Capital Times: Public Radio Ratings Gain After Changes / WPR's New Classical Cha

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Capital Times: Public Radio Ratings Gain After Changes / WPR's New Classical Channel Catches On


http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/tct/2007/05/03/0705030319.php

Public Radio Ratings Gain After Changes

The Capital Times :: FRONT :: A1
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Jacob Stockinger The Capital Times
E-mail: [email protected]

As it kicks off its $275,000 spring pledge drive today, Wisconsin Public Radio has received its first set of listener ratings since it made major and controversial schedule changes last summer, and WPR Director Phil Corriveau said today he is happy with the gains the ratings show.

"It took us a long time to get the numbers, but I'm very pleased with the results," said Corriveau, who oversees the statewide network of 29 radio stations. "In Madison, we saw a more dramatic increase in listening than statewide. Statewide listening was up 5 percent, while WHA/AM was up 26 percent and had it best ratings ever, and WERN/FM was up 17 percent for its best rating in 10 years. That's pretty significant. It's the only ratings period we have (from) after the changes, but the ratings are going in the right direction."

Corriveau also noted that the new ratings provide a vindication of controversial schedule changes.

"Right after we made the changes, the e-mails that we received were mainly complaints and negative, as you would expect," Corriveau said. "That's understandable. If you put something new in, you have to take something out. We tend to hear more from people who are unhappy than people who are happy. But people ultimately express their happiness with their listening. So I'm glad we're attracting more listeners." ...

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http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/tct/2007/05/03/0705030350.php

WPR's New Classical Channel Catches On

The Capital Times :: FRONT :: A3
Thursday, May 3, 2007
By Jacob Stockinger The Capital Times
E-mail: [email protected]

Although regular programming on Wisconsin Public Radio lost several hours of classical music when schedule changes were implemented last summer, WPR Director Phil Corriveau says the recent launching of the HD-2 classical channel, which offers classical music 24/7, seems likely to become a successful substitute.

"It sounds great," Corriveau said. "I'm really pleased with it. We're starting to get comments from people, and listeners love it." ...

[Click link above for the complete newspaper article.]