BYU Radio Research
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Executive Summary When approached by BYU Radio in August 2012, the primary purpose of the research we were to conduct was to determine who listens to BYU Radio. As a relatively new station, BYU Radio has struggled to identify its target audience. Their current approach has been to reach as broad of an audience as possible through diverse, uplifting programming and a number of distribution channels. Our goal was to identify the primary listeners of BYU Radio, what programming they listen to and whether the station is being an effective missionary tool for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. BYU Radio had questions they wanted answered; we then converted those questions into objectives we wanted to research. The first was to identify the demographics of BYU Radio listeners. The second was to discover what programming BYU Radio listeners enjoyed the most. Third was to find the extent to which BYU Radio is being used as a missionary tool. The fourth was to determine potential improvements they station could make in order to reach more listeners and increase the popularity of BYU Radio. In order to conduct our research, we held phone interviews and distributed online surveys with BYU Radio listeners. From the results we received from during our depth phone interviews, we compiled a list of questions to build an online survey. This allowed us to better understand how people view BYU Radio’s programming, services and a number of other important questions that would help BYU Radio better understand how it is performing as a station. We discovered that most male BYU Radio listeners are 20-39 years old, Caucasian and LDS. The average age range for female listeners is more divided, with 55% being in the 20-29 and 50-59 age range. They are also Caucasian and LDS. The 1 most popular programming was music, followed by Devotional/Inspirational Messages, live BYU Football and LDS General Conference. According to our survey data, 58% of respondents responded that they were satisfied or very satisfied with BYU Radio’s current programming. This as an interesting statistic and is lower than what listener satisfaction should be. Regarding BYU Radio being utilized as an effective missionary tool for the LDS church, 45% of participants were neutral and 48% agreed or strongly agreed. At the same time, when asked if BYU Radio’s current programming is likely to attract non-LDS listeners, more respondents disagreed than for the previous question. This implies that while respondents are hesitant to disagree that BYU Radio can be used as a missionary tool, they still do not believe it will currently work as a missionary tool. At the conclusion of all our research, we used the data and many responses to create a number of suggestions. We feel that once used, these suggestions will help BYU Radio meet its objectives and become a more popular station and more effective missionary tool. 2 Introduction In August, 2012, BYU Radio station manager Don Shelline asked our Comms 318 class to conduct an extensive research campaign to determine who is currently listening to BYU Radio. As a relatively new station, BYU Radio has struggled to identify their primary audience and had little information about how people actually felt about its services. Their current approach has been to reach as broad of an audience as possible through diverse, uplifting programming and a number of distribution channels. Our goal was to identify who is BYU Radio’s primary audience, what they listen to and if it is being an effective missionary tool for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These distribution channels include satellite and traditional radio, online streaming and a mobile smartphone app. BYU Radio is also broadcasted nationally by SiriusXM satellite radio. Because of SiriusXM’s restriction on giving out information, BYU Radio does not receive reports, statistics or any data regarding its subscriber base or audience. Simply put, BYU Radio has virtually no method of tracking who listens to their station or individual programs. Since very little research has been conducted in the past, BYU Radio only has a list of 65 regular listeners of the station. We conducted research using a variety of methods including background research, in-depth interviews and an online survey. We asked participants about themselves, their general listening habits, opinion of BYU Radio, and radio preferences. As we conducted the research, a number of other questions arose about listeners’ perceptions of BYU Radio and their satisfaction with its programming. These questions include how they viewed BYU radio as a missionary tool and their likelihood to recommend or promote BYU Radio to others. Using our findings, we analyzed the audience’s demographics and psychographics to understand their preferences and expectations of the station. 3 4 Background on Organization History and Growth Bonneville International, a media company owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, started a radio station in 1992 called Bonneville International LDS Radio Network. Ten years later, on August 1, 2002, the radio station became BYU Radio. BYU Radio proceeded to grow during the following decade by providing Internet streaming. In 2003, it began an additional Internet stream, BYU Radio Instrumental, which featured instrumental inspirational music. In 2006, BYU Radio began streaming a new high-definition radio signal called “HD2”. In 2008 BYU Radio International, which featured Spanish and Portuguese-language programming, was created. During this time, BYU Radio made a deal with Dish Network and is now featured on Channel 980 for paid subscribers. On October 17, 2011, BYU Radio discontinued BYU Radio International and BYU Radio Instrumental because the cost of online streaming was too high. On July 1, 2011, BYU Radio started broadcasting on Sirius satellite radio on channel 143 (Wikipedia, 2012). Today, people can listen to live online streaming of BYU Radio for free through the BYU Radio website. BYU Radio is known for its faith-based programming and BYU sports coverage. BYU Radio also includes programming about politics, culture and education. They have a Facebook page with over 5,000 likes and a Twitter account with over 400 followers. 5 Examples of Facebook posts by BYU Radio Although the content on the Facebook page is random and somewhat unrelated to 6 BYU Radio’s mission, it does generate interactions with fans. However, it’s hard to tell whether or not these fans are actually listening to BYU Radio. Below is an example of how fans enjoy BYU Radio Facebook posts, but there is no indication that they listen to the station regularly. Past Promotions and PR BYU Radio has an extremely limited budget and may not be able to afford promotions. There haven’t been many promotions in the past or public relations efforts by BYU Radio. This could be because the focus of BYU Broadcasting has been on BYUtv rather than BYU Radio. To adapt to the change in social media, BYU Radio created a Facebook and Twitter account. The Facebook page currently has 5,356 “likes” with 410 “talking about this”. Content is posted every day to generate a response from fans, but it doesn’t always relate to the company itself. Sometimes it’s just a picture of a monkey and asks you to write a caption for it. The content on the BYU Radio’s Twitter account is more relevant than the content on its Facebook page. BYU Radio has 782 Tweets, 426 followers and is following 251 users. Research on Product/Service Provided 7 BYU Radio offers more than 40 programs including BYU athletic events, BYU devotionals and forums, “Music and the Spoken Word”, LDS-themed music and General Conference broadcasts. (siriusxm.com/byuradio) BYU Radio is offered in a variety of formats: satellite radio on Sirius XM, traditional radio on KBYU-FM 89.1, online streaming and a mobile smartphone app. The free BYU Radio app is fairly usable - allowing users to stream current programming from their phones. The app also shows BYU Radio’s schedule over 24 hours. However, other than these two services, the app does not add any additional value for users. Resources and Personnel BYU Radio has great support from BYU and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints without the intense supervision that usually follows. Normally with BYU Broadcasting, the Church must approve any programming. Since BYU Radio is smaller, they don’t have to go through the Church’s approvals and has full control of the station’s programming. Background on Issue 8 History The challenge for BYU Radio is in discovering who their devoted listeners are, what those listeners want from the station and how others perceive BYU Radio. Being available nationally on SiriusXM Radio, they have a great opportunity to reach large and diverse audience. The advent of satellite radio has changed the options available for people to gain access to the music, sports and commentary that were traditionally available exclusively on radio and television. Using satellite technology, audiences across the United States can pick up a signal and follow their favorite stations hassle-free. Within the United States, the largest provider of satellite radio is SiriusXM. SiriusXM is a broadcasting company located in the USA. The company offers two satellite radio services: Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio. Today, there are over 22 million subscribers to SiriusXM, and they are adding over 400,000 each quarter (Szalai, 2012). The service offers more than 140 channels, all over the United States. Since 2011, the company has seen an increase of 13 percent in revenue and 38 percent in their bottom line.