University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 12-2016 On the Air, On the Hill: The tS ory of Radio at the University of Arkansas Blake Ryan Sutton University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Higher Education Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, and the Radio Commons Recommended Citation Sutton, Blake Ryan, "On the Air, On the Hill: The tS ory of Radio at the University of Arkansas" (2016). Theses and Dissertations. 1793. http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/1793 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. On the Air, On the Hill: The Story of Radio at the University of Arkansas A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Journalism by Blake Ryan Sutton University of Arkansas Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, 2011 December 2016 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. ____________________________________ Professor Larry Foley Thesis Director ____________________________________ ____________________________________ Professor Dale Carpenter Dr. James Gigantino Committee Member Committee Member ABSTRACT On the Air, On the Hill: The Story of Radio at the University of Arkansas is a film about the past, present, and future of radio on campus at the U of A. From the original campus station KFMQ in 1924, to the present day student station KXUA and the region’s NPR affiliate KUAF, the film explores not only the rich history of radio at the U of A, but also what the future holds for campus radio in the face of an ever-changing media landscape. The film draws from interviews with Fayetteville historians, as well as the major players involved with the various campus stations over the years. This past-present-future depiction of Arkansas radio serves as a resource not only for campus historians, but also for those who are interested in the future of media in the Internet age. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION.………………………………………………………….………...1 II. LITERATURE REVIEW………..………………………………...…………….........2 III. RESEARCH.……………..…………………………...…………................................4 IV. PRODUCTION NARRATIVE…..………………………...……………....................6 V. REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………11 VI. SCRIPT………………………………………………………………………………12 VII. APPENDIX…………………………………………………………………………..22 I. INTRODUCTION With the ever increasing popularity of the internet, the way people expose themselves to media is constantly changing. Most of the time when people think about media consumption on the internet, they think of film and television services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. However, the way people listen to radio is also changing in the face of new technological advances. Satellite radio has become wildly popular in recent years, and even comes standard in many cars built today. While often overlooked, online radio is another major advancement, and many people are starting to transition away from traditional means of listening to the radio, like in their car or on a portable stereo, in favor of listening online. Online radio research is important because Millennials are quickly overtaking the Baby Boomers as the largest generation in America. This generation prefers to get its media online, so if a station lacks online radio capabilities, this will be a major problem for the success of that station in the future. This is also an important subject to study for the people involved in managing the two campus radio stations, KUAF and KXUA, but also for anyone involved in managing a campus radio station at any similarly sized university in the United States. There are several hundred college radio stations in the United States, and there are nine in the state of Arkansas alone. Though this film is hyper-focused, it can be used to draw conclusions not only about the two stations on campus at the U of A, but also for similar sized campuses with similar radio capabilities throughout the country. 1 This film explores the history of radio on campus at the University of Arkansas, the present day conditions of the two current stations, and what the future holds for campus and local radio in the face of an ever-changing media landscape. It draws on interviews from local historians and people involved with the formation of the multiple stations on campus throughout the history of the university. II. LITERATURE REVIEW This project drew from various listenership studies performed recently to get an idea of how listeners are adapting to media in the Internet age. In Albarran (2007), the authors of the study focused on the transition of young people away from terrestrial radio to online and satellite radio. Their study focused on American young people, but they said the findings could be used to make predictions about other countries as well. This project focused on listeners in Fayetteville and at the University of Arkansas, but the findings could also be used to make inferences about the listening motivations for students at other similarly sized universities in America. Green (2011) found that radio diaries are still one of the best ways to gauge radio listenership, but that the diaries are transitioning to the web. Green said: “Online completion offers the potential for greater data processing efficiency advantages and is also a preferred option for younger audiences. Another key advantage is the ability to track the time gap more accurately between when they listened to the radio and when they documented this listening in their diaries” (Green, 2011). A major trend in the radio research industry is not only online listener diaries, but also the increasing popularity of listening to online radio. Vogt (2015) showed that: 2 “In 2015, the percentage of Americans 12 years of age or older who reported listening to radio online in the past month rose to 53% – nearly double the percentage who had done so only five years earlier in 2010 (27%)” (Vogt, 2015). This is important research because it’s recent, but it also deals with online radio, and college students spend much of their time online. Another aspect of my research is about the prevalence of HD radio at campus stations, and its impact on listenership. In Olmstead, Mitchell, & Rosenstiel (2011), the authors said that: “Traditional AM and FM radio still dominates the audio landscape, and for the last decade it has been among the most stable traditional media. But heading into 2011 there are growing signals that raise questions about its future…the industry’s main technological initiative, HD Radio, has failed to take off. It hasn’t generated the public support the broadcast industry expected it would when it was introduced in 2002. Only small percentages of people listen to HD Radio or are even aware it exists, and in 2010 those numbers remained flat. Perhaps more tellingly, fewer stations are investing in making the transition” (Olmstead, Mitchell, & Rosenstiel 2011). KUAF promotes its HD radio capabilities a great deal, and one question in this film is how it affects listenership here in Fayetteville, and if they will continue to promote HD radio in the face of negative research. In Abernethy (1989), author Avery Mark Abernethy researched the accuracy of traditional listener diaries in regards to car radio. Abernethy’s research is important for my topic as a guide, and it will help me to ask more pertinent questions about listenership in my interview questions. Finally, in Schultz, Block, & Custer (1978), the authors compared three different methodologies for measuring radio listenership. They compared the differences among telephone incidentals, listener diaries, and personal interviews, and said: “There appear to be serious questions about the measurement or estimation of radio audiences, particularly for individual stations in local markets. Present techniques and methodologies, as indicated by this study, provide widely varying audience estimates. 3 For advertisers and broadcasters in the radio medium, this study raises serious questions” (Schultz, Block, & Custer, 1978). This study, like Abernethy’s, was a guide for asking the right questions, and also as a roadmap for what to watch out for during my research. In conclusion, this research will be important for gauging attitudes about radio listenership in the ever changing world of the internet and new media. III. RESEARCH Research for this topic began in Spring of 2016 when I was enrolled in Research Methods. The goal of that research was to get an idea of how radio is fitting into the changing media and entertainment landscape that is being constantly transformed by the internet and social media. I found that even though people have been saying that radio is a dying medium for decades, it still persists today as a viable form of getting information and entertainment. For this film, much of my research involved in-person interviews and talking to experts on the topic of radio on campus at the U of A. I interviewed people who were present during the founding of KUAF and KXUA, and also historians on the subject of campus history. The one question I asked all of the interview subjects was how they saw the future of campus and local radio fitting into the lives of the listening public, and what radio can do to stay fresh and keep up with competing media platforms. In-person research for the film began with scheduling interviews with experts and people involved with the two stations on campus. My first interview was with KUAF station manager Rick Stockdell, and this proved to be beneficial for further research, as he gave me helpful tips about the best people to interview. He said I should talk to Fayetteville historian Charlie Alison, and this was my second interview.