WGBH Shows Growth
In 2011, when WGBH made changes, they were roundly criticized. At the end of
2011 WGBH split off its news service and created a separate classical and music
service on WCRB. There were loud complaints from WBUR about diluting the NPR
news audience. There were complaints from long-time classical listeners. WCRB's
signal was much weaker than WGBH's. Many in the system doubted WGBH's move,
wondering if the news market in Boston could support two NPR stations. For its
part, WGBH came to the conclusion they could no longer be a viable public media
operation being all things to all people on one signal.
So what happened? Early results were not encouraging. Audience figures did not
show growth. Despite the fact that looking at early results is unreliable, many
thought it proved the point that WGBH had made a huge mistake.
Taking the Long View
It has been over two years since the change. Enough time has elapsed to get an
idea of audience trends. The results are mixed. WGBH is showing growth. WCRB
(the station with the weaker signal) is not showing growth. Looking at
topline figures for five public radio stations using Fall and Spring Quarter
data starting with the Fall Quarter from 2011 to the present you can get a
sense of where things have gone in Boston. WBUR is holding onto its share of
the Boston audience. WGBH is growing its average audience, share and cume. WCRB
is declining in all three metrics. WERS, with its eclectic music programming,
has a large weekly cume but, they have a very high turnover ratio. WUMB
continues to bump against the bottom. Whatever they're doing isn't having much
of an effect on the audience. I worked at WUMB for a short while at the end of
2010 and the start of 2011. Audience figures are pretty much the same as they
were back then.
WGBH saw the need for change. Despite criticism and negative feedback, they are
beginning to see postive results.
Steel Yourself
Change is something I'm familiar with. I helped shepherd two changes at WNPR.
The first came in 1989 when WNPR took control of its programming in the
morning. The phone calls and letters from contributors were sharply critical.
The press was negative. Letters to the editor ran heavily against the changes.
The results were positive with growth in audience and member dollars. In 2006,
when the format changed to include more news and information, the feedback was
more intense. The Hartford Courant devoted a front page article with a banner
headline to the change. The article was not positive. It lamented the loss of
classical music and, at the same time, included a sidebar with a list of eight
other stations in the market that still carried the genre. Over 4,000
complaints came in from members. Major donors were bending the ear of the CEO.
He had his doubts about the change from the beginning. The complaints
reinforced his doubts.
Before the change we did our homework. We measured the effects the change would
have on our membership by splitting them into groups called imperatives. They
were News Imperatives, Crossover Imperatives, and Classical Imperatives. In our
survey, we paid particular attention to what would happen to the Crossover
Imperative. We already knew the News Imperatives would be supportive. And, we
knew the Classical Imperatives would leave us. The question was, "Would
the Crossover Imperatives remain in sufficient numbers to sustain our membership
dollars over the short term?” The answer seemed to be yes. Still, there was
some uncertainty. When contemplating the change it is important to understand
that the reaction from many contributors will be negative. They contribute
because they like the station the way it is.
It takes courage to make changes in public radio. The onslaught of complaints
wilted some including senior management. My performance review that first
year was blistering.
A Positive Outcome
In the first year our audience grew and became more loyal. Membership dollars
remained stable. The number of members decreased slightly. Our corporate and
foundation support grew 500 percent!
Contemplating change? It takes research, planning and courage.
In the end, the Boston market may be robust enough to support competition for
the Public Radio Audience.
The data below is from RRC, Arbitron and Nielsen. I've used AQH Persons, AQH
Share and Weekly Cume to give a sense of the trends.
