WHY THE “SUPER REGIONAL” MEETING MATTERS • NIELSEN RATINGS FOR FULL-TIME CLASSICAL STATIONS IN DIARY MARKETS

Georgette Bronfman, Executive Director, ERPM

One of the best public media conferences is happening October 24 – 26 in Atlanta, but unless you are involved in public radio management you’ve probably never heard of it. 

This is the seventh year for the Super Regional Meeting.   

The name of the conference might be misleading because a) It is a national gathering and b) meetings are not often called “super” no matter how good they are.

Georgette Bronfman, executive director, Eastern Region Public Media (ERPM) last week announced the early agenda for the 2018 Super Regional Meeting [link]. The gathering is sponsored by ERPM in conjunction with three other regional organizations Public Radio in Mid-America, Western States Public Radio and California Public Radio. 

Bronfman said this about the collaboration of Regional groups:

The four public radio regional organizations, comprised of nearly 200 stations nationwide, came together more than seven years ago in an effort to combine resources, streamline efforts, and strengthen advocacy.  Early on, there was agreement to meet [and it became] a major strategic initiative.  The Super-Regional Meeting thus evolved out of recognition of the need for senior station leadership. 

The reason the Super Regional Meeting matters is because it focuses on management and leadership in ways no other conference does. While some managers attend the PRPD Content Conference and the Public Media Development and Marketing Conference (PMDMC), change most often happens at the executive and board levels – the primary stakeholders of public media.

The public radio industry used to have one big national conference, the “PRC” – The Public Radio Conference. The PRC was held every year in the spring. Every two years it was held in DC at the “Hinckley Hilton.” Issues of great importance were discussed in a circus-like environment of vendors, open bars and surprise performances.

The PRC ended in the early 2000s because the cost of staging it was not sustainable. Also, it put NPR in an awkward position. NPR managed the PRC on behalf of the entire public radio system. Frequently NPR was criticized for favoring its own interests. Once the PRC ended, alternatives were tried but they never caught on.

Bronfman told Spark News about the biggest difference between the conferences:

NPR led and supported the PRC, a very successful and long-enduring endeavor.  In contrast, the Super-Regional Meeting arose from the direct actions of stations leaders. It was created by stations leaders for station leaders.

Georgette

Among the sessions planed for the 2018 the Super Regional Meeting include:

• "Local That Works" – Station’s Innovations and Best Practices

 • Station Culture Matters: Let's Put Journalism First

• Succession Planning for Nimble Organizations

• Grappling with the Question of Building Your Newsroom

• Collaborations – Possibilities and Barriers 

These session titles might sound a bit geeky but they are important to the future of the public/private partnerships that make public radio happen in Boston, Boise and Bakersfield.

55% OF FULL-TIME CLASSICAL MUSIC STATIONS IN DIARY MARKETS HAVE INCREASED THEIR WEEKLY LISTENERS SINCE LAST FALL

Led by major gains in estimated weekly listeners by Maine Public’s Classical channel, over half of the full-time Classical music stations in markets where Nielsen uses Diary methodology increased their estimated number of weekly listeners in Spring 2018 compared with Fall 2017.

Sparks News is tracking 24 stations that are 24/7 music stations in the Spring 2018 book. We have comparative information for 22 of these stations and regional networks of stations. Of the 22 stations, 12 (55%) increased their number of weekly listeners. Ten stations (45%) had fewer weekly listeners in Spring 2018 than they had in Fall 2017.

Many of the markets saw greater fluctuation than in past ratings sweeps. WMHT in Albany and Poughkeepsie continued to have the largested number of estimated weekly listeners despite loosing 22% of them.

In the Top 10, Vermont Public Radio’s Classical stations and WUOL in Louisville also had notable gains.

In markets 11 through 24, WCVE Music in Richmond debuted solidly as a new full-time Classical station. 

Tallahassee’s WFSQ had the biggest percentage jump, up 48& from Fall 2017.

Jefferson Radio’s Classical network and Reno’s new full-time Classical station KNJC also seem to be building momentum.

Folks at WVTF in Roanoke were probably not happy with the showing by full-time music station WWVT.  Since the dual format ended on WVTF in early 2017, there has been only a handful of weekly listeners tuning in.