PROOF: PROGRMMING DOES CREATE AUDIENCE

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.

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]. 

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 20^th in the nation, ahead of KPBS, 89.3 The Current and WGBH.

 

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.

CLASSICAL MUSIC IS DOING VERY WELL ON RADIO & IN DIGITAL MEDIA

A friend of mine who programs a Classical music station told me that Classical is “the ultimate oldies format.” Rather than go back to the 1960s or 70s like a contemporary music station, Classical stations take you back to the 1660s and 1770s.

Then my friend quickly added “Much of the music is eternal but it is the performances, artists and recordings that are new.” Noncommercial Classical stations have been polishing and promoting the New Button very well in recent years. The most recent Nielsen Audio June PPM data compared to a year ago is proof of the resilience of Classical music on the radio.

This week we are looking at Nielsen Audio’s estimated weekly cumulative listeners for noncommercial radio stations in PPM markets.  We are comparing the just-released data for June 2016 with June 2015 and one-year trends. Today we are looking at Classical music stations.

COMING FRIDAY: SUMMARIES, TRENDS & RATINGS FOR “SMALLER” NONCOM FORMATS NEXT WEEK: SPRING 2016 DIARY MARKETS

Ratings for Classical music stations have been compiled into four charts: the top ten stations, stations 11 – 15, dual format stations and commercial Classical stations operated by nonprofit organizations. Please scroll down to see all of the charts. Also, scroll down to see a news item about a wonderful “value added” digital feature being offered by KING-FM, Seattle.

According to Nielsen Audio’s estimated weekly cumulative listeners in June 2016 compared to June 2015, 63% of fulltime Classical music stations in PPM markets gained weekly listeners.

Seven of out of the ten Classical stations with the most weekly listeners had increases. WQXR has a lot of listeners on Long Island. 

KBAQ is the star performer in the top ten adding 24% more weekly listeners between 2015 and 2016.  KDFC, San Francisco and KQAC, Portland added 17% more weekly listeners.

WCPE, Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill is the star performer in the 11 – 25 group with 19% more weekly listeners in 2016. WDAV, Davidson/Charlotte was up 18%.

CHECK OUT KING-FM’s FANTASY CONCERTS

KING is offering a series of Fantasy Concerts [link] for Smartphone listeners via their KING-FM App available at no charge from the App Store. The concerts are on-demand compilations of live music from top local performances by local artists in the Puget Sound area. 

Each podcast begins with “Welcome. This is the classical KING-FM fantasy concert, a concert that never happened, but we wish it did, so we made it so.” The Fantasy Concerts can also be downloaded from the KING-FM website.

As I write this post I am listening to Fantasy Concert #3 titled “Be very, very quiet. Chamber music to read by…” Pieces included are:

• Couperin: Keyboard Pieces, Book II, Suite No.6: The Mysterious Barricades

Ben Verdrey, guitar

• Beethoven: Violin Sonata No.7 in C minor, Op.30/2: II. Adagio cantabile

Maria Larionoff, violin; Robin McCabe, piano

• Marini: Passacaglia Byron Schenkman and Friends

• Gaubert: Romance Leone Buyse, flute; Lisa Bergman, piano

• Rachmaninoff: Vespers, Op.37: Ave Maria Choral Arts; Robert Bode, director

This concert not only is nice while reading, it is wonderful while writing!

Thanks for the story tip from Matthew Lasar at Radio Survivor [link].

NPR NEWS STATIONS: WNYC-FM, WAMU, KQED & KPCC HAVE THE MOST WEEKLY LISTENERS

This week we are looking at Nielsen Audio’s estimated weekly cumulative listeners for noncommercial radio stations in PPM markets.  We are comparing the just-released data for June 2016 with June 2015 and one-year trends. Today we are looking at NPR News stations.

As we reported on Monday, 92% of NPR News had more weekly listeners in 2016 than 2015. This unprecedented performance is due to several factors. It is well known that a hot news cycle tends to increase listening to all types of news and talk stations. But the number of stations that increased listeners and the amount of the gains is likely due to more than the turbulent Presidential election campaigns.  I am hesitant to cite these factors without more information.  Two general factors that are certainly responsible are: The stations sound good and listeners appreciate the value of what they are hearing.

