Public Radio: The Winning Formula

A couple of weeks ago another poster turned me on to the Radio Research Consortium website (www.rrconline.org) and their listings of Arbitron ratings for non-commercial stations (which are left off the Arbitron ratings posted on randr.com and AllAccess.com). I have posted (below) lists of the public radio stations with the highest ratings in the respective markets (12+ average quarter hour shares), the largest overall audiences, and the ones which would be considered "top performers" under Arbitron's criteria for commercail stations.

These public radio stations do very well in the Arbitron ratings (whether or not the numbers are published). Many others do less well and some quite poorly.

The $64,000 Question: What is the winning formuala for a public radio station? What are these stations doing right? What do they have that other's don't? What's the difference about them that makes a difference?

Yes, some markets are more fertile ground for public radio, or for news/talk or fine arts formats. Many of the most successful public radio stations do tend to be in "blue" markets. But success in public radio may be more than just location-location-location. Some stations in what should be receptive public radio markets do less well. Some of the stations listed are not in markets which would seem at first glance to be strongly disposed to public radio programming. Some of these stations have exceptional resources for public radio; others do not. Some produce programs for national distribution, most do not.

And there are other public radio stations that came close to making these lists and are also exceptional in various ways. But these stations are offered here as a model.

What is it about these stations that sets them apart for the pack? Any thoughts.


Top RATED Stations
1. WPSU, State College, PA - News/Classical
2. WUOM, Ann Arbor, MI - News and Public Affairs
3. WFSU, Tallahassee, FL - News and Public Affairs
4. WVPA/WVPS, Montpelier, VT - News/Classical
5. KSKA, Anchorage, AK - News and Public Affairs
6. KBIA, Columbia, MO - News/Classical
7. KLFO/KLCC, Eugene, OR - News/Variety
8. WMEW, Portland, ME - News/Classical
9. KUT, Austin, TX - News/Variety
10. WVPR/WRVT, Lebanon, VT - News/Classical

Largest Audiences (Market Ranking in parenthesis)
1. WNYC-FM, New York (#1) - News/Classical
2. KQED, San Francisco (#5) - News-Information
3. WAMU, Washington, DC (#6) - News-Information
4. KCRW, Santa Monica (Los Angeles #2) - News/Classical
5. WBEZ, Chicago (#3) - News-Information
6. WBUR, Boston (#7) - News-Information
7. KPCC, Pasadena (Los Angeles #2) - News-Information
8. WHYY, Philadelphia (#4) - News-Information
9. WNYC-AM, New York (#1) - News-Information
10.KUSC, Los Angeles #2 - Classical
11.WETA, Washington (#6) - News/Classical
12.WBGO, Newark, NJ (New York #1) - Jazz
13.KKJZ, Long Beach (Los Angeles #2) - Jazz
14.KUOW, Seattle (#13) - News-Information
15.WGBH, Boston (#7) - News/Classical/Jazz
16.KPLU, Tacoma, WA (Seattle #13) - News/Jazz
17.WABE, Atlanta (#10) - News/Classical
18.KUHF, Houston (#11) - News/Classical
19.WRTI, Philadelphia (#4) - Classical/Jazz
20.KNOW, Minneapolis (#15) - News-Information

Top Performing News-Information Stations (based on market RANKINGS)
WAMU, Washington, DC - News-Information
WBUR, Boston, MA - News-Information
WUNC, Raleigh-Durham, NC - News-Information

Top Performing News-Music Stations (based on market RANKINGS)
KQED, San Francisco CA - News/Classical
KOPB, Portland, OR - News/Classical
KUT, Austin, TX - News/Variety
WCVE, Richmond, VA - News/Classical

Re: Public Radio: Is It The Winning Formula?

>
> The $64,000 Question: What is the winning formuala for a
> public radio station? What are these stations doing right?
> What do they have that other's don't? What's the
> difference about them that makes a difference?
>
As someone who worked at a NPR affiliate for 14 years, I believe the success of public radio is due in large part because people who are serious about local news have gravitated to public radio to work because so many commercial stations have either eliminated local news, or have watered it down to just headlines and 10 second sound bytes. Or worse, use TV news as filler.

Unfortunately while there are people who work very hard to make the on-air product creditable in public broadcasting, there are those individuals who are just along for the ride and offer very little in the way of contributing to the overall success of the operation. In my experience I’ve found that management was to blame for this malaise.

