PRCC UPDATE: KEYNOTE SPEAKER & PARTIAL SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED • JUNE 2018 PPM RATINGS TOP 5 MARKETS

Kate O’Neill, PRCC Keynote Speaker

Jody Evans, Executive Director of the Public Radio Program Directors association (PRPD) has provided additional details about the upcoming Public Radio Content Conference (KRCC) August 20 – 23 in Austin, Texas [link]. 

The PRCC will focus on the human experience that is beyond our overloaded data files. It starts with a keynote speaker who is native in this space: Kate O’Neill.

O’Neill calls herself a Tech Humanist, a researcher and philosopher who believes media and content platforms are not neutral spaces. In a press release, Evans said:

Kate will bring together inspiration from a range of industries, applications, and even pop culture, to paint a future where public radio content teams can use technology to make the world more clear, more transparent and to help people connect.

O’Neill has been a featured speaker at gatherings sponsored by some of America’s leading businesses and organizations such as McDonalds, Coca-Cola and the Hospital Corporation of America. Here is a good way to see O’Neill in action: Her public speaking demo is available on YouTube:

Though O’Neill has not worked in public broadcasting, Evans verifies her bona fides:

Kate is a public radio power-user and loves our service. Her time with us will be fun, smart and dialed-in to our specific use cases and needs.

The PRCC schedule is still evolving.  Evans posted the information on the left on the PRPD Facebook page [link].

Austin is a wonderful city to visit.  If your time permits, we have these recommendations:

• The LBJ Presidential Library [link]

Perhaps the best Presidential Library, the LBJ Library has numerous exhibits filled to the brim with stories and images from the Johnson era.  Exhibits on Civil Rights and Social Justice are notable – there is lots of info about the Public Broadcast Act. 

Our favorite exhibit is The Humor of LBJ. Johnson could spin a yarn or tell a joke like few people in elected office. The exhibit features a life-sized animatronic LBJ leaning over a wooden fence at his ranch in Johnson City. Some of the stories are rated “PG” and virtually all of them are side-splittingly funny.

• Walk Down Sixth Street [link]

A phrase often associated with the city is Keep Austin Weird.  The heart and soul of weird can be found on Dirty Sixth between Congress and I-35. Sixth Street is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places as the hub of Austin’s music scene. The people watching is worth this price of admission – it is free!

• Listen to Sun Radio [link] 

Last April we called Sun Radio the most inspiring noncom radio station in the nation [link]. In a few short years Sun Radio has become the essential link for locals to find the best of Austin’s music and cultural scene. It is a gutsy amalgamation of six low power signals that drew over 80,000 estimated listeners in the May 2018 Nielsen PPM ratings.

PRCC’s local hosts, KUT and KUTX are great stations but don’t be surprised if folks from those shops are listening to Sun Radio. It seems like everybody does in Austin.

WELCOME TO DAY ONE OF RATINGS-PALOOZA

Beginning today we are featuring the Nielsen Audio PPM ratings from June 2018 compared to June 2016, providing us with a two-year trend. Next week the Radio Research Consortium (RRC) will begin releasing the data from the Spring 2018 Nielsen Audio sweeps.

Our intention is to publish the results for every meaningful noncommercial station that subscribes to Nielsen Audio. Today we have the PPM trends for the top five markets.