Turns Out People DO Know About Public Radio

One of the great myths around public radio is that audiences would be bigger if only more people knew about it. If only public radio could advertise with the big boys...

Researcher David Giovannoni challenged this thinking beginning in the 1980s. His point, which is proven once again by the 170 Million Americans project, is that public radio's total audience is much bigger than the Weekly Cume audience.

Giovannoni pointed out that Weekly Cume audience estimates are a necessary, but artificial snapshot of the audience. The Weekly Cume is necessary for advertising and public relations. People need a number they can wrap their heads around and compare to other stations and media outlets. The Weekly Cume is artificial because it stops counting new listeners to the station after seven days -- as if everyone who might listen to a station absolutely will listen within a seven day period.

Giovannoni called this the Cume Trap. The concept is simple. Public radio leadership could get trapped in its thinking about its public service potential if it gave too much weight to the Weekly Cume versus other, more useful public service metrics.

In one of his Radio Intelligence* reports for the industry newspaper Current, Giovannoni showed how public radio's audience was likely to grow if measure by the month or even the year. The Monthly Cume, based on Arbitron's diary measurement system, would be somewhere around 42% larger than the Weekly Cume.

Fast forward to today. The Station Resource Group (SRG) just put together a monthly audience estimate for all of Public Media as part of the effort to defend Federal Funding. Using Arbitron PPM and diary measurements, the SRG puts the monthly audience for public radio at 64.7 million listeners. That's more than double the current weekly audience of 30 millions listeners.

Imagine! There are twice as many people who know about public radio than reported in the Weekly Cume. Some of those are passive listeners. They are exposed to public radio through someone else's listening in a car or at work. But most of those listeners know about public radio and where to find it on the dial. They simply choose to listen less than once per week.

This group of people, they represent growth potential. Public radio just has to give them reasons to listen more frequently. This is not a new concept.

These very fringe listeners have always been the source of public radio's audience growth. They knew about public radio before the first Gulf War and when it broke, they turned to public radio for the news. They knew about public radio before 9/11 and when their understanding of the world was shaken apart, they knew where to turn to piece it together again.

They come when they need public radio and, unlike audiences for many of the cable news networks, many stay in the Weekly Cume. They value the news. They get hooked on the entertainment programs. They become Core listeners. They give.

Some don't stay. But they will listen on occasion. Right now, the SRG is saying that there more than than 30 million of these very fringe listeners who are only partially served by public radio. Who are these listeners? Are they older? Younger? From different ethnic groups? What brings them to public radio? What keeps them from listening more?

As the industry ponders how to Grow the Audience, they seem like a very good place to focus the effort.

* Read Radio Intelligence at ARA's website. Click this link then scroll down to and click on the the PDF for Radio Intelligence. Page 27

Renewing the Call for Self-Sufficiency

It was Day One of a public policy class at the University of Maryland. The professor offered this challenge to the students.

"You have just started as the head of a government agency fighting the drug problem in America. What is the first thing you do?"

The class was evenly split with half wanting tougher laws and more jails. The other half wanted to invest in urban renewal and education programs.

"You're all wrong," said the professor. "Your number one priority is to get funded again next year. Otherwise you are out of a job."

I was reminded of this after hearing that WMUB, the NPR News station in Oxford, Ohio, will no longer be operated locally. The station’s licensee, Miami University is pulling $500,000 in annual cash support due to major budget shortfalls of its own. All staff members are losing their jobs. The station will be operated by Cincinnati Public Radio.

Not surprisingly, some in public radio reacted by suggesting that the industry needs even more subsidies from the federal government.

That’s the wrong approach. Public radio needs to become more self-sufficient. Its service to nearly 30 million Americans each week is too valuable to leave vulnerable to a single stroke of a pen. That's not fair to donors either.

Self-sufficiency is a path public radio actually started down in the Reagan era. The industry was pushed further down that path in the mid-1990s. Remember Newt Gingrich? Remember the phrase "glide path to zero?"

Helping to lead the charge, and working against the logic of that Public Policy 101 professor, was CPB. Significant funds were invested in developing concepts, tools, and training to help wean stations from big subsidies. Those resources still exist in the form of Strategic Financial AudiGraphics and the Community Financial Support Index in DEI’s Benchmarks, and a still relevant 1995 report by David Giovannoni called "Licensees at Risk." These resources can help public radio today.

There are more WMUB's waiting to happen. Many more. And they aren't just small market stations or university licensees.

The problem isn't fundraising as much as it is spending. Too many stations are over reliant on the subsidies they receive from CPB, their state governments, and their universities.

In a dispassionate discussion, it can be argued that the WMUB outcome is the right one. WMUB's listeners will still be served with public radio's most important programs. The cost of serving those listeners is much lower. Cincinnati Public Radio should be strengthened.

Maybe this is the future of public radio. The consolidation of costs by having fewer independent operations is an option. It would be a very messy and painful transition.

It also goes against the belief that localism is important and, perhaps, the future of public radio in the new media marketplace. If localism is important, then self-sufficiency is the ultimate option.

Many stations currently in trouble can be saved if they are willing to back away from the subsidy trough. It won't be easy and they would need help.

Self-sufficiency doesn’t have to mean eliminating government support for public media. CPB could benefit greatly from helping these stations reduce their reliance on all subsidies, including federal support. That would free up sufficient money to fund efforts to reach new audiences and fund national projects for current audiences. Right now, there's really not enough to go around. It would be a great role for CPB to be advancing the industry rather than just sustaining the status quo.

Self-sufficiency is as important as growing the audience because it cements the foundation for future service. It’s not an easy choice, but it is the right one.