Public Radio Must Be More Local
ThinLizzyRocks said:
Perhaps your numbers are looking at music as a whole. Certainly Classical and Jazz may atrtract more passive listeners less likely to pledge $$. But stations with tastemaking music formats like EXP and CRW build a younger very loyal audience who vew station programing as essential componenty to their lifestyle.
Public radio walks a fine line. They need to pay bills. And they are supposed to offer quality programming that commercial broadcasting may not support. Originally that meant fine arts, classical or jazz, as well as educational or public affairs programs. Station schedules were all local and a hodge-podge of program types. In 1971, stations became inter-connected for the the first time (and most did current news programming for the first time) when NPR launched with ATC; adding ME eight years later (the two tent-poles of many public radio stations).
Public radio has become big business in a way the authors of the Cargnegie Report could not have foreseen. Stations are expected to be self-supporting, often expected to show surpluses (a code word for "profits"). Stations hire high salaried execs, build lavish buildings on prime real estate, get state of the art equipment and even have money left over to buy or establish for-profit businesses.
Now some stations are embracing "commercial" or "pop music" formats. They get more listeners - maybe more pledges, sure. But is that the kind of thing public radio SHOULD be doing in the first place? What's next? The kind of confrontational, more-heat-than-light political talk which now dominates commercial talk radio and cable "news channels?" That would probably bring in more bucks, too.
Further, public radio embracing ANY music format (except possibly Urban and Hispanic formats) is short-sighted. The educated, upscale audience that has been public radio's bread and butter since Day 1 is increasingly going to satellite radio, the Internet or mp3 players for music. New technology is just better at providing music than radio - any radio, commercial or non-commercial. In time, even the down-market, late-adopter segments will leave music radio.
If public radio is to survive in the long-term it has (1) to move to Talk formats and (2) Become more local. Satellite radio can compete with national programming. It is likely that sooner or later NPR, PRI and APM will make their programs available to either or both satellite providers on an equal basis with terrestrial public radio stations (money talks). Too many public radio stations (not all - exceptions noted), including major market stations, have taken the easy way out becoming virtually turnkey operations with wall-to-wall satellite delivered programs. Yes, there are a lot of fine public radio programs out there and few of them get cleared in close to every market. There is more programming available than station time slots available. That's good for stations and for listeners. Even so, stations need to carry less of it to accommodate more local programming - and spend money to produce local programming (instead of paying bonuses to suits and buying new production toys).
