Last
week Current published an Op-Ed by
Michael Arnold, Director of Content at Wisconsin Public Radio titled Public radio needs more weekend hits, and
fast [link]. In this excellent article Arnold says [paraphrasing] public
radio is over relying on programs created decades ago without investing in new
signature weekend programs. He argues when hits like Wait, Wait, Best of Car Talk
and A Prairie Home Companion fade
away, stations that now count of them for listener support won’t have
replacements.
Arnold
clearly identifies the problems but doesn’t provide important background
context about why this has happened. (Some observers also criticized Arnold’s
omission of more recent hits like The
Moth, Snap Judgment, Ask Me Another and Reveal.)
However,
several program failures a decade ago, including APM’s Weekend America, caused investors, potential sponsors and program
producers to become highly skeptical of new big budget projects.
[Disclosure: I was
a paid consultant for Weekend America
in 2004 and 2005. Since 2011 I have been a consultant for American Routes. From time to time I have worked with other weekly
public radio programs.]
WEEKEND AMERICA’S GOAL:
BECOME A PUBLIC RADIO SATURDAY TENTPOLE PROGRAM
In
the early 2000s Jim Russell and other successful programming creators, cited
one-hour, narrow topic, theme oriented weekly programs as a reason listeners
tuned away after Car Talk. They
recommended public radio invest in a new, wide focus magazine show designed for
midday Saturday.
[Scroll
down to see of list of 94 weekly programs carried by CPB-funded stations in 2001.]
An
early believer was Rick Madden, then head of CPB’s Radio Dic\vision. Madden was considered by many in the industry
to be a smart – even visionary – steward of CPB funding. The late, beloved Madden embraced the concept
that eventually became Weekend America. In 2001 Madden invested $200,000 for APM to
develop the program.
FIRST DRAFT: PUBLIC RADIO WEEKEND
Russell’s
team released the first pilot shows in fall 2002 on six beta stations. Public
Radio Weekend (“PRW”) had a casual tone, lifestyle topics, news updates and
opportunities for stations to insert local coverage. The hosts were David Brown, then host of Marketplace, now at KUT, Austin and Merrill
Markoe, then a writer for Late Night With
David Letterman.
The
brainstorming phase continued until 2004 when it reemerged as Weekend America. Broadcasts began in October 2004. Weekend America originated from Marketplace’s studios in LA. The hosts
were Bill Radke and Barbara Bogavey. CPB
invested $1,600,000 for the launch of Weekend
America. [I was unable to determine
CPB’s total investment in the project.]
WEEKEND
AMERICA: BIG BUDGET & BIG
FAILURE
Out
of respect to my former client I will let others provide the details of why Weekend America failed.
News
reports from the time say the cost to produce Weekend America was between $1,500,000 and $2,000,000 a year. CPB’s
money was due to eventually run out, so it had to become self-sustaining to
continue.
Weekend America went through several host
changes. In 2008 production was moved to
APM in St. Paul to save money. The
economy turned sour. Weekend America was
cancelled at the end of 2008.
IMPACT OF WEEKEND AMERICA’S FAILURE
Weekend America wasn’t the only big budget
public radio program that failed. NPR’s Anthem, Bryant Park and Day to Day
also worked in the lab but not in the real world. Investment in potential new
blockbuster hit programs ceased at that point. Since then, new national
programs have followed a strategy Niemen Labs described in 2012 as agile, cheap
reversions of already existing material. [link]
I’ve
focused on Weekend America because no program I can recall reached so high and
fell so far.
There
is also a human side that can’t be ignored.
Jim Russell summed it up on Transom.org in 2007 after he left APM:
A good example of how "opportunity" can get
out in front of program was the case of Weekend
America. The research made it absolutely clear that public radio was
experiencing a striking dip in listening in the middle of Saturdays. And also
that there were over 100 single-subject, hour long programs being distributed
nationally — a pattern of programming that appeared to create a kind of
"jerky" unconnected listening experience for the audience. What was
needed, we believed, was programming that provided a constant public radio
magazine sound, but with a weekend sensibility. And if it could provide
stations an easy way to insert local material, all the better. This was the
opportunity.
But, where was the
show? What was it about? What was its center? What did it do uniquely well?
What was its consistent sound? Despite years of planning and piloting, in the
early days of Weekend America,
it was a huge burden to just get the two-hour live program on the air every
week. To their credit, the staff persistently demanded a clearer, deeper
definition of the program, but the distractions of producing the show, funding
it, marketing it, defending it and keeping partners and stations as happy as
possible — all of these delayed the program's full conceptual definition. In
retrospect, it is clear that in the early days, the opportunity outpaced the
program. The sad irony is that I could
"hear" a very particular program in my head, loud and clear as a
bell!
But, because I was the Admiral commanding a fleet, I
was not on deck frequently enough to do daily proselytizing of the staff,
teaching and reminding them of what show they were producing.
