PACIFICA FOLKS WONDER IF TOM LIVINGSTON WILL BE A “STERN PARENT” • KRCC STILL RULES SOUTHERN COLORADO DESPITE BIG EFFORT BY CPR

Image showing anticipation for new Pacifica IED Tom Livingston

Yesterday we reported about public radio consultant Tom Livingston being hired as the new Interim Executive Director of the Pacifica Foundation.  

 We observed that the people now running Pacifica have been “muted” in their response – they don’t know him or have any idea what he will do.

A day later, Livingston’s presence is creating hopeful expectations as well as lingering doubt about whether he can make a difference.

Tom Livingston

Livingston is now in fact-finding mode. According to reports on Pacifica oriented blogs, he is doing a site visit at WBAI, New York this coming Thursday (1/25) and Friday (1/26). WBAI is considered the most dysfunctional station of the five that Pacifica owns.

I read various blogs and BBS lists to get a sense the mood inside the organization. The best blog is WBAI Then and Now [link] moderated by Chris Albertson, a former GM of WBAI back in better days. 

Here are a few samples of the current thinking about Livingston by folks inside Pacifica:

HOPEFUL VOICES…

Let's hope he knows how to be a stern parent and not let [names redacted] pull their shit.

Perhaps Mr. Livingston is precisely what Pacifica needs. That Livingston comes from the outside is a giant plus, in my opinion. That he has been given loose reins makes the choice even more promising. Let us hope that he stands firm when these creeps try to block change.

If this guy is anything like his resume ("headhunter", "turnaround specialist", "executive coach"), when he sees Pacifica…he'll know heads need to roll.

…AND PLENTY OF DOUBTERS & CYNICS

I expect "the usual suspects" on the [Pacifica board] have already started an "Impeach Livingston" movement.

If Livingston's a businessman he'll say "screw these nuts, I'm not wasting my time" and quickly leave.

So far the [Pacifica board] has devoured any [Executive Director] that challenged it's territory.

I have a feeling we're going to see quite the venom flow.

He won't be pc enough for these morons, obviously. Can he outlast Proffitt [former Executive Director who left after only a couple of months]?

I can only imagine what it will be like for Livingston. What will a serious guy like him think when he walks into a station drowning in red ink with producers pushing bad programs and even worse premiums?

Somebody tell him the store on the corner has aspirin and there is a bar around the corner. He needs to know.

KRCC DEMOLISHES COLORADIO PUBLIC RADIO'S NEW REPEATER IN FALL 2017 NIELSEN RATINGS

When we last visited the Nielsen Audio ratings for Colorado Springs and Pueblo, speculation was high about listeners spending less time with KRCC for a new full-power repeater of Colorado Public Radio (CPR) News that signed on June 23, 2017.

The early results are now in and CPR’s repeater actually lost estimated weekly listeners in the Fall 2017 Nielsen Audio compared to Fall 2016. Yikes! CPR spent thousands of dollars on the repeater station and they came up with an embarrassing 24% drop in weekly listeners.

Tammy Terwelp

Credit GM/PD Tammy Terwelp and the crew at KRCC for making KRCC essential listening in Southern Colorado. Terwelp share her strategy with Spark News:

I am a little surprised by KCFR being down, but they haven’t been on long here and their dial position being far away from the traditional end for public radio. I’m sure the new President of CPR will put more thought into what they are going to do with a signal in our market given the population here.

CPR being in KRCC’s market now does force us to really think about how we can be different and reach new audiences sooner. We are part of a new RJC that doesn’t include CPR called Mountain West that is going to provide smart, original, regional content shared amongst the partner stations.

We are the “home team” here in Southern Colorado and have been for decades. I’d never use that fact to sit idle while a station with so many more resources than us puts a stake in our ground; but I will use that as the foundation for our growth.

Also in the Springs, Classical KCME had a nice bump with 6% more estimated weekly listeners in Fall 2017 than the had in Fall 2016.

Fifty miles down I-25 in Pueblo, CPR News lost even more estimated weekly listeners. KRCC stayed about the same. 

Spunky college Pop Hits station KTSC continues to pull one of the largest number of estimated weekly listeners for any college station in the nation.

We created a Southern Colorado composite chart by combining the Nielsen Audio data for Colorado Springs and Pueblo. This further reinforces the strengths of KRCC compared to the lackluster performance by CPR’s news/talk stations.