Management at the station I worked for seemed to operate under the premise of either they liked you, or didn’t like you; no matter what your qualifications or dedication.

If you were on management’s “A” list, you could do no wrong. If you were on the “B” list however, no matter how hard you worked, you were not good enough.

The concern I see with this scenario is that if you have mediocrity at the top, that could eventually filter down to the rest of the staff. After all if the bosses don’t give a damn, why should you? Eventually you find those hard-working people just coming in to collect a paycheck or leaving for other careers, resulting in the dregs being left behind.

Another problem that should be corrected is the salary structure. Granted it’s nice to work for an operation dedicated to news and public affairs, or in some cases classical music. However if you are a seasoned veteran working for less money than say someone starting out in commercial television news, there is something seriously wrong.

Granted some public stations do offer other incentives such as retirement plans or more vacation time than their commercial counterparts. But when it’s all said and done, one needs to be able to put food on the table, afford to send their children to school, and pay the mortgage.


<P ID="signature">______________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them".</P>

A different question

My question was more along the lines of why are some public radio stations do much more successful at attracting an audience than other public radio stations? For those public radio stations that get what would be good numbers by the standards of commercial radio, what are they doing right?

I would agree that too many public radio stations are content to plug into the satellite and make at best a token effort on local news. Reading wire copy and the occasional soft ball public affairs interview on the weekend is not really keeping to the news standard set by NPR's signature drive time news broadcasts. As much as some listeners may love Morning Edition or ATC, in many markets they have to go elsewhere for local news (or weather, sports and traffic).

Pay in radio is poor, but from looking at job postings from time to time on the CPB website, it seems to me pay in public radio is far better than in commercial radio (within the same markets). That's why a lot of people leave radio. TV News has bigger audiences and brings in more revenue. There is still some competition among employers for good hires. And most important, successful local TV news programming drives the overall success of the station. That's why the pay is better. Simple economics. Except on all news stations, local news is an after-thought in radio, even public radio.

Your observations of office politics in a public radio station don't sound much different from what one finds in commercial radio (or maybe a lot of businesses).

Re: Public Radio: Is It The Winning Formula?

> As someone who worked at a NPR affiliate for 14 years, I
> believe the success of public radio is due in large part
> because people who are serious about local news have
> gravitated to public radio to work because so many
> commercial stations have either eliminated local news, or
> have watered it down to just headlines and 10 second sound
> bytes. Or worse, use TV news as filler.


I wonder how these "serious about local news" folks define
"news". No, I haven't heard public radio in every market,
not even in most markets. But, where I have heard it, what
passes for "local news" tends to be long-form stories on
soft subjects. No hard news; no spot news; nothing with
any meat. A lot of Girl Scout Cookie Sales discussion (to
use one extreme example). If I want to find out which three
teenagers got killed when they wrapped a car around a tree
early this morning I'm going to have to wait for the next
day's newspaper 'cause my area public stations are playing
back stories recorded in the studio days or weeks ago about
the upcoming fund-raiser for an out of work father with
twelve kids. Of course that kind of story goes a long way
toward winning awards from very sensitive foundations....

Is this "soft stories" kind of news what's being heard in
your market? Has anybody tried doing hard news...and if so,
with what results?<P ID="signature">______________
I once took something seriously.
And was accused of shoplifting.</P>

Re: Public Radio: Is It The Winning Formula?

>
> I wonder how these "serious about local news" folks define
> "news". No, I haven't heard public radio in every market,
> not even in most markets. But, where I have heard it, what
> passes for "local news" tends to be long-form stories on
> soft subjects. No hard news; no spot news; nothing with
> any meat. A lot of Girl Scout Cookie Sales discussion (to
> use one extreme example). If I want to find out which three
>
> teenagers got killed when they wrapped a car around a tree
> early this morning I'm going to have to wait for the next
> day's newspaper 'cause my area public stations are playing
> back stories recorded in the studio days or weeks ago about
> the upcoming fund-raiser for an out of work father with
> twelve kids. Of course that kind of story goes a long way
> toward winning awards from very sensitive foundations....
>
> Is this "soft stories" kind of news what's being heard in
> your market? Has anybody tried doing hard news...and if so,
>
> with what results?
>


In the city where I live the local NPR affiliate actually does a good job of delivering, what some people refer to as "hard news".