WEEKLY
PUBLIC RADIO PROGRAM MENU FROM 2OO1
Back
in 2001 I introduced research called CARRIAGE METRICS that charted the performance
of 94 public radio programs. The methodology was simple. I choose 100 representative CPB-funded
stations and tabulated the programs they carried. Programs shown in bold are still in
distribution.
+CARRIAGE
METRICS+™
#2.3 CLEARANCE
SHARE
LISTED BY
PERCENTAGE OF STATIONS CLEARED
94 WEEKLY PUBLIC
RADIO PROGRAMS
100 SAMPLE STATIONS
RANK
|
PROGRAM
|
CLEARANCE SHARE
|
1
|
CAR TALK
|
71.0
|
2
|
A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION
|
65.0
|
3
|
THIS AMERICAN LIFE
|
61.0
|
4
|
THISTLE & SHAMROCK
|
44.0
|
5
|
LIVING ON EARTH (60) &
(30)
|
43.0
|
6
|
WHAD’ YA KNOW?
|
40.0
|
7
|
MUSIC FROM THE HEARTS OF SPACE
|
38.0
|
8
|
WAIT, WAIT…DON’T TELL ME
|
37.0
|
9
|
SAVVY
TRAVELER, THE
|
31.0
|
10
|
ST.
PAUL SUNDAY
|
29.0
|
11
|
PIANO
JAZZ
|
27.0
|
12
(tie)
|
AMERICAN ROUTES
|
20.0
|
12 (tie)
|
LATINO USA
|
20.0
|
14
(tie)
|
PIPEDREAMS
|
19.0
|
14
(tie)
|
SELECTED SHORTS
|
19.0
|
16
|
SOUND
MONEY
|
18.0
|
17
|
FROM THE TOP
|
17.0
|
18
|
ONLY A GAME
|
16.0
|
19 (tie)
|
RIVERWALK
|
15.0
|
19 (tie)
|
SCHICKELE
MIX
|
15.0
|
21
(tie)
|
FRESH AIR WEEKEND
|
14.0
|
21
(tie)
|
ON THE MEDIA
|
14.0
|
21 (tie)
|
REWIND
|
14.0
|
24 (tie)
|
JAZZ
PROFILES WITH NANCY WILSON
|
13.0
|
24 (tie)
|
NEW
DIMENSIONS
|
13.0
|
24 (tie)
|
WEEKLY
EDITION
|
13.0
|
27 (tie)
|
ALTERNATIVE
RADIO
|
12.0
|
27 (tie)
|
HARMONIA
|
12.0
|
27 (tie)
|
JAZZ
SET
|
12.0
|
27 (tie)
|
SAYS
YOU
|
12.0
|
27 (tie)
|
SATELLITE
SISTERS
|
12.0
|
27 (tie)
|
SOUND
& SPIRIT
|
12.0
|
27
(tie)
|
SPLENDID TABLE, THE
|
12.0
|
34
|
JAZZ FROM LINCOLN CENTER
|
11.0
|
35
(tie)
|
SUNDAY BAROQUE
|
10.0
|
36
(tie)
|
WITH HEART & VOICE
|
10.0
|
37 (tie)
|
BEYOND
COMPUTERS (60) & (30)
|
10.0
|
38
|
E TOWN
|
9.0
|
39
(tie)
|
AFROPOP
|
8.0
|
39
(tie)
|
BEALE STREET CARAVAN
|
8.0
|
39 (tie)
|
CHINWAG
THEATRE
|
8.0
|
39 (tie)
|
COUNTERSPIN
|
8.0
|
39 (tie)
|
RECORD
SHELF, THE
|
8.0
|
44 (tie)
|
INFINITE
MIND
|
7.0
|
44
(tie)
|
PEOPLE’S PHARMACY
|
7.0
|
44 (tie)
|
THIS
WAY OUT
|
7.0
|
47 (tie)
|
COMMON
GROUND
|
6.0
|
47 (tie)
|
FIRST
ART
|
6.0
|
47 (tie)
|
LOOSE
LEAF BOOK COMPANY
|
6.0
|
47 (tie)
|
MILLENIUM
OF MUSIC
|
6.0
|
47 (tie)
|
MY
WORD/ MY MUSIC
|
6.0
|
47 (tie)
|
SUNDAY
ROUNDS
|
6.0
|
53
(tie)
|
GRATEFUL DEAD HOUR
|
5.0
|
53
(tie)
|
MAKING CONTACT
|
5.0
|
53
(tie)
|
MOUNTAIN STAGE
|
5.0
|
53
(tie)
|
RADIO NATION
|
5.0
|
53 (tie)
|
SOUNDPRINT
(60) & (30)
|
5.0
|
53
(tie)
|
TO THE BEST OUR KNOWLEDGE
|
5.0
|
53
(tie)
|
ZORBA PASTER ON YOUR HEALTH
|
5.0
|
60 (tie)
|
CELTIC
CONNECTIONS
|
4.0
|
60 (tie)
|
FASCINATIN’
RHYTHM
|
4.0
|
60 (tie)
|
LE
SHOW
|
4.0
|
60
(tie)
|
NEW LETTERS
|
4.0
|
60 (tie)
|
RIVER
CITY FOLK
|
4.0
|
60 (tie)
|
TECH
NATION
|
4.0
|
60 (tie)
|
WEEKEND
RADIO
|
4.0
|
60 (tie)
|
INSIDE
EUROPE (60) & (30)
|
4.0
|
68 (tie)
|
A
CHEF’S TABLE
|
3.0
|
68 (tie)
|
BILLY
TAYLOR/KENNEDY CENTER
|
3.0
|
68
(tie)
|
CALLING ALL PETS
|
3.0
|
68 (tie)
|
CAMBRIDGE
FORUM
|
3.0
|
68 (tie)
|
EARTHSONGS
|
3.0
|
68 (tie)
|
JUSTICE
TALKING
|
3.0
|
68 (tie)
|
PORTRAITS
IN BLUE
|
3.0
|
68
(tie)
|
WEST COAST LIVE
|
3.0
|
68 (tie)
|
WOMEN
IN MUSIC
|
3.0
|
77 (tie)
|
PARENT’S
JOURNAL
|
2.0
|
77
(tie)
|
PUTAMAYO WORLD MUSIC
|
2.0
|
77 (tie)
|
RIDERS
RADIO THEATRE
|
2.0
|
77
(tie)
|
STUDIO 360
|
2.0
|
81 (tie)
|
BOOK
GUYS, THE
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
ENVIRONMENT
SHOW, THE
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
FIFTY
ONE PERCENT (51%)
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
FOLKSTAGE
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
JEFFERSON
HOUR
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
LUTHERAN
VESPERS
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
ME
& MARIO
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
MIDNIGHT
SPECIAL, THE
