I have to disagree with you on these points, Big A. I was there in the 2010s and saw first hand just how robust the WBFO website used to be. Eileen Buckley wasn’t referred to as a multi-media journalist. But she totally mastered the online world, posting content, including video, to the WBFO website as well as producing quality on-air work. Omar Fetouh, before he was unceremoniously dumped in 2020, did better work than anyone is now in keeping the WBFO website up-to-date. You could click on the WBFO website back then and review the top stories of the day along with the in-depth pieces WBFO was known for. Omar was tweeting constantly throughout the day. I’m seeing none of that today. There are one or two local stories on the main page, mixed with some NPR content. The content on many of the news desks as you scroll down is very old. At the top of the mental health initiative heading is a story that dates back to the January Damar Hamlin crisis. Just like the quality of the on-air content has declined over the past year-and-a-half, so, too, has the website, IMHO.
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WRUR's Route has changed
- Thread starter ckg279
- Start date
That could be. I was comparing it to earlier in this year.
The main change that happened then was a shifting of resources from spot news coverage to a daily 1-hour documentary. That was obviously a risky change. I doubt it has anything to do with short terms ratings.
Six months of trends is a bit more than short-term. Remember, each trend is based on three months of listening. The more telling stats will be found when they release the results of their 2023 Fiscal Year. If fund raising is down it will indicate that people are voting with their wallets.
Did you read the Pew article? Because it has a graph that shows corporate support is down by more than membership support. That's why NPR had to lay off 10% of its staff. If the results of 2023 shows the same thing, then WBFO will lay off some staff. They have to balance the budget.
As Mark 1981 pointed out WBFO's product/content, on the air and on its website, appears to have suffered. Noticeably. The RIFs and re-allocation of staff have not served to benefit WBFO.
Yes, corporate underwriting is down, in some case, significantly, as is "revenue" from individual members, perhaps not so significantly, but down nonetheless. To some degree, corporate underwriting has dried up rather than having been allocated to other non-profit media entities. To some measure, NPO and corporate underwriters have been concerned about "reach." Understandably, they're asking "who's getting, paying attention to, and responding to my message?" Many of these underwriters continue to look at "reach" as defined by traditional metrics, meaning Over The Air ratings, rather than the metrics derived by Internet/On-line/Streaming platforms.
As one advertising magnate noted, "Half of the money I invest in advertising is wasted, if only I could determine which half."
Yes, corporate underwriting is down, in some case, significantly, as is "revenue" from individual members, perhaps not so significantly, but down nonetheless. To some degree, corporate underwriting has dried up rather than having been allocated to other non-profit media entities. To some measure, NPO and corporate underwriters have been concerned about "reach." Understandably, they're asking "who's getting, paying attention to, and responding to my message?" Many of these underwriters continue to look at "reach" as defined by traditional metrics, meaning Over The Air ratings, rather than the metrics derived by Internet/On-line/Streaming platforms.
As one advertising magnate noted, "Half of the money I invest in advertising is wasted, if only I could determine which half."
Are you sure about that? It's not what I'm seeing.
It's incremental, to be sure, not "falling off the table." Fred Jacobs has offered some information toward this issue in blog posts relative to NPR. Locally, a legacy ad agency VP offered that although she believes in the power of digital and has the metrics to fortify her faith, yet two of her clients "have the money, but have pulled back from allocating all of it." Granted, these examples may not be universal.
Nielsen Audio ratings include station streams; separately if not a pure simulcast and in Single Line Reporting if a full qualified simulcast.
What are they basing their hesitation on? If the metrics for digital are there, why the hesitation?
All of the pressure for digital content is coming from advertisers. All of the doubt about paper diaries came from advertisers. It was that doubt about paper diaries (that are used in Buffalo Nielsen ratings) that led to the PPM. "Traditional metrics" were not accepted by funders or advertisers. Yet you say funders for WBFO are still believing them. I don't see that at all.
Agencies did not object to the diary methodology. They objected to the time span of the surveys and the delay in delivery.
PPM has a daily sample that is as big as the previous 12-week sample because it is a panel that has limited and controlled turnover. The PPM has no panel, it has a weekly sample that is new each week. In the diary, it took three months to complete the sample. With PPM, in theory, each day's sample is complete and they even can issue weekly reports. Full reports come out each month and are delivered 2 weeks after.
The diary has some nearly 4 month old data in it when delivered, and agencies wanted more immediate information. The fact is that, now that they have it, at about double the cost, it did not improve radio revenue and, in fact, showed less TSL for all stations and that reduced CPM based rates to be reduced.
But that was good for the advertisers. Which is why I question that they prefer "traditional metrics." I don't see that.
Public broadcasting has a number of research groups that provide very sophisticated information to stations and funders. There are lots of ways to get data beyond 'traditional metrics.'
It was only good insofar as they could set a lower rate for some stations. But since they bought based on rating, not share, the impact was not something agencies were looking for. They had just wanted faster delivery such as the overnights they got for TV.
But agencies generally stop at CPP and analysis of formats to determine that the "kind of listeners" use the advertiser product.
CBS has spent millions over more than a decade trying to show data to the highest decision makers in businesses that 55-64 should be included in target demos, and has gotten nowhere. There are too many radio stations in too many markets for agencies to look any deeper. That's why radio is stronger in Europe where there are relatively few national networks that cover the whole country, and that is an easy buy.
Of course none of this has anything to do with WRUR or Rochester, so my apologies there. The fact is that WXXI has had the resources and research to fund the investment in an FM signal for WXXI-AM, which has now allowed them to launch a new world music format on WRUR. If there are funding limitations in Buffalo, they don't seem to exist in Rochester. That means that residents there will have access to this new format on WRUR.
Fred Jacobs discussing NPR...I don't know where to start with that one 😂 I'm not even sure I could stay awake for that.
It's a good to see these stations sticking with music, especially AAA. Student-run stations are certainly becoming scarce these days, and that's a real shame.
For those unaware, Jacobs and NPR have worked together on a number of research projects over the years. Jacobs also provides research for CCM formats.
It depends on the school. If you travel east to Syracuse, there is student run WJPZ, which is a great example of what college radio can be. As a result, a good number of alums get jobs in some part of the industry.
WBNY, which is a bit of a shell of what it once was(and I say that as an alum of the station)has generated more than its fair share of alums who got jobs in the industry, whether local or in other parts of the country.