Legendary public
radio research guru David Giovannoni once said Programming Creates Audience and the stations discussed today prove he is
correct. It is sort of like the premise of the movie Field of Dreams: If you build
it, they will come.
Today we are focusing
on noncommercial stations with formats other than the five major noncom sounds:
NPR News, Classical, Triple A, Jazz and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). We
are profiling two world-class noncoms that offer lessons for anyone in public
media: KNIA Radio Campasea in Phoenix and KHNC C-89 in Seattle.
The chart on the
left contains Nielsen Audio estimates for 12 stations, comparing their June
2016 weekly cumulative listeners with June 2015.
The formats of some
stations are hard to classify. Maybe the
slogan for WOBO, Cincinnati says it best: The
Station With Something for Everyone.
KBCS, Bellevue,
Washington (in the Seattle/Tacoma market) also has a program schedule that is
hard to describe in a single term. I am calling KBCS’s format “Political Talk”
because the programming appears to be built around the Thom Hartmann Show. KBCS
also carries other political/advocacy programs such as Democracy Now! But, KBCS has several very tasty cultural
programs on their schedule.
Five of the 12
stations on the “Other” list I call “Christian Talk” rather than the older
phrase “Christian Teaching.” “Teaching”
comes from the time when stations such as these were primarily sermons. Now these stations most often air commentary
programs from folks like James Dobson and Charles Stanley.
Some of the
stations listed as “Urban” air much more than music. For instance, KMOJ, Minneapolis, has ample
local news and public affairs programming.
PROFILES OF TWO REMARKABLE NONCOM STATIONS
NPR, PRPD and some
stations are spending thousands of dollars on research to learn about the media
preferences of young people. They hope
to find ways to tinker with newsmagazines and schedules to appeal to a younger
and more diverse audience.
The two stations we
are profiling today demonstrate that the answer is simple: If you want to reach
younger and more diverse audience, put younger and more diverse people on the
air. Let them design programming that interests people like them. Remember, Programming
Creates Audience.
KHNC, SEATTLE IS A
JUGGERNAUT IN THE WORLD OF DANCE POP
KHNC, known as
C-89.5 [link], describes itself as Seattle’s Home for Dance music for over 43
years. C-89.5’s mission is to reach a new generation of listeners with
energizing music and public affairs programming.
It claims to be the most
influential high school station in the nation and I believe that is true.
The station is
owned by Seattle Public Schools and programming originates from a converted classroom
at Nathan Hale High School. KHNC has a
small professional staff but the programming and music are done totally by
students.
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| STUDENT ON-THE-AIR AT C-89.5 |
KHNC was started by
Larry Adams, a Nathan Hale High teacher, in 1971. Over the years the school district upgraded
the facilities and continued to tighten the programming. The station became
qualified for Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funding a couple of
years ago.
Nielsen Audio
estimates demonstrate the staying power of KNHC – they typically have 150,000
to 200,000 weekly listeners. C-89.5. Folks around the world can listen to
C-89.5’s streaming audio at [link].
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| LADY GAGA AT NATHAN HALE HIGH SCHOOL |
The station focuses
on dance-oriented contemporary music with ample doses of Hip-Hop, Rap and
Alternative Rock. C-89.5 is credited as the
radio station that started Lady Gaga’s rise to fame. Gaga said thanks to C-89.5 by staging a
concert in the school’s auditorium. I wish I could have been there…
The Village Voice,
based in New York, called C-89.5 one of the best dance oriented station in the
nation, even better than NYC’s legendary WKTU.
In the Voice, WKTU program
director Andy Shane said about C-89.5: “They're
well respected in the industry. When record labels work me on songs, they often
mention C-89 as a starting ground for a lot of records that turn into big
hits."
C-89.5’s music is
monitored by BDS and MediaBase and is one of only eight stations that help
determine Billboard’s Dance music
chart. That is big-time!
KHNC’s community
programming also wins praise. For instance, C-89.5’s Gay Pride coverage [link]
was based on listener response to the question What Does Pride Mean to You?
When it comes to
reaching young and diverse listeners, C-89.5 walks the walk.
NONCOM KNAI,
PHOENIX IS A LEADER IN LATINO POP MUSIC
KNAI 88.3FM [link] reaches more Phoenix-area listeners than
any other noncommercial station. In fact, KNAI’s estimated weekly listeners in
June 2016 was 20th in the nation, ahead of KPBS, 89.3 The Current and WGBH.
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| Cesar Chavez |
KNAI is part of the
eight-station Radio Campesina Network.
Campesina means peasant in English. It was founded in the 1960s by Cesar Chavez and
the United Farm Workers of America.
The station serves recent immigrants between the
ages of 18 to 35 from rural Mexico and Central America. The sound is young, hip
and involved – a mix various Spanish contemporary music styles presented by the
cutest young hosts you’ve ever seen and heard. If I could sum up KNAI in one
word, it is “inviting.” KNAI and La
Campesina are essential public media.
