onnecting our Communit C y or 50 years FISCAL YEAR 2 0 0 9 ANNUAL REPORT MISSION VALUES Arizona Public Media informs, inspires, and connects Every decision will be guided by our community by bringing people and ideas together. what best serves audiences. Our staff, volunteers, and interns are VISION committed to meeting the needs We connect you to the and exceeding the expectations of community and the world our stakeholders and colleagues through the intellectual and with honesty and integrity. We creative resources of The work together as members of a University of Arizona. We are team with a common goal and at- leaders within the community tention to detail—understanding and industry, embracing the importance of personal com- new technologies, ideas, and mitment in fulfilling our mission. partnerships. Our efforts in We value individual contribu- service to the community are tions and respect our differences. sustained by the investment Diversity of opinion and healthy, of individual supporters in open debate are encouraged and partnership with The University appreciated. We strive to improve of Arizona, the business performance on a daily basis in community, and the Corporation service to our community. for Public Broadcasting. Dear Friends, This year, KUAT Channel 6 and Arizona Public Media (AZPM) celebrate 50 years of service to Tucson, Southern Arizona, and The University of Arizona. On Sunday, March 8, 1959, KUAT Channel 6 launched as the first public station in Arizona. What started out fifty years ago as an instructional television “experiment” today offers six television program services, three radio program services, and a robust online platform that early next year will evolve into a rich content-delivery platform of its own, featuring dozens of full episodes of most PBS and local programs. During an average week this year, more than 340,000 people throughout Southern Arizona watched or listened to one or more of our stations. KUAT is one of the top ten most-watched and most-supported public TV stations in the country and ranks #1 when compared with stations licensed to top 25 public research universities; both radio stations are ranked in the top five. The coming years will provide both challenges and exciting opportunities to harness the power of digital media and community service. Our primary objective remains unchanged: to serve audiences with distinctive, thought-provoking content on the air, online, and on the ground through educational community outreach activities. AZPM will continue to make the organization cost effective, more visible, and more responsive to you. These efforts are not simply reactive to the current economic conditions, but rather reflect the responsibility AZPM carries as the steward of precious resources provided through the generosity of individual donors, corporate underwriters, and The University of Arizona. I hope you will join us as we continue the exciting journey in our next 50 years! Sincerely, Jack Gibson Jim Jutry Stephen J. MacCarthy Director & General Manager Chair, Arizona Public Media Vice President, External Relations Arizona Public Media Community Advisory Board The University of Arizona 2 TELEVISION IN FISCAL YEAR 2009, people turned to PBS-HD Channel 6 as a trusted source for important cur- rent events, including news coverage from both national political conven- tions and numerous election specials. Viewers experienced the wonders of the world with programs such as Michael Wood’s dazzling The Story of India, and undertook epic historic journeys with the Native American series, We Shall Remain. Two new programs acquired from the BBC this year proved popular with viewers: MI-5, a series that takes viewers into the world of the UK’s clandestine security service, known to insiders simply as “Five.” And Monarch of the Glen, following Archie MacDonald as he finds himself thrown into the role of the new Laird of Glenbogle, his family’s financially failing Scottish estate. Audience Reach +3.3% KUAT Channel 6 performed 15.9 percent better than the national PBS average. Kids Afternoon 3-5 PM +15.5% Primetime performed 7 percent better than the national PBS average. Kids AM block viewing frequency +35% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% PercentAGE increase 1960s & 70s: A foundation for success. 1959 On March 8, KUAT 1968 Television facilities were moved 1969 Public broadcasting Channel 6 launched as Arizona’s first into the newly- completed Modern Languages service (PBS) was established. educational television station. building & KUAT-AM 1550 began operation with a classical and jazz music format. 