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
NEWSWEEK
ON THE AIR
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
POWERPOINT
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
PRIME
TIME RADIO
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
REAL
COMPUTING
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
WINGS
|
1.0
|
81 (tie)
|
WORLD
MUSIC JOURNAL
|
1.0
|
FYI Ken, some of those shows you list as not being in distribution anymore are, in fact, still available: I know TechNation, 51% and Inside Europe are, for example. But admittedly keeping track of all these shows could be exceedingly difficult.
ReplyDeleteBTW, is "Weekly Edition" representing WESAT/WESUN? Or was that "Weekend Radio"? Either way, I had no idea that carriage of those particular shows was so low. Certainly it seems like all the major stations in the top 100 markets carry WESAT/WESUN...I wonder if, as valuable as this list is, it could stand to be weighted in favor of larger markets, and further weighted based on when it airs relative to more valuable dayparts? Annnnnnd before you know it, you're tumbling down a rabbit hole of statistical weighting! Oh well...
FWIW, I think lousy timing is overlooked in how important a factor it was in these shows' demises. You can succeed quickly with a single-issue show. You can't do that with a generalist show. But you can ULTIMATELY succeed BETTER with a generalist show...it just takes a lot more time to build up an audience. And the Great Recession wasn't going to give those shows the time. Day2Day really stands out as an example of that in my mind: it was an excellent show but it was going to need a lot of time to establish itself in the midday lineup, and NPR wasn't able to financially give it the time.
The Takeaway's first incarnation also comes to mind: it was a brilliant idea, if a little too East Coast-centric, and it worked very well at what it was trying to do. And it was starting to get a decent toehold as a good morning outlet for the #2 public radio station in each town, as a good way to compete with the #1 station and them airing Morning Edition. But the market dropped out and the time needed to gradually convince affiliates to pick it up wasn't there anymore.
Bryant Park Project I'm not sure what was going on there. That always felt like a really expensive way of "throwing it at the wall and seeing what sticks." I think some people felt it was the way to get out ahead of HD Radio and be the prime tentpole for HD2 multicast channels, but then HD Radio never really took off. And even if it did, it was NPR explicitly competing with itself (the Takeaway was trying harder to go after a related-but-different audience, IMO) and that seemed doomed to fail. OTOH, I think looking at the new "podcast generation" of shows, you could argue that BPP was "ahead of its time" in many ways. I just don't think it was ever going to work as a morning drive outlet.
Going further, a lot of stations got badly shaken up financially and psychologically by the Great Recession and, to be blunt, many of them needed to be shaken up. These stations were relying heavily on the "old standbys" of weekend programming because they had little incentive to change, and a lot of incentive to not change. Nowadays that's a lot less true; stations are realizing that they need to change or die, as the saying goes.
I wonder if you introduced Weekend America again today if it wouldn't do a lot better than it did back then? Given the similarities between WA and Here & Now, I suppose you could divine some analysis from that...although H&N had the huge advantage of an established program (TOTN) being killed off and H&N explicitly being touted as a replacement. It'd be like NPR saying "we're going to make WESAT/WESUN be a one hour show but here's this new thing that'll fill the other hour plus one more hour."