One example; the station sponsored a series of debates between Democratic primary candidates for Mayor. They were informative, and included not just reporters asking questions, but regular citizens as part of a “Voice of the Voter” series that has run for the past several years.

The station has also broken a number of very good stories, not just about politics, but stories that impact others. The news department, which I was a part of, did some hard investigative pieces that resulted in a number of citations along with two Edward R. Murrow awards and a Peabody.

The public radio station’s news department is so good that the commercial stations monitor it to find out what “hard news” is going on in the city.

<P ID="signature">______________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them".</P>

follow-up question

> In the city where I live the local NPR affiliate actually
> does a good job of delivering, what some people refer to as
> "hard news".
>
> One example; the station sponsored a series of debates
> between Democratic primary candidates for Mayor. They were
> informative, and included not just reporters asking
> questions, but regular citizens as part of a “Voice of the
> Voter” series that has run for the past several years.

Good moves, no question but it shouldn't end there.

A serious interest in news would suggest the station develop
a series of stores out of the debates and pepper them through
regular newscasts and/or use exerpts within other breaking
stories. More people can be expected to listen to local news
than to lengthy "features"; absent a strong individual interest
in the subject the average listener will "tune out" the lengthy
feature either by flipping to another station or just shutting
down the hearing for a time.

Dunno how many times I've heard little gems dropped by participants
in "public affairs" features that should have generated further
investigation/reporting but that never happened because of an
attitude that, by doing the long feature, the whole story had
been told. NOT!

> The station has also broken a number of very good stories,
> not just about politics, but stories that impact others. The
> news department, which I was a part of, did some hard
> investigative pieces that resulted in a number of citations
> along with two Edward R. Murrow awards and a Peabody.

You are blessed and I'm very happy for you and your city. Over
the years I have encountered too many public station ND's who
have openly reacted to leads with something like this: "Yeah,
but I HAVE ENOUGH TO FILL THE FOLDER for today. Maybe I'll
put somebody on it tomorrow". Duhhhhh.... maybe a good way
to write HISTORY, but NEWS?

> The public radio station’s news department is so good that
> the commercial stations monitor it to find out what “hard
> news” is going on in the city.

I've always found that markets where two stations actively compete
for news get the best information possible. Doesn't matter whether
either or both are commercial or non-commercial. It's the competition
and pride in doing it faster and better than the other that makes
it work. That a competitor is monitoring proclaims that your
market is getting the good stuff!
<P ID="signature">______________
I once took something seriously.
And was accused of shoplifting.</P>

Local

WILL-AM...yes, AM...and virtually a daytimer, to boot (only 100w at night)
is an NPR affiliate licensed to the University of Illinois. I credit our
success to our mission to do everything we can to make sure our programming
is relevant to people in east central Illinois and western Indiana. Thus,
we present a mix of the best NPR, PRI and others have to offer...and a ton
of locally-produced fare. And we have a mostly classical FM. You can check
it out at will.uiuc.edu.

As for pay, etc...well, I'm sure I make a lot less than the managers of the
commercial stations in town...but I think most of our other salaries are
comparable. Benefits are way better. Public radio's not a place to go to
be a star or get rich...but it is extremely satisfying. And, although I'm
not driving a BMW or anything...I'm able to do pretty well for my family.

Jay Pearce
Manager
WILL AM-FM

An excellent operation

WILL is one of the better public radio operations and a legendary heritage station in many ways. Not only was it public radio when public radio wasn't cool, it was public radio before there was such a thing as public radio. A lot of good people have come out of WILL.

WILL was number 12 on my list of top-rated public radio stations (and that's only considering the MSA market; as Jay mentions, the station covers a much larger piece of geography). It would have been a top performer if Champaign were a continuous measurment market (Arbitron's rules, not mine).

Actually, it seems the Big 10 has a disproportionate share of outstanding public radio stations.

I don't know about pay in the Champaign market, but as one who checks the job postings (commercial and non-commercial), it seems that public radio pays better for the most part than commercial radio (I'm sure there are exceptions).

And, of course, without the University of Illinois inventing the web browser, we could not be having this conversation right now.


