“RADIOTOPIA” LEADS IN THE GENERATION OF NEW PODCAST LISTENERS • KNPR INVADES RENO

According to the most recent podcast publisher rankings from Podtrac Analytics [link], PRX’s Radiotopia added almost 100,000 estimated Unique Audience listeners between July and October, an increase of 28%.

All of the podcasts listed on Podtrac’s Top Ten chart increased listeners during the same period. As you can see in the chart below, seven of the Top Ten publishers are public media companies with ties to public radio.

American Public Media is new on the chart, no doubt powered by listeners to the highly praised documentary In the Dark and Marketplace.

WHO & WHAT IS TWIT?

What is #9 on the chart? TWIT [link] stands for The Week in Tech, a podcast publisher that began in 2005 and now claims to be the #1 ranked technology podcast provider in the US. Leo Laporte is the designer and voice-talent that created TWIT. The for-profit company is based in Petaluma, California.

The company is built around Laporte’s twice weekly syndicated radio program The Tech Guy [link]. The program is distributed by Premier Radio Network. Laporte says The Tech Guy is on over 200 commercial radio stations. 

Leo Laporte

TWIT currently distributes 20 other technology-oriented podcasts. All of the TWIT shows are free. TWiT is supported by advertising and listener donations. A limited number of commercials are embedded within each show.

TWIT also hosts a live streaming video channel called TWIT Live [link]. It produces 50+ hours a week of live streaming video and claims to reach several million people every month. 

KNPR, LAS VEGAS, SPENDS $550,000 TO ENTER THE RENO MARKET

Flo Rogers and company at Nevada Public Radio has acquired 89.1 FM KJIV, Sun Valley, a suburb of Reno. The new station will be a 24/7 repeater of NPR News station KNPR. The projected coverage area for KJIV, shown on the right, may require modification because it currently covers only part of the Reno metro.

Reno is already served by NPR News station KUNR and sister station Classical KNCJ. KUNR adopted a 24/7 news schedule earlier in 2016.

Nevada Public Radio operates an extensive network of repeaters and translators that simulcasts KNPR. But, the Reno area is new for them.

Nevada Public Radio's Regional Network

I have just one question for Nevada Public Radio:  Why spend so much money to acquire a voice in Reno? 

The Reno-Sparks metro has around 400,000 residents and seems to be well served at present by KUNR and KNCJ.

$550,000 is a serious amount of money to provide a second service to a mid size market. 

Is the reason for this acquisition “statewide network” bragging rights. Maybe the new Reno station is a placeholder until its coverage area has been upgraded. Maybe the long term goal for Nevada Public Radio entering Reno is to establish a new format such as Triple A.  Or, maybe there is Nevada gold secretly buried under the ground at the transmitter sight.