might not have otherwise known which added value to my time.

So What's The Big Deal?

For the commercial station the increase in Time Spent Listening (TSL) promotes increased share. Something that can be taken back to the advertisers. Increased share for public radio can be taken to the underwriters, but it also promotes loyalty, increases the size of the core audience and helps generate member dollars. Now that there is a lot more competition for listener ears, and we're more dependent than ever on contributions from non-government sources, increasing TSL doesn't seem so bad.

Barriers

The length of the break led to my tune-out. The tune-out wasn't only about the commercial interruption, it was more about my listening habits. If I had been in the car longer, I might have stayed wit the station longer to hear the music of the artist and the consistency of format.

What happens when that consistency of format is no longer there? In the case of public radio, what happens to the audience when we switch programs or programming. For example, what happens when Morning Edition ends and another program starts. Audience figures suggest a large port of the audience tunes away. Then an hour later another program starts. The seams created by this continuous shift in focus creates more opportunities for tune out. The only tool immediately at the programmers disposal is promotion.

There's a public radio network in the Midwest that runs a daily line-up of locally produced talk shows. It was assumed that since they were all talk shows on the same network that the appeal of each program would be similar. Unfortunately, they were not. At each program shift, the audience would depart. As the two hours of the next program unfolded, n news audience would grow. Then at the next seam (program shift), that audience would depart. The the process would start again. The roller coaster effect was made worse by shifts in content within the programs.

Meeting Expectations

Forward promotion can help offset some of these. It does not offset inconsistency in appeal. If the content is not appealing to the target or core audience, The expectancy set up by the forward promotion has not been met. Content providers and show producers should always be prepared to present their best to meet audience expectations. If they do not, listeners will go elsewhere. That's not a happy thought in a highly competitive market. Nobody said this was going to be easy.

WNKU Too Little Too Late?

WNKU is on the verge of being sold to the Bible Broadcasting Corporation. The station has been running deficits since 2012, and Northern Kentucky University, the license holder, has decided that can no longer carry the weight. According to a report from WCPO, Cincinnati, the station has run up a deficit of $2.6 million despite subsidies from the University of $1.9 million over the same period.

Not So Fast?

Louisville Public Media hopes Northern Kentucky University reconsiders sale of WNKU radio station

Louisville Public Media is interested in buying the station to preserve the format and the local flavor of the programming. The University is says LPM waited too long to make a bid. There's also a petition to save the station with about 8,000 signatures. To me, the response is not overwhelming.

WNKU's fiscal problems began about the time they expanded their signal reach in 2011 with the purchase of two stations, 105.9 WPFBAM/FM and 104.1 WPAY FM as part of a network of stations. The station took on considerable debt to increase its reach. The cost was estimated to be $6.75 million. The added debt load combined with slower than anticipated growth may have led to their financial woes. A move like that is not just about audience size, but also about developing a loyal following that translates into listener sensitive income. That did not happen.