PRX ANNOUNCES THE END OF PRI • NEW PODTRAC PUBLISHER RANKINGS • REMEMBERING PHIL CORRIVEAU

In August 2018 Public Radio International (PRI), the Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and WGBH, Boston announced that PRI and PRX were merging. Last week PRX ended the brand name “PRI.”

PRX’s acquisition of PRI is now complete. Kerri Hoffman, CEO of PRX, said in a press release that the company, including the assets of PRI, would now only be known as “PRX.” Hoffman added:

“After extensive review, we agreed that both PRX and PRI are powerful, admired brands, but that PRX may best reflect the changing nature of media and, in particular, the continued shift to on-demand content.”

Though this is the final chapter for PRI, the decline of the network had been happening for more than two decades.

Prior to becoming Public Radio International in 1995, the organization was called American Public Radio (APR). APR was founded in 1983 as a competitor to NPR.

APR was a major player in public radio. APR exclusively represented A Prairie Home Companion, Marketplace, the BBC World Service and This American Life. 

All of these programs left the network after APR became PRI.

The major reason these and other programs walked away from PRI, was because the network decided to compete with their programs. 

In the 1990s, PRI raised millions of dollars for the program that became The World. 

PRI gambled that The World would become so successful that complaints from other producers wouldn’t matter.  That assumption turned out to be a big mistake.

As major producers left PRI, the network's revenue from station fees declined almost every year. PRI’s cash crunch continued until 2012 when the network was absorbed by WGBH. PRI’s operating deficient continued. WGBH picked up the tab until they sold PRI to PRX in 2018.

[Disclosure: Ken Mills was Director of News at PRI from 1992 until 1997.]

OCTOBER PODTRAC PUBLISHER RANKING SHOW THE AMAZING GROWTH OF PODCAST AUDIENCE

NPR continues to hold the top spot in Podtrac’s October publisher rankings. 

Compared to October 2018, NPR’s U.S. Unique Monthly Audience grew by 35%.

iHeartRadio stayed in second place but its audience grew 40% since October 2018.

The publisher showing the biggest one-year percentage gain was the for-profit company Barstool Sports.

NBC News [link] is new on the October Top Ten chart. Podcasts by Rachael Maddow and Chris Hayes have become popular recently.

This American Life was the only publisher in the Top Ten to loose ground in U.S. Unique Monthly Audience. This is somewhat ironic because many observers feel it pioneered the modern era of podcasting.

REMEMBERING PHIL CORRIVEAU

Phil Corriveau (image courtesy of WPR)

Public radio’s Greatest Generation lost another living member last week when Phil Corriveau died at the age of 66. Corriveau suffered a heart attack in 2008. He had been in declining health since then.

Corriveau was probably best known as the Director of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) from 2004 until 2010. Corriveau said leading WPR his “dream job.” He was a native of Wisconsin and started his career at WPR in the early 1970s.

Current WPR Director Mike Crane, said in his announcement of Corriveau’s death:

“There are so many positive things that started with Phil. He set the stage for expanding our radio networks. He believed in growing our Major and Planned Giving effort. He had a vision for us reaching new audiences across the state. He was an incredibly positive force, I’m really going to miss him.”

Corriveau also held management jobs at Vermont Public Radio, KUT and Capitol Public Radio in Sacramento.

We first got to know Corriveau in the early 1990s when we both were active in California Public Radio, a trade group that advocates for public media. We will remember Corriveau for his good humor, compassion and optimistic spirit.