In the fall of 2015 through the summer of 2016, many public radio professionals were discouraged: several leaders, including the VP for Content at NPR, left the field for opportunities in podcasting. The Wall Street Journal reported that "the system" might be unravelling. But two years later, audiences, revenues and confidence were at an all time high. What changed over those two years?

1. Start of a Conversation on Journalism
How did we get here?
PRRO
P u b l i c R a d i o
R e g i o n a l
O r g a n i z a t i o n s

2. Sponsor of Public Media Futures
2012 - 2018

3. In this half hour
• Look at the change in confidence from 2016 to 2018
• Review the financial trends
• Sketch the evolution of the news service
• Acknowledge the “capacity gap”
• Options for addressing that gap
• Set up the next part of the program

4. A quick look back… to 2016
PODCASTING STRIKES A NERVE

5. Eric Nuzum,
Speaking to the PRPD Conference
September , 2015
In 2015 into 2016, high-
profile public radio
professionals were
migrating out of “the
system,” led by Eric Nuzum,
VP for Content at National
Public Radio, who took a
position with Audible to
develop Audible’s
podcasting service. Eric
expressed his frustration
with public radio’s slow
pace of change and aversity
to risk.

6. In mid-2016, the
gloom deepened
when the WSJ
reported that…
“With both its stars
and audience aging,
NPR is struggling to
adapt to the digital
age. ‘The most
innovative people are
doing podcasts’…”
Wall Street Journal
June 16, 2016

7. What Digital Disruption Looks Like
Many people within public
broadcasting were waiting
for “the other shoe to
drop,” expecting that public
radio and TV might be
crushed by “digital
disruption.”
For many of us the model
for digital disruption was
the newspaper industry,
undermined by Craig’s List
and the loss of display
advertising.

8. “…Armed with strong revenue
growth and targeted funding from
CPB for collaboration and
journalism, many public radio
stations are playing ever larger
roles in their local communities,
through journalism, support for
live music, and new forms of
community engagement.”
Current
October 25, 2016
To push back on these
negative views, I worked
with the leaders of the Radio
Regional Associations to
“Change the Conversation.”

9. Fast Forward to August 2018

10. “Last week Audible eliminated
several people in the company,
but they completely decimated
the Originals unit that was
spearheaded by NPR executive
Eric Nuzum …”
GoodeReader.com
August 8 , 2018
The much feared “digital
disruption” never arrived.
Instead…

11. Revenue Growth Continues
Up 8.4% vs. ‘16
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17
Millions
Public Radio Station Total Direct Revenues
(Net of Inter-station transfers - adjusted to 2017 dollars)
FY16 to FY17:
Gross Revenue up 8.4%
a gain of $94.8 million

12. $74 MM Increase in Content Production
in the last Five Years.
484
558
400
440
480
520
560
600
FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17
Millions
Program and Production Spending
(adj to 2017 dollars)

13. How do you explain this
unexpected success?
We found our “Job to be done”

15. Pew Research Center
July 23, 2018
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/07/23/about-a-third-of-large-u-s-newspapers-have-suffered-layoffs-since-2017/

16. Pew Research Center
July 23, 2018

18. Signal coverage for the NPR News Network

19. We could see this opportunity
emerging
LEADING STATIONS WERE TALKING ABOUT IT IN 2003

20. The Evolution of News…Talk… Journalism
1971 1979 Early 90s 2003 2010 2016 2018
Bass: Think “Frontline News Provider”
Oreskes: In most cities, “the second newspaper” is
the NPR station.
Create the Journalism Department at CPB - Launch LJCs
Kling: “Envision 100-person newsrooms”
Envision stations as “important community institutions”
Development of Signature Mid-Day Talk
Consolidation of News/Talk formats
Launch of ATC and ME
1994 Gingrich threat fuels financial growth.

21. S TAT I O N R E S O U R C E G R O U P
C H A RT I N G T H E T E R R I TO RY
There is a powerful and broadly shared impulse toward community
focused and station-originated content that extends public radio’s
core values… and reinforces our importance to our audiences.
2003

22. PATH TO SIGNIFICANCE
1. A capacity for independent action
2. A compelling service vision
3. A strong sense of place
4. A concrete focus of energies
5. Willingness to assume risk
6. Confidence in a larger role
7. Committed civic leadership
8. Bold ask for community support
S TAT I O N R E S O U R C E G R O U P
C H A RT I N G T H E T E R R I TO RY
2003

23. You reflected these aspirations
FUTURES FORUM SURVEY 2012

24. Source: Futures Forum Survey – Fall 2012
What you told me in mid-2012
Over the NEXT three years stations will
• Focus on Revenue Development… while continuing to
• Expand Local News Staffs
• Move toward “all news” formats
• Invest in online/digital service
• “Go local”

25. Source: Futures Forum Survey – Fall 2012
Who is succeeding?
Stations that are…
• Growing by $200,000+/yr over the last 10 years
• Have Development Staffing of more than 5 FTEs
• Have Development Specialists (Major/Planned Gifts)
• The GM is leading the major gift effort… becoming more like a small
college President.

