UPDATES & COMMENTS: “WITS,” KUSP & COLORADO MANAGER GIG

WITS

Yesterday’s post about the cancellation of WITS by APM apparently touched a nerve.  

• CONFIDENTIAL FROM ONE OF APM's COMPETITORS

Regardless of anything else, the show was WEAK. A national show has to have ambition and regularly demonstrate it is meeting it...and it has to be listenable. And in some ways, be important enough to exist.

What need to did it address? What wall did it break? What new standard did it hit? What delight did it tickle again and again?

All the signs of trouble were there...and no one has the courage to say what we have is ONLY a live event or ONLY a podcast.

KUSP

  

PREVIOUSCOVERAGE: KUSPRECEIVES ANONYMOUS $100,000 DONATION 

No announcement has been made about the future of KUSP, Santa Cruz. The community station is trying to solve a major deficit and contend with the angst of a former employee who wants redemption.

Nielsen Audio released results for the Spring 2015 rating period and they tell a cautionary story:

SANTA CRUZ

Nielsen Audio Market #84

	FORMAT	SPRING 2014 AQH	SPRING 2015 AQH	ONE YEAR TREND
KAZU	NPR News	3.7	4.6	+ 0.9
KUSP	NPR News & Pacifica	1.9	1.9	SAME

These data are provided for use by Nielsen subscribers ONLY, in accordance with RRC's limited license with Nielsen Inc.
Monday-Sunday 6AM-Midnight Persons 12+
Data Copyright Nielsen Inc. Format distinctions are the sole responsibility of Ken Mills Agency, LCC, the publisher of SPARK!

Note that KAZU had a fairly big increase in Average Quarter Hour listening. This means that folks are tuning in more often and/or listening longer. But KUSP’s listening held steady despite the turmoil and uncertainty at the station. This shows there is much to build on with NPR News.

It appears the KUSP Board is not paying much attention to KUSP FORWARD, the whining community radio neocons. Check out this plan for the future from a KUSP FORWARD July town hall meeting:

MANAGER GIG AT KTSC, PUEBLO, COLORADO

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

MANAGER WANTED: ONE OF THE BEST COLLEGE STATIONS IN AMERICA 

 

KEN: I received this anonymous comment from someone who took me to task for hyping a GM opening at a small market College Rock station:

 

This is not a college radio management job at all, nor is it even a good job, period. It's a full-time teaching job that ALSO has management responsibility of KTSC *and* also for "Today" the student online newspaper. It's a visiting professor job, which means no chance at tenure. And it pays a measly $40,000/yr for an 80+hr/week job, which is a terrible salary for an outfit that is all but demanding a PhD. 

 

I don't care how popular or "cool" the radio station works, I wouldn't touch this job with a ten meter pole. 

 

KEN:  No doubt KTSC at Colorado State University – Pueblo looks small-time to someone who has settled into a tenured gig at major university.  But to the people of Pueblo, particularly the students at KTSC, this station means a lot.  Please don’t discount the value a great GM can have for them. Just because the job appears MEASLY to you, maybe someone else will see it as an opportunity.