Friday, October 23, 2015

UPDATES & READER QUESTIONS & COMMENTS


UPDATE: KUSP GETS DOWN TO BUSINESS

KUSP, Santa Cruz, is continuing its very impressive conversion to Triple A music, now scheduled to debut on November 1, 2015.  Check out the changes at KUSP’s website [link].

LEE FERRARO Photo credit: Santa Cruz Sentinel
 Interim GM Lee Ferraro confidently and clearly updated KUSP’s listeners about the changes in a recent statement on the KUSP site. Here is a portion:

Much thought and consideration is given to the question “how do we best serve the audience in our coverage area with high quality, well supported public radio programming?”

Our programming mission evolves daily in response to many exploratory conversations. It is driven by an eclectic music vision, arts and cultural affairs, local voices, community stories and predominantly locally hosted. Fortunately there is much existing talent at KUSP and in our region. We can do this and do this well.

KUSP is changing to serve and to serve we must survive. You’ll hear many familiar and favorite programs but you may also miss one or two as we make this transition. Some changes won’t be easy but we believe KUSP will serve and will survive.

You can see Ferraro’s complete statement at [link].

KUSP is concluding its fall pledge drive this weekend.  According to a report on 10/22 [link] in the Monterey County Weekly, the membership drive has raised about $53,000 from about 500 donors. This is a very small portion of KUSP’s $850,000 debt. The report says that many local listeners are taking a wait and see approach about KUSP’s new Triple A format.

QUESTION: WXPN MOVES INTO NORTH JERSEY WITH PURCHASE OF WNTI [link]

John Herald asked:

Curious as to how this was consummated without any prior public notification.

KEN: The FCC is reviewing WXPN’s purchase of WNTI, a process that will take 60 to 90 days. Folks can comment about the license transfer now.  No one has raised any issues so far that might derail the purchase.  Centenary College, licensee of WNTI, and WXPN are not required to make public notification prior to announcing the deal.

QUESTION: WHAT HAPPENED TO WNKU, CINCINNATI

From an anonymous reader:

I just started reading your blog and enjoy it very much. What is going on with WNKU. It seems as though they are getting rid of everything that makes left of the dial radio great. [From what I’ve heard] they are playing "canned" music and the dj has little control anymore and they have taken away the great Friday night blues show. I contacted the station and they said they were trying to increase listeners. Something just does not seem correct with this. They now sound and act like a commercial Triple A station.

KEN: WNKU is now consulted by Paragon Media Strategies [link], a Denver company that specializes in commercial and noncom Triple A stations. Paragon’s advice is partially responsible for the success of 89.3 The Current and KXT in Dallas. Though WNKU is playing more “hits” their playlist is a much, much larger and deeper than commercial Triple A stations. I recommend seeing how WNKU fine-tunes its approach. Continue to let WNKU know what you think – your opinion matters to them.

COMMENT: YOU DIDN’T TELL THE WHOLE STORY ABOUT WDUQ’S DEMISE [link]

An anonymous reader said:

Ken, all I'm gonna say is that this isn't even one tenth of the whole story. The WDUQ saga was an ocean of backstabbing academic politics, primarily to please one highly-conservative major donor to the college who was also a fan of WYEP.

KEN: I’ve heard many stories about behind-the-scenes dirty dealings regarding the end of WDUQ and the transfer of the station’s license to WYEP.  I decided not to mention these rumors because they don’t matter know.  WESA is now the NPR News station for Pittsburgh.  Get over the past and focus on what is happening now.

QUESTION: WHO IS THE FUNDER OF NFCB [link]

From an anonymous reader:
[NFCB Executive Director] Sally Kane said she had a new funder but didn't identify it. Why? Is it some far left leaning foundation? And why didn't she name it?
KEN: I wondered the same thing. I checked the NFCB website and blog and didn’t see anything about the new NFCB funder. I inquired with Kane via email and have not heard back from her. If/when she replies, I will update this item.

If you have questions, comments of suggestions for SPARK! you can post here or email me at publicradio@hotmail.com

Thursday, October 22, 2015

NONCOM MARKET PROFILE: BALTIMORE



A reader sent me a request for a profile of noncommercial radio in the Baltimore, Maryland market.  I love to compile this data because it is a great way to learn about an area. 

