RadioSutton Blog: 7th Anniversary

This is the 7th anniversary of the RadioSutton blog. Thanks for reading and writing back over that time. Your support and participation has been invaluable.

We blogged a bit less in the past year than usual due to so many client commitments. It's a good problem to have but I hope to post more in 2012.

The first posting, other than our welcome message, can be found here. In that posting, I wrote that the blog would " consider how we might better tap public radio’s vast knowledge of its listeners, fundraising, and finances. We’ll look at opportunities for individual stations and the industry as a whole. We’ll tackle tough issues including the competing priorities of public radio stations and national entities such as CPB and NPR."

More so than any other time we see 2012 as a year when competing priorities among CPB, the networks and stations will define the future of public radio. A couple of examples:

CPB will again be fighting for its life. As has been the case over the past years, it's funding decisions will be heavily influenced by what plays well on Capitol Hill, not necessarily what best serves stations or their listeners.

NPR will continue to pursue digital strategies that discourage listeners from getting NPR content on-demand via member stations.

Stations will continue to be encouraged to make unsustainable investments in local content creation based on flawed assumptions about the audience.

The entire industry will continue to leave its revenue potential unfulfilled by hanging on to old fundraising models.

We will take on these issues and many others in the coming months. They won't be easy issues to discuss, but they will be important discussions to have. We invite your participation in the discussion.