WBUR VS. WGBH: AN AMAZING NONCOM RADIO BATTLE

Public radio stations seldom go head-to-head for format supremacy in a major American city.  It is happening right now in Boston. I've never seen anything like it before.

WGBH is making a serious challenge to WBUR, Boston’s long-time NPR News leader.  WBUR is also one of the most profitable noncommercial stations in the nation.

When I say head-to-head it means many of the same programs at the same time.  Consider this comparison of programming for the hours when the most people hear radio:

MONDAY – FRIDAY 6am – 7pm

TIME	WBUR	WGBH
6am – 7am	Morning Edition	Morning Edition
7am – 8am	Morning Edition	Morning Edition
8am – 9am	Morning Edition	Morning Edition
9am – 10am	BBC Newshour	Morning Edition
10am – 11am	On Point	The Takeaway
11am – Noon	On Point	Boston Public Radio
Noon – 1pm	Here & Now	Boston Public Radio
1pm – 2pm	Here & Now	Boston Public Radio
2pm – 3pm	Fresh Air	The Takeaway
3pm – 4pm	Radio Boston	The World
4pm – 5pm	ATC	ATC
5pm – 6pm	ATC	ATC
6pm – 7pm	6:00 ATC 6:30 Marketplace	6:00 Marketplace 6:30 ATC

SATURDAY 6am – 3pm

TIME	WBUR	WGBH
6am – 7am	BBC Newsday	On the Media
7am – 8am	On Point	Studio 360
8am – 9am	Weekend Edition	Weekend Edition
9am – 10am	Weekend Edition	Weekend Edition
10am – 11am	Wait, Wait	Innovation Hub
11am – Noon	Best of Car Talk	Wait, Wait
Noon – 1pm	This American Life	Dinner Party Download
1pm – 2pm	On the Media	This American Life
2pm – 3pm	Wait, Wait	The Moth

THE CONTENDERS

WBUR and WGBH are evenly matched in the basics: great signals, well-known brand names, plenty of resources and a willingness to invest them.  WGBH appears to be making some progress.  According to Nielsen Audio, comparing data from 2014 and 2015, WGBH appears to be adding listeners at the expense of WBUR. Check out the changes in weekly cume listeners.

 2015 WINTER PPM

2014 WINTER PPM

WHY WBUR VS. WGBH IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER CO-FORMAT BATTLES

It is not unusual for two stations in the same market to air Morning Edition and ATC at the same time. In most cases, one of the stations airs news fulltime and the other exceeds with a companion format.  Think of KPCC & KCRW or KUOW & KPLU. Everybody wins, particularly the listeners.

There are also stations trying to find a way to exist in the shadows of a major NPR News station in the same market. Think KQED & KALW.

HOW WGBH CAN OVERTAKE WBUR

WBUR is mainly a national station.  It plays big national (and international) shows plus its own programming created for national syndication. The editorial scope is very broad.

WGBH can counter by keeping the programming focus on Boston and New England. WGBH’s best hope and weakest link is Boston Public Radio, a local news and talk program heard Monday – Friday 11am – 2pm. This program appears to be WGBH’s unique selling point, so its got to be good.

HOW WBUR CAN KEEP ON WINNING

Don’t worry about WGBH.  Keep focused on what you do so well – what you are doing now.  People like programming with national and international connections.  Radio Boston is a terrific local show.

WHAT TO DO IF ALL ELSE FAILS

Buy them out.  That’s what Bill Kling did in Minneapolis/St. Paul. 

Back in the 1990s WCAL competed with Minnesota Public Radio, airing Morning Edition and ATC at the same times.  For a few months WCAL used the promotional slogan NPR Without MPR to underscore the fact that MPR preempted major segments of NPR programming and WCAL didn’t.

Kling hated it.  Rumor has it he asked, then told, WCAL’s management to quit using the phrase. Being true Minnesotans, they did.

A decade later MPR bought WCAL for several million dollars.  WCAL became 89.3 The Current.  A friend who was there when the deal was set told me Kling repeated the story about NPR Without MPR and chuckled to himself.