I have done a number of market profiles for feasibility studies. My typical fee for this work is $3,000 - $5,000.  Today’s profile is a freebie. Please suggest more markets to profile at publicradio@hotmail.com.

MARKET PROFILE: BALTIMORE

METRO POPULATION: 780,000
MEDIAN HOME COST: $255,000
MEDIAN AGE: 39.0 (US MEDIAN: 36.4)
% ADULTS COLLEGE GRADUATES: 32.8 (US %: 27.2)

BALTIMORE NONCOMMERCIAL RADIO DIAL
Nielsen Audio Market Rank: 21

FREQ
CALLS
FORMAT
SUMMER 2015 AQH %
SUMMER 2015 WEEKLY LISTENERS
ESTIMATED ANNUAL BUDGET
88.1
WYPR
NPR News
1.6
114,700
$5,000,000
88.5
WAMU*
NPR News
1.2
79,300
$22,000,000
88.9
WEAA
Jazz
NA
NA
$1,800,000
89.7
WTMD
Triple A
0.7
68,000
$1,900,000
90.5
WKHS
Students/WXPN Simulcast
NA
NA
NA
91.5
WBJC
Classical
1.2
99,400
$2,000,000
91.9
WGTS*
CCM
0.6
95,000
NA
93.5
WTTZ-LP
Traffic & Road Conditions
NA
NA
NA
* Washington DC Metro Station
Data Sources: Nielsen Audio PPM Summer 2015, CPB, IRS 990 Filings, US Census

NONCOMMERCIAL RADIO MARKET DISCUSSION

Noncommercial broadcasters in Baltimore face the challenge of competing with stations from nearby Washington, DC.  DC is a boom market that is expanding in both area and population.  It is not unusual for a person who lives in Baltimore to commute daily to DC for work. “Local” means different things to different people in Baltimore. Many people in the Baltimore area would say WAMU is a local station.

There has been little change in the Baltimore noncom radio dial in the past few years. WBJC has been the classical mainstay for three decades.  WEAA has been serving jazz listeners for almost as long.

WTMD is a relative newcomer.  It switched to a professional Triple A format under the leadership of Steve Yasko about a decade ago.

Also about a decade ago, WYPR became a 501c3 organization and took over WJHU from Johns Hopkins University.

WYPR, WBJC, WTMD and WEAA all appear to be successful financially. No format changes are expected in the next five years.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR WKHS

WKHS is a wild card in the Baltimore noncom market. It has the potential to be a bigger factor. 

It puts a decent signal into most of the Baltimore metro:

WKHS is licensed to the Kent County School Board in Worton, Maryland. The station operates 24/7 with high school students, a handful of community volunteers and simulcasts of WXPN, Philadelphia. According to WKHS’ website [link] WXPN is on WKHS overnight and other times when students or volunteers are not available.




Because the lack of consistency in programming WKHS likely has very few core listeners. All five of the major noncom formats (NPR News, Triple A, Classical, Jazz and Christian Contemporary Music “CCM”) are present in the market.




MY ADVICE

1. Move the transmitter west, across Chesapeake Bay, to reach the entire metro.

2. No matter what format is chosen, have it air 24/7.

3. Establish a physical presence in Baltimore.

4. Best format option: CCM.  There is no CCM station with a uniquely Baltimore perspective.



Wednesday, October 21, 2015

KUOW, KCRW, KKJZ & WBEZ BIGGEST GAINERS IN ONE YEAR PPM TRENDS


As I crunched the numbers for this one year comparison of the estimated weekly listeners to noncommercial station two things immediately stood out to me:

1. A lot of people listen to noncom radio stations.

2. There were fewer people listening to noncom stations in Summer 2015 than there were in 2014.

…unless you are talking about noncom station listening in Los Angeles or Seattle.

RRC recently released the topline PPM Nielsen Audio ratings for the 2015 Summer Quarter, July 16 through September 9. Fourteen of the 25 most-listened to noncommercial stations lost listening from 2014 to 2015. Classical stations saw the biggest declines, particularly KUSC, WQXR and KDFC.

