Nuzum PRPD 2020
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A COMMENCEMENT: SEVEN IDEAS FOR THE NEXT ERA OF PUBLIC RADIO magnificentnoise.com/ prpd You get the audience you deserve. And what you “get” will be determined by your mindset. (not by external forces) Who are you? Eric Nuzum [email protected] @ericnuzum In 2020, the definition of public radio’s public service is changing. In 2020, the definition of public radio’s public service is changing. …has changed!! Note: Broadcast is not past tense. The traditional way we serve audiences via broadcast is what has changed. THE ERAS OF PUBLIC RADIO — 1967: Prehistoric 1967 - 1987: Building the Foundation 1987 - 2001: Getting Better 2001 - 2013: THE ERAS OF Local, Local, Local PUBLIC RADIO 2014 - 2020: Age of Disruption 2021 — (?) 2021 — (?) THE ERA OF TRANSFORMATION THE ERA OF DECLINE Don’t focus on maintaining status quo. Focus on what doesn’t change. Live the questions, don’t worry about the answers. ACTION ITEM: • What are the three things that won’t change about your station in the next ten years. • Edit those answers into questions. IDEA #1 IDEA #1 BLOCK OFF 10% OF YOUR TIME 10% agenda items: • Walk around and talk with staff—greet everyone. • Ask someone to show you what they are working on. • Solve a small problem. • Sit in an open space and be accessible. • Listen to your shows and station—then send love notes. Your next success will come out of your 10% time. ACTION ITEM: Don’t just agree that this is smart or “commit” to doing it …block off the time for the next two weeks NOW. IDEA #2 YOU CAN’T SUCCEED AT “LOCAL” UNTIL YOU DEFINE WHAT “LOCAL” MEANS What does “local” even mean? Answer: • What stories does your newsroom or program cover? • How does it cover these stories? • Why do you do things this way? Make the answers disputable, debatable, and open for regular revision. If your newsroom, program, or network does not have a clearly defined statement of editorial intention (and most likely it doesn’t), then your coverage is being guided by your own biases. Answer: • What stories does your newsroom or program cover? • How does it cover these stories? • Why do you do things this way? ACTION ITEM: Plan out the process to answer these three questions …and do it before November 4th… Make sure you create a space that’s conducive to dialog, understanding, and debate. IDEA #3 YOU AUDIENCE ISN’T CHANGING… IT HAS ALREADY CHANGED What is the largest generation cohort listening to your station? What is the largest generation cohort listening to your station? Silent Generation Baby Boomers Generation X Millennial and Gen Z Persons per Week (Millions) 4 6 8 0 2 Sp 10 Fa 10 Stations News Radio Public to Listeners Sp 11 91 Station Sample - Sample PPM Markets Station 91 Fa 11 Boomers Baby Sp 12 Fa 12 Sp 13 Fa 13 Generation X Generation Sp 14 Fa 14 Sp 15 Fa 15 Sp 16 Fa 16 Millennial & Generation Z Generation & Millennial Sp 17 Fa 17 Silent Generation Silent Sp 18 AudiGraphics Fa 18 Sp 18 Fa 19 Sp 20 Listener-Hours per Week (millions) 15 19 24 29 34 10 0 5 Sp 10 Fa 10 Sp 11 Boomers Baby Listening to Public Radio News Stations News Radio Public to Listening Fa 11 91 Station Sample - Sample PPM Markets Station 91 Sp 12 Fa 12 Sp 13 Fa 13 Sp 14 Fa 14 Sp 15 Fa 15 Sp 16 Millennial & Generation Z & Generation Millennial Fa 16 Silent Generation Silent Sp 17 X Generation Fa 17 Sp 18 Fa 18 AudiGraphics Sp 18 Fa 19 Sp 20 Who is your station speaking to? Who is your station programmed for? Anything on your station that is the same as it was six years ago needs to change. Anything on your station that is the same as it was six years ago needs to Six months!! change. ACTION ITEM: Answer these: • What programs are of interest to my target audience? • What topics and news stories are of interest to my target audience? • How do we talk on air that reflects them and their world? IDEA #4 YOU WILL NOT HIRE YOUR NEXT STAR; YOU WILL MAKE YOUR NEXT STAR “I need diverse candidates for my senior leadership position.” Hiring top talent is hard and expensive. So…make your own. ACTION ITEM: • Station-wide mentoring program • Train your successor (and make sure they are different than you) • Start a community training program. IDEA #5 IDENTIFY YOUR “CONTRIBUTORS” AND YOUR “INVESTMENTS” aka: STOP THINKING EVERYTHING NEEDS TO PAY FOR ITSELF Primary reason things die: “[Project X] can’t pay for itself.” Who says everything has to pay for itself? Resources given to contributors generate revenue. Resources given to investments generate learning and ideas. In Amazon: Retail and AWS are contributors. Alexa is an investment. What are the contributors and investments at your station? Invest to: • Learn how to do something new. • Build staff and station capacity and skill. • Build morale and culture. • Test crazy ideas and learn to accept