I separated the long list of NPR News stations into bundles to provide useful comparisons. According to the Nielsen Audio data, several stations had listening in more than one PPM markets.  I have taken the liberty of combining weekly listeners for a summary total for stations heard in more than one market. Caution should be used in these cases because there may be duplication of respondents.

Scroll down to see ratings of NPR News station with dual formats and measurable listening to streaming audio.  Also, there are two stations with non-NPR news formats. Tomorrow we will have the ratings for all Classical stations in PPM markets.

WNYC-FM IS THE TOP NPR NEWS STATION IN WEEKLY LISTENERS

WNYC-FM leads the list with an estimated 839,900 weekly cumulative listeners. They appear to be drawing a lot of listeners from Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk counties). Classical WQXR and Triple A WFUV also have substantial numbers of weekly listeners on Long Island.

WAMU’s 830,400 weekly listeners may be a record high number. Comparing June 2015 with June 2016, WAMU gained almost a hundred thousand weekly listeners in DC alone.

KPCC certainly has more weekly listeners in exurban Diary markets such as Oxnard/Ventura, Santa Barbara and Palm Springs. WGBH also gets a nice boost in weekly listeners in the Providence market. KUHF had the largest numeric gain, up over 125,000 weekly listeners on 2016 compared with 2015.

“105.5 THE COLORADO SOUND” NOW HAS MORE WEEKLY LISTENERS THAN KUNC

89.3 THE CURRENT MAINTAINS PRINCE LISTENING BUMP

Folks have been eagerly awaiting the Nielsen Audio June PPM estimates to see whether 89.3 The Current’s historic May boost in listening continues a month after the coverage of Prince’s passing. As we reported [link} on June 10^th, the number of weekly listeners to The Current (broadcast signal & streaming audio) jumped to over 411,000 in the May PPM.  It appears The Current is maintaining many of these listeners.

The number of estimated weekly listeners to The Current (broadcast signal & streaming audio) in June was down only 7% in May, a much smaller drop than some observers expected. The number of weekly listener’s to The Current’s streaming audio continued to rise. It is now the top streaming audio source in noncommercial radio.

Also notable are the gains in weekly listeners by 105.5 The Colorado Sound – aka KJAC – in the Denver/Boulder metro. According to June PPM estimates, 105.5 now has more weekly listeners in Denver than NPR News KUNC. Who would have thought that in less than four months The Colorado Sound would top its 40-year heritage cousin KUNC. But that is what is happening in Northern Colorado. The folks in Greeley must be very, very pleased.

Soon we will see the full numbers for The Colorado Sound and KUNC. Spring 2016 Nielsen Audio data for Diary markets will be released over the next few weeks. Traditionally KUNC has as many weekly listeners outside of the Denver metro as it does in Denver.

105.5 The Colorado Sound is succeeding because it is filling a need, engendering passion for music discovery and was flawlessly launched by consultant Mike Henry and everyone at KUNC. The Colorado Sound is an example of increasing public service that hopefully can be replicated elsewhere.

Overall, 10 Triple A stations (63%) increased their number of weekly listeners; 6 (37%) declined. Top performers also included KRCL, Salt Lake City, up 15%.  KVOQ, Denver was down 10%.

ALSO THIS WEEK ON SPARK! –

TOMORROW: NPR NEWS STATIONS

THURSDAY: CLASSICAL STATIONS

KMBH & KSDS SET THE PACE FOR JAZZ STATION LISTENER GAINS

The June Nielsen Audio PPM brought terrific news for Jazz noncoms, particularly compared with results from June 2015. We have comparable data for 11 Jazz stations in PPM Markets. Nine (82%) of these stations increased the number of weekly listeners; only 2 (18%) declined.

KMBH, Portland and KSDS, San Diego increased their number of estimated weekly listeners by 22% over one-year.  WBGO, New York and KBEM, Minneapolis were both up 21%. The biggest percentage gainer was WNCU, Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill up 23%.

