KERA

[RobDal]

I realize public radio has to run pledge drives in order to continue operating without advertising but with the most recent pledge drive lasting roughly two and a half weeks, how long before it starts to hurt the cause? It just seemed too much, are they collecting for KERA and KKXT as well? After this last pledge drive I would prefer they allow advertising just so I don't have to hear it.

And before anyone asks, yes I do donate.

 

[LibertyNT]

I guess KERA-FM is following KERA-TV which has been in
constant pledge mode for a few years now

 

[dismuke]

Gee - I guess that means you are not looking forward to the "best of" broadcast they are planning for this summer. It will be called "36 Years of 90.1 FM Pledge Breaks" and will feature select pledge break moments you never thought you would hear again. And, as an added treat, they are also going to include excerpts of pledge breaks from public radio stations in other cities as well. Everybody is really excited about it.

And Channel 13 is planning to do the same thing on the television side. It will be your opportunity to see pledge breaks being pitched by people with really bad 1970s clothes and hair-dos.

 

[copydesk2]

We need to take another look at the mission of "public radio." I don't think this is what was intended.

 

[donicus]

I guess KERA-FM is following KERA-TV which has been in
constant pledge mode for a few years now

That's the main reason I quit watching KERA. It gets old watching a show only to be interrupted for an hour of begging for pledges, then returning to the program for the last half hour.

 

[TheBigA]

We need to take another look at the mission of "public radio." I don't think this is what was intended.

As one who was there early on, I can tell you that you're right.The original mission was to provide educational and informational programming that wasn't bound by commercial pressures. But the original mission counted on two things: Government support and more local money from area businesses and residents. The government money for the most part disappeared in 1982. The local money has been dropping thanks to changes in tax laws and the growth in alternative programming from non-broadcast sources.

Running a radio or TV station costs a lot of money. And that money has to come from somewhere. Satellite and internet radio can charge subscription fees. You have to pay the fee to get the programming. With public radio and TV, you can be a freeloader. You can enjoy the content commercial free without paying any money. When I was running a public station, we got great ratings in our market, but less than 5% of those listeners contributed any money. Imagine if you ran a business and only 5% paid. You'd go broke.

So these stations have to keep on beating the drum. And yes, there's a point of diminishing returns. We found it to be about two weeks. After that, people simply found other places and didn't tune in at all. We tried "silent campaigns" with direct mail. That too has limited success. Local businesses are hurting, so they're giving less to non-profits. The bottom line is that if people want commercial-free programming, they have to pay for it. And the only way they do that is by getting the guilt trip.

If you have any alternatives, we'd all love to hear them.

 

[mediawonk]

KERA radio only does three drives a year (they used to do four, as many public stations still do). They have on their website that budgets/funding for KERA and KXT are totally separate, so KXT will do its own drives. This most recent KERA drive did take longer than usual, probably due to the economy and other factors. But their programming lineup is as strong as ever.

 

[RobDal]

I for one would gladly embrace public radio with advertisers. Especially if it eliminated 2 1/2 week long pledge drives. If their ratings are as high as some say on this board, they would become quite profitable qiuickly.

 

[TheBigA]

I for one would gladly embrace public radio with advertisers. Especially if it eliminated 2 1/2 week long pledge drives. If their ratings are as high as some say on this board, they would become quite profitable qiuickly.

Depends. In order to attract advertisers, they might have to change programming. Perhaps make their programming more like what's already available on commercial stations. The commercial stations sound that way because it attracts advertisers. Advertising would change the character of public radio, make it less responsive to the people, and more responsive to the sponsors. Right now, the people pay for public radio, and that's why it sounds that way. Follow the money.

 

[LibertyNT]

In order to even get the possibility of getting advertisers they would have to move from 90.1 to the Commercial Band (92.1-107.9)

 

[compubit]

Gee - I guess that means you are not looking forward to the "best of" broadcast they are planning for this summer. It will be called "36 Years of 90.1 FM Pledge Breaks" and will feature select pledge break moments you never thought you would hear again. And, as an added treat, they are also going to include excerpts of pledge breaks from public radio stations in other cities as well. Everybody is really excited about it.

Well, in celebration of it's 40th anniversary, National Public Radio announced a new 20 CD remastered compendium of NPR Underwriting Credits going back to the beginning, including underwriting credits for Keuffel & Esser Slide Rulers "Helping Today's Students become Tomorrow's Scientists", Bernard L Madoff Investments and Securities, LLC "Watching over your investments so that you don't have to", and the for the Tourism Bureau of the German Democratic Republic "Come see us and stay awhile". It became available on 4/1/2010.

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=125456925&m=125468398

Jim

 

[TheBigA]

For funds that they contributed...thanks to Jennifer & Ted...Stanley.

There was a time when the most asked question at NPR was who is Jennifer & Ted Stanley?

Ted actually just died 6 months ago, and there's an obit for him at npr.org too.

 

[arnoldevns]

Here's what should happen.
The rules should be changed to allow public broadcasters to run a limited number of ads - maybe once a half hour on either TV or radio. The key is to make sure that public broadcasters are non-profit organizations.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting should be made independent of the federal goverment. In other words, give it a good endowment then stop all federal funding and control of it.

 

[Megapsycle]

...And Channel 13 is planning to do the same thing on the television side. It will be your opportunity to see pledge breaks being pitched by people with really bad 1970s clothes and hair-dos.

They'll have to note during those classic pledge drive reruns that the old memberships of $13.13 no longer apply!

Frustrated today that once again Motorweek is preempted for I guess a pledge drive of some sort "Brain In Love". Just what I DON'T want to spend my Saturday watching.

I have my old KDTN Ch 2 Nightly Business Report coffee mug I got for $120, been a member on and off for many years. One thing for sure, the constant preempting of programs I want to watch is not helping persuade me to ante up more $$.

 

[Albert19X]

Frustrated today that once again Motorweek is preempted for I guess a pledge drive of some sort "Brain In Love". Just what I DON'T want to spend my Saturday watching.

I have my old KDTN Ch 2 Nightly Business Report coffee mug I got for $120, been a member on and off for many years. One thing for sure, the constant preempting of programs I want to watch is not helping persuade me to ante up more $$.

There was a time KERA saved their really special programing for pledge drives. Now they save the worst for the drives and endlessly repeat them. I guess the strategy is people will pledge faster just to get the good programming back sooner.