> WILL-AM...yes, AM...and virtually a daytimer, to boot (only
> 100w at night)
> is an NPR affiliate licensed to the University of Illinois.
> I credit our
> success to our mission to do everything we can to make sure
> our programming
> is relevant to people in east central Illinois and western
> Indiana. Thus,
> we present a mix of the best NPR, PRI and others have to
> offer...and a ton
> of locally-produced fare. And we have a mostly classical
> FM. You can check
> it out at will.uiuc.edu.
>
> As for pay, etc...well, I'm sure I make a lot less than the
> managers of the
> commercial stations in town...but I think most of our other
> salaries are
> comparable. Benefits are way better. Public radio's not a
> place to go to
> be a star or get rich...but it is extremely satisfying.
> And, although I'm
> not driving a BMW or anything...I'm able to do pretty well
> for my family.
>
> Jay Pearce
> Manager
> WILL AM-FM
>

> Top RATED Stations
> 1. WPSU, State College, PA - News/Classical
> 2. WUOM, Ann Arbor, MI - News and Public Affairs
> 3. WFSU, Tallahassee, FL - News and Public Affairs
> 4. WVPA/WVPS, Montpelier, VT - News/Classical
> 5. KSKA, Anchorage, AK - News and Public Affairs
> 6. KBIA, Columbia, MO - News/Classical
> 7. KLFO/KLCC, Eugene, OR - News/Variety
> 8. WMEW, Portland, ME - News/Classical
> 9. KUT, Austin, TX - News/Variety
> 10. WVPR/WRVT, Lebanon, VT - News/Classical
>
> Largest Audiences (Market Ranking in parenthesis)
> 1. WNYC-FM, New York (#1) - News/Classical
> 2. KQED, San Francisco (#5) - News-Information
> 3. WAMU, Washington, DC (#6) - News-Information
> 4. KCRW, Santa Monica (Los Angeles #2) - News/Classical
> 5. WBEZ, Chicago (#3) - News-Information
> 6. WBUR, Boston (#7) - News-Information
> 7. KPCC, Pasadena (Los Angeles #2) - News-Information
> 8. WHYY, Philadelphia (#4) - News-Information
> 9. WNYC-AM, New York (#1) - News-Information
> 10.KUSC, Los Angeles #2 - Classical
> 11.WETA, Washington (#6) - News/Classical
> 12.WBGO, Newark, NJ (New York #1) - Jazz
> 13.KKJZ, Long Beach (Los Angeles #2) - Jazz
> 14.KUOW, Seattle (#13) - News-Information
> 15.WGBH, Boston (#7) - News/Classical/Jazz
> 16.KPLU, Tacoma, WA (Seattle #13) - News/Jazz
> 17.WABE, Atlanta (#10) - News/Classical
> 18.KUHF, Houston (#11) - News/Classical
> 19.WRTI, Philadelphia (#4) - Classical/Jazz
> 20.KNOW, Minneapolis (#15) - News-Information
>
> Top Performing News-Information Stations (based on market
> RANKINGS)
> WAMU, Washington, DC - News-Information
> WBUR, Boston, MA - News-Information
> WUNC, Raleigh-Durham, NC - News-Information
>
> Top Performing News-Music Stations (based on market
> RANKINGS)
> KQED, San Francisco CA - News/Classical
> KOPB, Portland, OR - News/Classical
> KUT, Austin, TX - News/Variety
> WCVE, Richmond, VA - News/Classical

To make a correction--WBEZ programs jazz and other music most evenings. And as most people know, KCRW is AAA in late morning and at night.

The secret, I think, is to focus around NPR but try to have legitimately good local content, as well. And some of it revolves around the same basics of commercial radio, including frequent and consistent basic information. I especially think that has helped public stations in many markets, because they are the *only* place on FM where listeners can get basic information at consistent times in drive time, since most music stations seem to put information secondary to wacky morning team bits. Even within the format confines of "Morning Edition," WBEZ hits the weather every ten minutes, even if it's nothing more than just the temp and a one-word forecast and does traffic four times an hour. This has caused them some grief from the more elitist long-time listeners who consider it taking up time from "more serious matters" (including the "why are you promoting driving cars instead of using bicycles" crowd), but it's obvious that it's gained them an audience.

In fact, I think that a commercial news-talker on FM that does hit the basics frequently in drive times could be major competition to public radio.