The biggest decline in weekly listeners was at WUCF, Orlando, down 11% from June 2015.

DON’T BET AGAINST THE DRAWING POWER OF CCM

I recently made an informal bet with a reader in Colorado Springs who asked not to be identified because he works in the radio biz. My Colorado friend said that CCM has more weekly listeners than Triple A.  I said “no way.”  It turned out that my friend was right and I was wrong.

To determine a par value comparison between the two formats, I tabulated the weekly cumulative listeners for all of the CCM and Triple A stations. Then I divided the total for each format by the number of in-tab stations.   

According to this very unscientific study, the average number of weekly listeners to CCM stations in June 2016 was 186,900.  The Triple A average was 176,800.  So the God-squad wins this one!

Of course this doesn’t take into consideration the listening to CCM and Triple A on commercial stations.  Many CCM and Triple A noncoms don’t subscribe to Nielsen, so their numbers are also unknown. Still, I was surprised.

June 2016 PPM results for CCM stations, compared to June 2015, were a mixed bag. Twelve (50%) of stations increased their number of weekly listeners; 11 (46%) declined; one station was the same both years Top performers included CCM Rocker WBVM, Tampa, up 49%; Moody’s WMBI, Chicago, up 29%; and WGTS, Washington, DC, up 17%.

WRMB, Miami was down 25%. CCM powerhouse KSBJ, Houston – the leading CCM station in the nation – was down over 6%.

92% OF NPR NEWS STATIONS GAINED WEEKLY LISTENERS IN ONE-YEAR PPM TRENDS

Nielsen Audio’s June PPM ratings brought good news for all five major noncommercial radio formats compared to June 2015.  But I can’t recall ever seeing such an “up” book as scored by NPR News stations in one-year trends.

We received estimates (courtesy of RRC) for 68 NPR News.  We also had June 2015 data for 64 stations.  When we compared 2016 to 2015 we learned that nine out of ten NPR News stations had more weekly listeners in 2016.

Common wisdom is a hot news cycle was the major reason.but there are other factors. Stations that sound good also increase listening.

NPR News wasn’t the only format that increased weekly listeners.  Classical, Triple A, Jazz and CCM also gained in the estimated number of weekly listeners.

We crunched the Nielsen Audio numbers for almost every noncom station. We will provide a deep look at all five major formats this week.  Here is the schedule:

TUESDAY: TRIPLE A, JAZZ and CCM

WEDNESDAY: NPR NEWS

THURSDAY: CLASSICAL

FRIDAY: SUMMARIES & SMALLER NONCOM FORMATS

 

QUICK OVERVIEWS OF EACH FORMAT

• NPR NEWS – 64 In-Tab Stations

58 (92%) of stations increased the number of weekly listeners; 6 (8%) declined. Top performers included WUSF, Tampa and WRAS, Atlanta, both up over 30%.  WKSU was down 10% in the Cleveland metro.

• CLASSICAL – 27 In-Tab Stations

17 (63%) of stations increased the number of weekly listeners; 10 (37%) declined. Top performers included KBAQ, Phoenix was up over 24%.  WSMR, Tampa was down 10%.

• TRIPLE A – 16 In-Tab Stations

10 (63%) of stations increased the number of weekly listeners; 6 (37%) declined. Top performers included KCMP’s streaming audio was up 59% and KRCL, Salt Lake City was up 15%.  KVOQ, Denver was down 10%.

• JAZZ – 11 In-Tab Stations

9 (82%) of stations increased the number of weekly listeners; 2 (18%) declined. Top performers included KMHD, Portland and KSDS, San Diego were up 22%.  WUCF, Orlando was down 11%.

• CHRISTIAN CONTEMPORARY (CCM) – 24 In-Tab Stations

12 (50%) of stations increased the number of weekly listeners; 11 (46%) declined; one station was the same both years Top performers included CCM Rocker WBVM, Tampa was up 22%.  WRMB, Miami was down WBVM, 25%.