3 PBS WORLD joined the Arizona Public Media family of broadcast services in October. PBS World offers viewers the best PBS non-fiction programs likeFrontline, History Detectives, Nature, The PBS NewsHour, the best of Arizona Public Media’s original programming, and select national events live, including the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The popularity of PBS World and sister services PBS Kids, Create, V-me, and the UA Channel continued to grow among viewers throughout Southern Arizona. Journey to Palomar traces the personal and professional struggles of Chicago-born astronomer George Ellery Hale (1868- 1938) to build the four largest telescopes of the 20th century, culminating with the 20-year effort to build the million-pound telescope on Palomar Mountain. Astronomer George Ellery Hale and one of the Palomar telescopes Top 5 Specials 1. Rape of Europa 2. Journey to Palomar 3. A Capital Fourth 4. We Shall Remain 5. Citizen JournalismPantone Project 2945C, Pantone 200C 1971 KUAT-AM radio became a 1973 KUAT Channel 6 and KUAT-AM 1975 KUAT-FM 90.5 began charter member of the newly formed began seven-day a week operation. offering classical music, news, and public National Public Radio (NPR). affairs programming. 4 RADIO SOUTHERN ARIZONA’S NPR station KUAZ 89.1 FM 1550 AM added one of public radio’s most popular programs to its weekday lineup in FY2009. The Diane Rehm Show offers KUAZ listeners thoughtful and lively conversations with some of the nation’s top newsmakers, journalists, and authors. Each week, more than 1.7 million listeners across the country tune in to the program. An addition to KUAZ’s weekend lineup in FY2009 was Studio 360, public radio’s smart and often surprising guide to what’s happening in pop culture and the arts. Kai Ryssdal continues to make economic information digestible as host of the popular program Marketplace. Diane Rehm Photo: Stephen Voss of The Diane Rehm Show KUAZ competes with two local news/ talk format stations for audiences, The Fall 2008 cumulative audience for KUAZ was the largest to date. and in FY2009, KUAZ came out on top. According to Inside Tucson Combined audience for KUAT-FM Business, KUAZ’s audience share and KUAZ grew by +2.2 percent. increased 65 percent over the previous year and ranked as the fifth most listened to radio station in the market, as well as the top-rated news/ talk station in the market. KUAZ achieved its highest-ever cumulative audience in Fall 2008, during the Presidential election. The weekly cumulative audience increased 10 1980s & 90s: percent over the previous fiscal year. Original programs begin a legacy. 1980 Arizona Illustrated 1982 KUAT won the 1984 Desert Voices 1988 KUAS channel 27 premiered on KUAT Channel 6. Funding Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s premiered on KUAT-AM. began broadcast operations from from federal grants replaced KUAT-AM first-place award for a public Tumamoc Hill providing PBS program and TV production equipment. awareness campaign. services to NW Tucson. 5 Newsweek magazine calls The Diane Rehm Show “one of the most interesting talk shows in the country.” National Journal says Diane is “the class act of the talk radio. world.” Top 5 Programs Top 5 Programs 1. Morning Edition 1. Saturday Noon Opera 2. All Things Considered 2. Exploring Music 3. The Diane Rehm Show 3. A Prairie Home Companion 4. Marketplace 4. St. Paul Sunday 5. The World 5. Sunday 1 p.m. Concert “… the most popular news and information programming is the NPR line-up on KUAZ 89.1-FM/ A Prairie Home Companion 1550-AM.” Marketplace Inside Tucson Business, January 2009 Kai Ryssdal of Kai Ryssdal Garrison Keillor of Throughout the year Classical KUAT 90.5 FM continued its Sunday afternoon and Thursday evening broadcast of concerts recorded at The University of Arizona School of Music and other Southern Arizona venues. Classical music fans showed their appreciation for KUAT-FM during a Spring 2009 membership campaign that encouraged listeners to “show the love” by supporting the radio station and in return, a dozen roses were sent to a recipient of the listener’s choice. KUAT-FM’s audience remained steady during FY2009, a year during which commercial and public classical stations across the country struggled to maintain their audiences. 1990 The Desert Speaks 1992KUAz-FM 89.1 began 1992the firstReading began production by KUAT. broadcasting with jazz programming and NPR Rainbow Young Writers and News: simulcast on KUAT-AM 1550. Illustrator’s Contest was held. 6 ONLINE & NEW MEDIA 2000s: New media platforms provide opportunities. 2000 KUAT-AM 1550 changed 2002 KUAS began digital 2003 PEG cable channel is rebranded call letters to KUAZ-AM, to mirror sister broadcast operations as the first digital The UA Channel. KUAZ-AM/FM revised format station KUAZ-FM. television station in Southern Arizona. to NPR daytime; Jazz evenings. 7 ARIZONA PUBLIC MEDIA is focused on convenient audience access to public media through traditional and emerging technologies. Online and New Media devotes its efforts toward fully developing and maintaining a stable, secure, and scalable infrastructure to serve the online needs of tens of NPR’s new app for the iPhone thousands of visitors to the AZpublicmedia.org Web site during the year.