Boston Public Radio war

[Bakers_Bookstore]

Boston Magazine is out with an interesting article on the newly sparked public radio war in Boston, WGBH vs WBUR. WGBH has the money but can they pull it off? This one will be very interesting!

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/a_very_civil_war/

 

[EnterCommunicator]

WBUR is on many days number one in morning drive-time (astounding for a public radio station) and consistently ranks in the top five Boston stations for the coveted 25-to-54 demographic.

Wow, I thought NPR was way behind in the ratings.

Also, IMO it's pretty pathetic that these two fight each other, particularly airing program like This American Life at the same times.

 

[Don Juan]

WBUR is on many days number one in morning drive-time (astounding for a public radio station) and consistently ranks in the top five Boston stations for the coveted 25-to-54 demographic.

Yes, some days Morning Edition is #1. (ME does well on many stations around the country. But this is an NPR program, not a WBUR program.)

However, I don't think they "consistently" rank in the top 5 stations. I have seen weeks/months where they have...but see many weeks/months where they are not even in the top 10.

In morning drive, Morning Edition (ME) does well for them. In PM drive, All Things Considered(ATC) does pretty well too.

Middays WBUR's performance is pretty UN-impressive. Along with nights and weekends.

They are lucky to have NPR to give them AM & PM drive programs, because without those, the station does not perform well.

 

[DanStrassberg]

They are lucky to have NPR to give them AM & PM drive programs, because without those, the station does not perform well.

What do you mean "give?" NPR affiliates pay (dearly) for the NPR programs they carry! Although the TakeAway, which WGBH carries (produced at WNYC and syndicated by PRI) is carried nationally by relatively few stations and reportedly does not do as well as Morning Edition in markets where they compete, I consider it worthy competition for Morning Edition. It's kind of a hybrid of WBZ and Morning Edition--a little more on the light stuff than ME. The best WNYC program, IMO, and both WBUR and WGBH carry it, is On the Media. Another good one that, I think, also comes from PRI is RadioLab. WGBH also deserves a lot of credit for bringing gems like Short Subjects (also produced at WNYC) to Boston. If you liked the late Gene Sheppard, I think you'll love Short Subjects. Great old-fashioned radio with no gimmicks. Saturdays at 9:00PM, after Says You.

 

[fybush]

I think Don's analysis of WBUR's performance is a bit simplistic. Yes, a big part of WBUR's ratings success is due to the national content of ME and ATC - but if that was all, WGBH would have been performing just as well for the last decade or so in which it's been carrying those shows directly opposite WBUR. (In fact, given WGBH's superior signal over much of the market, it should have been performing even better.)

So why is that not the case? Because the NPR magazines, and ME in particular, are more than just "plug into the satellite for an hour" national shows. Sure, they can be used that way, and some smaller stations do, but they're designed to be used as a framework into which stations can insert an almost unlimited amount of local content. That's how WBUR uses them, and I'd contend that the local/national hybrid is really what drives WBUR's ratings success. It's a model that hasn't existed in commercial radio since the days of NBC Monitor, and even that was more a national show than a local one.

(Disclaimer: I work in public radio, albeit not at WBUR, and produce local content that's inserted during ATC at my local station.)

 

[aaronread]

However, I don't think they "consistently" rank in the top 5 stations. I have seen weeks/months where they have...but see many weeks/months where they are not even in the top 10.

What ratings are you looking at? In 12+ yes, WBUR doesn't consistently rank that well...but 12+ numbers are a joke. What matters is the 25-54 demo and WBUR practically owned it most quarters, sharing with WBZ and WMJX (and sometimes Kiss108).

I say "owned" because I haven't seen WBUR numbers since the PPM came around, although I have seen vague evidence that their numbers dropped under the PPM...which sort-of makes sense; WBUR has done an incredibly good job building a brand identity and culturing brand loyalty, two things that served stations well under the old diary system.

FWIW, I remember at one point (and this may still be true) that WBUR was consistently the #1 station in Boston for Saturday mornings for years. Granted, the audience during that time was much, much smaller than any AM/PM drive audience...but they owned it. As in, they had more listeners than all other Boston market stations combined.

I haven't seen the numbers, but the statement that it's astounding that a public radio station would be #1 in a market seems a bit off-base to me. A lot of public radio stations do very, very well in their market rankings. Those 22 million Morning Edition listeners gotta be listening SOMEwhere, after all. Although, I can see occupying the #1 spot to be a little unusual compared to being in the top 5.

 

[Don Juan]

They are lucky to have NPR to give them AM & PM drive programs, because without those, the station does not perform well.

What do you mean "give?" NPR affiliates pay (dearly) for the NPR programs they carry!

Yes, WBUR gives NPR money, and NPR gives them the program(ming).

Is there anything that WBUR does on their own that gets ratings?

I think Don's analysis of WBUR's performance is a bit simplistic. Yes, a big part of WBUR's ratings success is due to the national content of ME and ATC - but if that was all, WGBH would have been performing just as well for the last decade or so in which it's been carrying those shows directly opposite WBUR. (In fact, given WGBH's superior signal over much of the market, it should have been performing even better.)

I agree, it was a tad simplistic. And, point taken, WBUR should be given credit for integrating the NPR programming into a total station sound.

WGBH hasn't done as well, because IMHO, it's always had schizophrenic programming. Classical, Jazz, World music...along with some news from NPR...you never quite knew what you were going to get on GBH Radio.

NPR magazines, and ME in particular, are more than just "plug into the satellite for an hour" national shows. ...they're designed to be used as a framework into which stations can insert an almost unlimited amount of local content. That's how WBUR uses them...

Well, to be honest, outside of the local news that follows NPR's newscast, I don't hear much local content inserted into the show. They break and do pre-promotes of what's coming up, but that's not content.

Yes, occasionally, they cover one of the NPR segments with with a breaking local story, but that's a rarity.

I say this as someone who listens to ATC almost every day...and enjoys WBUR & NPR immensely. It is a smooth sounding station. But outside of integrating NPR product onto their airwaves, is there anything they produce that is stellar? Radio Boston? On Point?

However, I don't think they "consistently" rank in the top 5 stations. I have seen weeks/months where they have...but see many weeks/months where they are not even in the top 10.

What ratings are you looking at? In 12+ yes, WBUR doesn't consistently rank that well...but 12+ numbers are a joke. What matters is the 25-54 demo and WBUR practically owned it most quarters, sharing with WBZ and WMJX (and sometimes Kiss108).

No, looking at 25-54.

7th. -January wk #1
12th -Last book of 2009(holiday)
10th -December
9th -October
Like I said, I don't see them consistantly ranked in the top 5 stations.

FWIW, I remember at one point (and this may still be true) that WBUR was consistently the #1 station in Boston for Saturday mornings for years.

Like I said, there are dayparts that do well....mainly ATC, ME and on Saturdays WE, etc.

Granted, the audience during that time was much, much smaller than any AM/PM drive audience...but they owned it. As in, they had more listeners than all other Boston market stations combined.

I have never seen that in the ratings I have seen. There were hours that did extremely well...but never an entire Saturday morning.