Paul Maassen |
Paul
Maassen, General Manager of WWNO in New Orleans and WRKF in Baton Rouge has
announced that the stations are collaborating on a new Regional News center
involving both stations.
Step Number One is hiring a Regional News Director to
build the operation and provide the vision to make it world class.
According
to Maassen, the goal is to build capacity in a state where each public radio station fends
for itself.
There is no statewide public media news service.
Not only will
the combined, and yet unnamed, news center serve both markets, Maassen wants it
to be a source of regional, national and international reporting. In an
interview with Spark News, Maassen described the opportunity:
“New Orleans and southern
Louisiana have always been a source of national news, but issues involving the
coastal environment, energy production, education and health care will become
increasingly important.”
“This is something new. We
need someone who can help design and implement the infrastructure, hire the key
people and establish the news center as a "national player.”
The
collaboration between WWNO and WRKF has been growing during the past couple of
years. In early 2017, Maassen became GM of WRKF in addition to his duties at
WWNO. The two cities are roughly 100 miles from each other and each is a unique
place. Baton Rouge is the state capital and New Orleans is an international
city unlike any other in the world.
Though
there are differences between the two cities, Maassen says it is important to
combine efforts wherever possible:
“It is all about scale.
Neither of the stations have the capacity to do a Regional News effort, but
combined we can make it work.”
The
WWNO/WRKF collaboration does not currently have CPB involvement. However
Maassen says they are aware of the initiative and hope CPB will be involved at
some point:
“Earlier
this year we had an “aha” moment when we realized that together we could make
this a reality. There are so many ways the two stations can work together – emergency
disaster preparation, issues involving the Gulf of Mexico, shared culture and
the always interesting Louisiana political scene.”
Livingston
Associates is handling the search. There is no firm deadline for applications. Possible
candidates are now being reviewed and job will be offered to the right person
at the right time. In other words, if you are interested, don’t hesitate to
apply. Complete information is available here.
MEET THE STATIONS
On
the surface, WWNO [link] and WRKF [link] look like unlikely collaborators. WWNO
is a university licensee and WRKF is licensed to a community organization.
WWNO
is the larger of the two stations. According to compliance documents on the station
website, in FY 2017 the station had revenue of around $2.6 million. Members and
underwriters combined brought in $1.5 million (58%), CPB provided $230,000 (9%)
and the licensee, the University of New Orleans, contributed $467,000 (18%) in
cash and in-kind support.
WWNO
signed on in 1972. For years it was
known as a sleepy dual format station with NPR Newsmagazines and Classical
music. Things changed when Paul Maassen became GM in 2008. He focused WWNO’s
programming on all News/Talk and spun off Classical music to a FM translator
fed by a HD channel. Classical 104.9 is
now a 24/7 separate station.
WRKF
is a much smaller operation.
According to compliance documents on the station
website, in FY 2016 the station had revenue of around $1.1 million.
Members and
underwriters combined brought in $924,000 (84%) and CPB provided $108,000
(10%).
WRKF
began in 1980. The station’s format has
evolved over time.
WRKF is now primarily a NPR News/Talk station. Retirements
and personnel changes slowed the station’s growth in recent years. Paul Maassen
became GM in early 2017.
Neither
station has had a significant local news presence in the past.
THE RATINGS OPPORTUNITY
Spark News took a look at both
station’s performance in the Nielsen Audio ratings since Spring 2016. New
Orleans and Baton Rogue are both Nielsen Diary markets. Both stations have
plenty of room to grow.
WWNO
has been a consistent ratings performer for the past two years. But note in the
chart on the left that WWNO’s top AQH share came during Fall 2016, when the
election pushed NPR News/Talk stations to record high listening levels.
There
is an opportunity for WWNO to become the top news/talk station in New Orleans.
The only commercial news/talk station with significant ratings is iHeartMedia’s
WRNO who had a 4.2 AQH share in the Spring 2018 book. WRNO is mainly a conservative
talk station.
WRKF’s
performance has not been as consistent as WWNO’s. WRKF didn’t benefit from “the
Trump bump” in Fall 2016. In fact, WRKF’s showing in the Spring 2018 Nielsen
ratings for both AQH share and estimated weekly listeners hit a recent low
point. Baton Rogue is Louisiana’s state capital and NPR News/Talk stations
usually perform much stronger in government hubs.
There
is certainly an opportunity for WRKF to be the News/Talk leader in Baton Rouge.
In Spring 2018 the market leader was iHeartRadio’s WJBO-AM had a 2.7 AQH share.
This is an extraordinarily lame performance.
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