risk. ACTION ITEM: • What are your station’s contributors? • What are your station’s investments? • What metric will you use to evaluate investments? • Ask yourself… WHY ARE YOU DOING EVERYTHING ELSE? IDEA #6 STOP OVER-PROGRAMMING WEEKENDS Want to free up 10s of thousands of dollars in cash, create an innovation fund at your station, maximize your program dollars, and streamline your station’s on-air promotion efforts? Drop 70% of your weekend programming Average number of Average number of weekend hours heard programs on a by core? weekend 1-2 25 hours Who are the weekends programmed for? Contribu1on of Na1onal Programs to Na1onal Audience Spring 2020 100% Four hundred distinct nationally-distributed 75% programs are aired by public radio stations 50% 25% Percent of NaQonal Audience to Acquired Programs Acquired Audience to of NaQonal Percent 0% 0 100 200 300 400 Number of NaQonally-Distributed Programs AudiGraphics Contribu1on of Na1onal Programs to Na1onal Audience Spring 2020 100% Twenty programs generate 80% of all 75% listening to acquired programming 50% 25% 80% Percent of NaQonal Audience to Acquired Programs Acquired Audience to of NaQonal Percent 0% 0 100 200 300 400 Number of NaQonally-Distributed Programs AudiGraphics Contribu1on of Na1onal Programs to Na1onal Audience Spring 2020 100% 75% 50% 25% 200 nationally-distributed programs generate .4% of all listening to acquired programming .4% Programs Acquired Audience to of NaQonal Percent 0% 0 100 200 300 400 Number of NaQonally-Distributed Programs AudiGraphics What is the benefit of all this glut? Choice isn’t always a good thing In the past 20 years, there has been a net increase of 83 programs, yet no meaningful increase in listening. NaQonal Audience for Acquired Programming (LHs) 14 28 41 55 0 S01 F01 S02 F02 S03 F03 S04 F04 S05 F05 TOP 20 S06 F06 S07 All Others vs Programs Na1onal 20 Top F07 S08 ALL OTHERS F08 S09 F09 S10 F10 S11 F11 Number of Programs S12 F12 S13 F13 S14 F14 S15 F15 S16 F16 S17 F17 S18 AudiGraphics F18 S19 F19 S20 105 210 315 420 0 Number of NaQonally-Distributed Programs Besides the news mags… Pick four and run them repeatedly throughout the weekend. In the Top 20 Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday Wait Wait Don't Tell Me This American Life Top weekend shows Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday Wait Wait Don't Tell Me This American Life Radiolab ATC Saturday TED Radio Hour On the Media Moth Radio Hour ATC Sunday Ask Me Another The New Yorker Radio Hour Reveal Snap Judgment What are the bottom 200 A World of Possibilities • Acoustic Accents • Against the Grain • Alan Watts' The Love of Wisdom • Alaskan Fisheries Report • American Graduate Series • American Indian Living • American Landscapes • American Parlor Songbook • American Standards by the Sea • American Variety Radio • Are We There Yet? • Art of the Song • Atlanta Symphony Orchestra • Background Briefing • BBC Promenade Concerts • Best of Our Knowledge • Between the Lines • Bluegrass Review • Blues & Beyond • Blues America • Blues from the Red Rooster • Blues Quest • Bluesmobile Radio Hour • Bonjour Africa • Book Talk • Bookwaves • Bookworm • Brazilian Hour • Building Bridges • California Capital Report • Cambridge Forum • Capital Report-Florida • Celebration! • Celtic Connections • Centerstage Minnesota • City Club Forum • Community Progressive Radio • Compact Discoveries • Concertgebouw Now • Cyber Media • Dream Farm Radio • DW WorldLink • DW: World in Progress • Earth Eats • Earthbeat Radio • Earthsongs • Encounters • European Jazz Stage • Every Little Thing • Exploration • Feature Story News • First Voices Radio • Flashpoints • Folk Sampler • Food Sleuth Radio • For The Wild • Freedom From Religion • Fronteras • Full Moon Hacksaw • Gilmore International Keyboard Festival • Good Books Radio • Grand Teton Music Festival • Great American Orchestras • Grey Matters • Hard Knock Radio • High Plains News Service • Highway 61 • Home Ground • Hour of Slack • Humankind • IdeaSphere • Illinois State Week in Review • In Black America • Indianapolis Symphony on the Air • INDIGEFI • Inflection Point • Informativo Pacifica • Inspirations Across America • International Americana Music Show • Into the Music • Jazz At 100 • Jazz Countdown • Jazz Inspired • Jazz Odyssey • Jazz Rhythm • Joe Frank • Juke in the Back • Keller's Cellar • Kim Scott's Block Party • Law & Disorder • Legislative Gazette - New York • Live from the Divide • Living American Composers • Living Planet • Loafers Gallery • Master Control • Midnight Special • Music City Roots • Music Mountain • Native Sounds Native Voices • Needle Drop • New Letters on the Air • New Urban Jazz Lounge • Nightly Business Report • No I Know • Notes from the Jazz Underground • Noticero Latino • On Story • On Track • One Night Stand • Ongoing