KKJZ, LA had the biggest gain in listeners for all music stations, up 18% from 2014. KUOW and WBEZ both gained by double digits.  Dual format KCRW and KPLU also gained by double digits. 

Some readers might wonder who #24 on the chart is: KNAI, Phoenix.  Please scroll down to get the answer.

TOP 25 NONCOMMERCIAL STATIONS
RANKED BY 2015 WEEKLY CUMULATIVE LISTENERS

NIELSEN AUDIO PPM SUMMER 2015 & SUMMER 2014
Monday – Sunday 6am – Midnight, Persons 6+

CHANGES GREATER THAN 10% ARE HIGHLIGHTED

RK
STATION
NIELSEN AUDIO MARKET
SUMMER 2014 WEEKLY CUME
SUMMER 2015 WEEKLY CUME
ONE YEAR TREND
FORMAT
1
KSBJ
Houston/
Galveston
723,000
691,000
- 4%
Contemporary Christian
2
KUSC
Los Angeles
729,500
686,500
- 9%
Classical
3
KPCC
Los Angeles
670,600
683,700
+ 1%
NPR News
4
KQED
San Francisco
709,800
661,900
- 9%
NPR News
5
WNYC-FM
New York
782,100
661,800
- 8%
NPR News
6
WAMU
Washington DC
588,600
560,100
- 4%
NPR News
7
KCRW
Los Angeles
459,900
551,900
+ 16%
NPR News & Triple A
8
WBEZ
Chicago
453,600
536,400
+ 16%
NPR News
9
KKJZ
Los Angeles
402,900
493,200
+ 18%
Jazz
10
KTIS
Minneapolis/
St. Paul
492,200
473,000
- 4%
Contemporary Christian
11
WQXR
New York
557,700
452,000
- 19%
Classical
12
WGTS
Washington DC
410,600
405,800
- 1%
Contemporary Christian
13
KCBI
Dallas
337,100
375,200
+ 10%
Contemporary Christian
14
WETA
Washington DC
357,200
365,800
+ 2%
Classical
15
WBUR
Boston
408,400
357,700
- 12%
NPR News
16
WABE
Atlanta
386,200
351,500
- 8%
NPR News
& Classical
17
KERA
Dallas/Fort Worth
342,700
343,300
+ <1%
NPR News
18
KLDV
Denver
299,700
334,100
+ 9%
Contemporary Christian
19
KDFC
San Francisco
366,600
328,900
- 10%
Classical
20
WHYY
Philadelphia
332,300
315,200
- 5%
NPR News
21
KUOW
Seattle/ Tacoma
255,900
314,100
+ 18%
NPR News
22
KPLU
Seattle/ Tacoma
271,200
308,900
+ 12%
NPR News
& Jazz
23
WBGO
New York
313,600
302,200
- 3%
Jazz
24
KNAI
Phoenix
280,300
302,100
+ 7%
Regional Mexican
25
KLJY
St. Louis
383,200
300,700
- 21%
Contemporary Christian

DATA © NIELSON AUDIO
Provided by RRC, Inc. for use by subscribers only
© Radio Research Consortium, Inc. // www.RRConline.org // RRC@RRConline.org

Format designations are the sole responsibility of Ken Mills Agency, LLC. Contact us publicradio@hotmail.com.


Definition of “Weekly Cume Persons” – “Cume” means cumulative listening – a measure of the total number of different persons in the designated metro area exposed to an encoded station for at least five minutes in a quarter-hour during an average week in a survey period.

MEET KNAI: RADIO CAMPESINA


KNAI 88.3FM [link] is one of eight stations that make up the Radio Campesina Network. Campesina means peasant in English. KNAI and the network were founded in the 1960s by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers of America. Early supporters were Senator Robert F. Kennedy and labor leader Walter Reuther, president of the Union of Workers in the Automotive Industry.

Cesar Chavez
 La Campesina’s serves recent immigrants between the ages of 25 to 49 years from rural Mexico and Central America. The sound is young, hip and involved – a mix various Spanish contemporary music styles presented by inviting live hosts along with news and community information.

KNAI and La Campesina are essential public media.  They earn their standing in the Top 25 noncom stations with great programming and trusted public service.