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Iowa Public Radio Wasting Stations?

C

Casey

Leading Participant
Until recently I had not paid attention to public radio for years. But the more I do, the more I wonder if IPR is wasting tons of potential. They simulcast AM/FM for the majority of the day. That seems tremendously inefficient, when they could air 2 different programs at once. Then in the evenings, they finally break the AM/FM simulcast and broadcast Studio One on the FM stations. But how many people actually listen to Studio One? Not saying it should be eliminated by any means, but are there not any other programs they could air that would perhaps serve the public a little more and reduce the amount of time dedicated to Studio One? Same goes for their weekend programming.

Just some thoughts. I know they have been operating things like this for a long time, but in my opinion it seems like they are wasting the AMs during the day (who is going to listen to AM when the exact same programming is on FM) and under-utilizing the FMs at night. And KRNI 1010 seems like a waste no matter what it airs considering WOI 640 already covers nearly the entire listening area.
 
Public radio everywhere does some things that cause outsiders looking in to cluck their tongues and mutter: "Can't they see the big picture!?"

I have NEVER listened to Iowa's implementation of public radio so I have no idea if they are doing it right or doing it poorly. But I know someone who is a world-class public radio listener who spends some time in Iowa during the work-week. Just for you I will put in a request that she evaluate the world of public radio in Iowa.

When you read all the discussion topics on this board, you have to realize that both broadcasters and FANS of broadcasting are having a hard time coming to any agreement over the future of AM radio, and how to use the various locations and bands. You may want to cut the folks in Iowa a little bit of slack. There may be a POWERHOUSE legislator who lives out in Timbuktu (or it's Iowa equivalent) who is dictating to the folks who THINK they are the board that runs Iowa Public Radio and he is telling them they will not do this and must do that when it comes to programming and the use of AM and FM.
 
My outside, largely uniformed opinion of IPR is that it is an organization headed up by a cat-herder. A thankless job it must be. Back twenty-five years ago I spent several months barely on the inside, unable to look out as a student announcer for the stations at the University of Iowa. And there was not much collaboration between the stations of the three Regents universities.

I sense that the merged IPR still suffers from having three areas of historical influence in the three formerly independent stations. Maybe it would have been better had public radio in Iowa more closely followed the pattern of Minnesota, where a strong leader crafted a clear vision for a statewide network.

At one time I would have been critical of IPR for not doing more to expand its FM signals to reach more population. Granted with their late start in developing a statewide network that created a serious handicap. But as internet and smartphone consumption has increased over the years, not going hog wild with a bunch of new stations may prove to be the better tack.

GRC, it will be interesting to see an outsider's critique of IPR. As far as the AM signals, I think there is more of a value in simulcasting the FM talk network during the day at least, particularly with WOI - 640's huge daytime coverage putting that programming in areas beyond the reach of the FMs. Mason City's 1010 might not have much value and and as such. might be a good candidate to take dark or sell.
 
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