RIT Study finds listeners are unhappy with local radio

[scrtr84]

Very interesting report!

http://www.rit.edu:80/news/?r=46578

 

[BossJock1947]

As recent as 1993 when i was programming i had a show on at night that lasted 30 minutes. We showcased local bands. This was a market of about 500,000. I recieved about 30 demos a week. I also had HS cheerleaders on the air thursday nights. They'd do a few cheers, gossip about school stuff, etc

The van was on the streets doing Live breaks with people on the street.

Can you imagine being a pd at a cumulus type company and trying this. I can hear most consultants now...

 

[copydesk2]

Heck, I didn't need a university report to tell me that. Local radio has lost its orientation.

 

[Neil56]

From the report...

“Many American broadcasters in today’s era of ‘big media’ are not fulfilling their nearly century-old obligation to serve the public interest as stewards of the citizen-owned airwaves.”

That's the bottom line.

 

[LibertyNT]

Well Hell I could have told you that...

 

[scrtr84]

I think it's nice to have a study that confirms what we have all been suspecting. It helps debunk the spinning consultants. ;D

 

[Mike_Saffran]

scrtr84, you beat me to the punch, but many thanks for the post. Below is my official announcement concerning the release of study findings, along with a note of thanks to those from this board who participated in my survey.

In addition, I invite all to listen to the audio podcast interview (link below).

Also, I anticipate discussion might ensue on my “home board,” Buffalo/Niagara Falls/Rochester, in the event you wish to read and/or respond to comments posted there. In the meantime, I’ll check back here from time to time, as well. Thanks for your feedback, thus far.

Mike


Study findings: Listener opinions and use of local radio

In 2007, some visitors to this board completed a survey of radio listeners as part of a study conducted at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Select findings and survey results from the study, Effects of Local-Market Radio Ownership Concentration on Radio Localism, the Public Interest, and Listener Opinions and Use of Local Radio, are available in a news release that includes study highlights, and on an audio podcast discussing research findings. Links to the news release and audio podcast, along with a link to the full study, are provided below.

News release:
RIT Study: Many Listeners Unhappy With Local Radio Programming

Audio podcast:
Studio 86: The State of Radio
Or, copy/paste: http://www.rit.edu/news/podcasts

Full study:
Effects of Local-Market Radio Ownership Concentration on Radio Localism, the Public Interest, and Listener Opinions and Use of Local Radio
Or, copy/paste: http://www.rit.edu/news/supp/msaffran_rit.pdf

Thank you for your participation in the survey and for your contribution to this study by sharing your opinions about local radio.

 

[landtuna]

From the report...

“Many American broadcasters in today’s era of ‘big media’ are not fulfilling their nearly century-old obligation to serve the public interest as stewards of the citizen-owned airwaves.”

That's the bottom line.

I too, deplore the almost complete absence of locally-oriented radio in most large cities but....

Does the sentence quoted above require broadcasters to program from the local audience? After all, most TV stations carry virtually nothing local save their various versions of "blow dried, airhead" news (and a goodly portion of this "news" is right off the wire services). All other programming is either syndicated or national network. What would make radio different in this respect?

 

[greencougar7]

Let's just say radio above TV is more accessible in receiving a signal anywhere,where TV is not. two you can multi things and keep abreast whats going on while listening NOT watching, thus radio takes it there. radio used to serve the local community no matter its size. TV you got to have several local communities that are small or 1 medium size to make it viable. Let's just say radio has gone the way of TV with VT and syndication that lost its way and the listeners dont seem compelled to find it.

 

[returnofbongo]

I don't think anyone here is surprised by this. Question is, who is going to fix it before it's too late?

 

[board monkey]

I had to check the link to be sure that "RIT" didnt stand for "Radio-Info Tools". Never heard of Rochestor Institute of Technology.

The article nailed it. Look at Billy The Kid going to NY to Voice Track Dallas. He's a Dallas jock. Why not VT NY?

 

[TexasTom]

I don't think anyone here is surprised by this. Question is, who is going to fix it before it's too late?

It will get fixed when a couple of the big radio groups go belly up and get sold off in pieces. Fortunately, I this point I think that is a fairly likely outcome, because it is obvious that the big radio groups are sinking in a mountain of unsustainable debt.

 

[returnofbongo]

I agree with you. Sirius is going down, who will be the first terrestrial bcaster to go down?

 

[Mike_Saffran]

I had to check the link to be sure that "RIT" didnt stand for "Radio-Info Tools". Never heard of Rochestor Institute of Technology.

Thanks to all for your comments. For the benefit of ‘board monkey’ (and any others who might be unfamiliar with RIT), I offer a brief plug for my university.

Rochester Institute of Technology, located in western New York state, is a 16,500-student university renowned for programs in engineering, computing and information technology, imaging science, art and design, photography, print media and deaf studies. RIT is also known for its men’s and women’s ice hockey teams—the latter currently ranked #2 in the nation. (Rochester—New York state’s third largest city—is located on the shores of Lake Ontario and is home to Kodak, Bausch & Lomb, and Xerox’s manufacturing division.)

RIT’s photo and print schools are often referred to as “the Harvard” among universities offering studies in these fields. Readers of this board might be interested in knowing that longtime Dallas Morning News and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer William Snyder (an RIT alum) recently returned to RIT as a photojournalism professor. Read more about him here:

Pulitzer Prize winner returns to teach at his alma mater

Lastly, located not far from board readers living in the Dallas-Forth Worth area are nearly 1,700 RIT alums who reside in Austin and comprise RIT’s 11th-largest alumni chapter.

Thanks, again, for your feedback on my study and to those who participated in the survey.
Mike