26. Can we pay for this?
YES: WITH SUSTAINERS AND MAJOR GIFTS.
AND WE’RE WELL ON OUR WAY TO THE NEXT $100 MILLION.

27. S TAT I O N R E S O U R C E G R O U P
C H A RT I N G T H E T E R R I TO RY
ESTIMATES OF POTENTIAL GROWTH
Increase Membership Revenue $25 million
Increase Underwriting $26 million
Expand Major Giving $24 million
Reduce cost/$raised $25 million
------------------
$100 million
2003

28. From 1995 to 2010:
• Radio membership Revenue
increased $104.
• Radio underwriting tripled from
$60 million to $157 million.
• “Philanthropic revenues”—
major gifts, endowment income
and foundation fundraising—
increased by $98.8 million.
So we asked: Where is “the next
$100 million (increase)?”
The answer was:
Sustainers and
Major Gifts.

29. Individual Giving
Steady Growth: with a pop in ‘17
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3.0
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17
Millions
Millions
Individual Giving Revenue Giving - All Radio
(adj to 2017 dollars)
Member Revenue Major Gifts Count of Members

30. Keys to sustainability (so far)
• A strong understanding of audience dynamics (on radio).
• A strong grounding in “core values.”
• Evolution toward news/talk put us in position for “jobs to be done.”
• External forces created opportunity through “market failures.”
• Our program content and audio craft adapted to “on demand.”
• Our business model was prepared for “subscription media.”
• Our audience had the capacity for philanthropic support.
• Leading stations showed remarkable foresight.

31. Size matters. Scale Matters.
WE NEED TO BRING THE WHOLE SYSTEM ALONG ON THIS JOURNEY

32. Strong Growth—for a few.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1-20 21-40 41-60 61-80 81-100 101-120 121-140 141-160 161-180 181-200
Millions
Distribution of Growth 2016-17
In FY17, two-thirds of gross
revenue growth within the top
200 stations came in the top 20.

33. Strong Growth—for a few.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1-20 21-40 41-60 61-80 81-100 101-120 121-140 141-160 161-180 181-200
Millions
Distribution of $ Growth 2009 - 2017
The average station in the smallest 20
was growing by $21,750/yr.
The average station in the top 20 was growing by more
than $1.5 million/yr.

34. How many licensees are growing “fast enough?”
19
18
13
11
2
-
1
- - -
0
4
8
12
16
20
1-20 21-40 41-60 61-80 81-100 101-120 121-140 141-160 161-180 181-200
Licensees growing at $175,000/yr in each segment
64 Licensees are growing by at least
$175,000 per year…
almost all are news/talk stations or
multi-station licensees.

35. Our Dilemma: How to balance
autonomy and capacity

36. Greater
CAPACITY
Greater
AUTONOMY
Every station values both Capacity and Autonomy—
which pull in opposite directions

37. Greater
CAPACITY
Greater
AUTONOMY
NETWORK
PROGRAMMING
with
LOCALIZATIONS
Certain features bridge this divide

38. Greater
CAPACITY
Greater
AUTONOMY
LOCAL
JOURNALISM
CENTERS
Certain features bridge this divide

39. Greater
CAPACITY
Greater
AUTONOMY
STATE OR REGIONAL
NEWS
COLLABORATIVES
Certain features bridge this divide

40. Seven Stations in Alaska resolved this tension by moving
all their backroom operations to a single site.

41. CoastAlaska
• Founded by 5 stations in ‘95
• Finance, fundraising, engineering & news
• 11 stations clients
• 50 combined staff
• $4.4m revenue
• Cash reserves of $1.4m

42. “Let’s do something together.”
Four Stations in Texas created the most important
state-level newsroom in public broadcasrting

44. Broadcast on 26 stations
Covering of 88% of the Texas Radio Universe
Landmark Collaboration

45. WUWM 89.7 FM – Milwaukee Public Radio
WUWM in Milwaukee reached beyond public
media to address gun the crisis of gun violence.

46. Precious Lives

48. Other backroom services are already available to
help bridge the capacity gap.

50. The next phase will be different
BUILDING A CULTURE OF JOURNALISM

51. We are still harvesting revenue from
broadcast… to develop digital services that
are not generating large revenue streams.

52. We Need Change at Every Level
• Prepare station leadership to manage “news organizations”
• Provide sufficient editorial support, fact checking
• Reorganize production methods to feed audio, digital text and social
media outputs
• Balance breaking news with feature reporting and conversation about
the news.
• Substantially improve digital news delivery to increase “regular use,”
especially for mobile use.
• Prepare management and governance structures for inevitable
conflicts from accountability journalism