TRUMP TRYING AGAIN TO DEFUND CPB • WNCW & WXPN LEAD GAINERS IN FALL 2017 TRIPLE A RATINGS • JAZZ KCCK UP 41% IN IOWA

President Trump's newly proposed budget includes a proposal to end federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The cut is part of a larger package that, if enacted, will reduce spending on domestic programs to pay for new infrastructure, included Trump’s Border Wall.

Republicans in Congress have been trying to defund CPB for over three decades. Public broadcasters saw a windfall of support when the administration announced a similar plan in early 2017. Trump’s proposal many be considered in the summer of 2018, just in time for fall membership drives.

WNCW TOPS FULL-TIME TRIPLE A STATIONS IN DIARY MARKETS

WNCW [link] proves that small can be big. Licensed to tiny Isothermal Community College in Spindale, North Carolina (population 4,300), WNCW is a giant in Triple A music. Broadcasting from Clingman’s Peak (6,634’ above sea level), WNCW covers portions of five states.

In addition playing Triple A hits from today and times past, WNCW serves up a spicy gumbo of folk, blues, jazz, reggae, Celtic, and bluegrass. Artists often make the trip to Spindale to appear live on WNCW.

WNCW also has enviable private support.  According to the stations 2016 audit in FY 2016, WNCW had annual revenue of over $1.6 million. Underwriters provided $634,000 (40%) the station’s revenue.  Members kicked in another $570,000 (36%).

WXPN also has a significant number of estimated weekly listeners in two Diary markets outside of Philadelphia. WXPN had 245,400 weekly listeners in Philadelphia (measured with PPM methodology) in Fall 2017 for an unofficial total of 314,200 weekly listeners.

KJAC – 105.5 The Colorado Sound – also has a large base of listeners in the Denver-Boulder market. According to Nielsen’s PPM data for Fall 2017, KJAC had 59,000 estimated weekly listeners for an unofficial total of 83,100 weekly listeners in the two markets.

It is the same deal with Colorado Public Radio’s (CPR) KVOQ, a repeater in Fort Collins of CPR’s OpenAir Triple A format. In Denver OpenAir had 55,900 estimated weekly listeners, bringing total number in the two markets to 58,000.

IPR’S STUDIO ONE FORMAT TOPS LIST OF DUAL-FORMAT TRIPLE A STATIONS

Studio One is one of Iowa Public Radio’s (IPR) three programming streams in addition to full-time Classical and News/Talk formats.

Studio One benefits from being on two IPR’s most powerful signals, WOI-FM and KUNI.

Programming on Studio One is an amalgamation of NPR newsmagazines, syndicated shows such as World Cafe and UnderCurrents and local hosts. You can see Studio One’s schedule here.

KCRW has lots of listeners in Los Angeles' exurban area. Also, it is nice to see fiercely independent WFIT in Florida increase its estimate weekly listeners in the past year.

KCCK, CEDAR RAPIDS SHOWS THAT PROPERLY CURATED JAZZ MUSIC WINS IN MARKETS OF ALL SIZES

Question: How do they do it at KCCK in Cedar Rapids, Iowa?

Answer: Great Jazz music, fun events and a lot of love (and cash) from members.

KCCK [link] focused on Jazz over a decade ago to compete with multiple Iowa Public Radio signals. This is a niche format, but it does well in this Midwestern area. If you’ve seen the 2011 movie Cedar Rapids starring Ed Helms, John C. Reilly and Anne Heche, you might think of the town is as hip as a trip to Applebee’s. But you are wrong.

There are approximately 250,000 people in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City metro. It is a diverse population who care about quality and take pride in KCCK’s unique contributions to the community.

According to KCCK’s FY 2015 audit, the station has about $1 million of annual revenue. Listeners that year contributed $259,000, 26% of KCCK’s revenue. Underwriting brought in $57,000 (6%).

One note of caution for the folks at KCCK, in FY 2015 the licensee (Kirkwood Community College) and the State of Iowa provide about half of the station’s revenue.

There is no doubt about it: KGOU's PD Jim Johnson has his mojo rising.