HERE IS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD A REGIONAL NEWS POWERHOUSE IN LOUISIANA

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.