HBO, Sesame Street and untended consequences

Most of the industry press I've seen about the HBO/Sesame Street deal has been positive. HBO gets first-run of the iconic educational program, and in exchange, public radio stations get to air the broadcasts nine months later -- for free.

While it seems to be win/win, I believe there's a possibility that's only in the short run. In the long run, it might possibly kill public broadcasting.

Remember the last presidential campaign when Mitt Romney targeted public broadcasting?

James Poniewozik distilled the essence of the pros and cons of the fight in his October 2012 article for Time magazine, Why is Mitt Romney picking a fight with Big Bird?

It’s the defenders of public money who bring up Big Bird... whenever this happens. It personalizes the debate. It gets people worried about their favorite characters and educational TV for their kids; it conjures the specter of heartless politicians killing Big Bird. 

And if you’re a conservative budget cutter or culture warrior, you do whatever you can not to cite Big Bird, or Sesame Street, or any cuddly figure that millions of people love. You talk about Bill Moyers, or a documentary you charge with liberal bias... You tell voters that coastal socialist elites are taking your money to undermine your values! You only mention Big Bird, if you must at all, to say that government money or no, Big Bird will be fine. (emphasis mine)

Now that HBO's funding Sesame Street, Big Bird will indeed be fine. So in conservatives' minds there's even less reason to fund public television. And for the supporters, one of their most emotionally potent arguments has been removed.

With Sesame Street out of the picture, I believe we'll see the renewed call to kill public broadcasting from virtually every Republican candidate this campaign season. And why not? With Big Bird out of the picture, it will be one of the safest campaign stances ever. And should the Republicans win the White House, it will be one of the easiest campaign promise to keep.

Pubcasting and the HD Radio Pretense - Part 2

Who knew my premise would be proven so quickly? Just a few days after posting Pubcasting and the HD Radio Pretense, WGCU in Fort Meyers, Florida, announced they were dropping classical music entirely.

According to NaplesNews.com,

WGCU already moved its classical music programming from FM to its HD-2 radio signal in 2008. The limited broadcast power of its HD signal, however, had left classical music fans in Naples and Marco Island no alternative but to stream it online from the station's website.

As I said in my post, the trend is for public radio stations to shove their classical programming onto an HD2 channel rather than kill it to avoid a sh*tstorm of bad publicity. And that's exactly what WGCU did. At the time, of course, it was represented as simply continuing the service.

And now that another station is broadcasting classical music in the same market (sort of)? WGCU dropped classical like a hot potato, and is introducing a new format.

Now keep in mind, this new format will still have the same dismal over-the-air audience numbers that classical did on the HD2 channel. This decade-old technology has never really gone anywhere. And with the available of streaming Internet audio via smartphones in cars, HD Radio's become irrelevant.

According to the article, the new format will be AAA.

XPoNential Radio is produced by WXPN in Philadelphia. WXPN also produces "The World Cafe," heard on WGCU-FM. [Station General Manager Rick] Johnson said the genre, known as adult album alternative, "opens the door of public radio to a new group of listeners from college students to young professionals [emphasis mine] to children of the 1960s and '70s who will appreciate this eclectic blend of music."

Check that Jacobs Media study of core public radio listeners again. Internet usage is growing, and it's growing among the younger demographic. In reality WGCU probably doesn't care if anyone listens to their HD2 channel -- they're looking to grow their online listenership. And WGCU probably be successful.

I just wish they were a little more honest about the whole thing. According to Johsnon, "This summer WNPS began broadcasting the same classical music programming as heard on our HD radio channel. As public broadcasting, we want to provide listeners with variety and we do not want to duplicate services."

Fair enough. WGCU's trying to follow the money, which -- with public broadcasting under siege -- seems like the responsible thing to do. But why not be totally honest about it?

After all, have you ever known a public radio station to drop Morning Edition or All Things Considered just because another station with some coverage overlap also carried the programs? (In other words, duplicate services?)

Me neither.

Pubcasting and the HD Radio pretense

Jacobs Media just released their fourth annual study of core public radio listeners. There are lots of posts about the marked increase of tech and social media among listeners, which is something the study clearly shows.

But buried in the data is another story, I think. Consider -- according to the report:

1. HD Radio is only used 6% - a 3% decline from last year.
2. The average age for listeners who have been a contributor for more than 11 years is 63.
3. The average age for listeners who have been a contributor for less than 5 years is 50, with 19% being in the 25-34 age group (a demographic that doesn't even appear in the 11+ category).

In the olden days, most public radio stations were primarily classical music and news. Then Morning Edition and All Things Considered became the "tent poles." Both listenership (and giving) spiked dramatically when those two shows were on. So it wasn't long before stations were looking for ways to keep the magic going, by programming more news/talk.

But what to do about classical music? Everyone knows that only old people listen to classical music. They also represented the long-time (and sometimes big money) supporters of the station. But the real money -- and the younger audiences -- were in news/talk. So changes had to come.

No public radio station wants to be characterized as a culture-killer. Witness the firestorm when WETA dropped classical to go news/talk a few years ago. So rather than get rid of classical, some stations simply moved it to their HD Radio digital channel.  "No, classical isn't gone. We still broadcast it, and you can listen just as before -- if you have a special HD Radio, that is."

HD Radio has enjoyed greater usage in the public radio market than the commercial broadcasting field -- but its penetration is still dismal. And (see fact 1), it's shrinking. So for a station to claim that everybody wins when classical gets shoved onto a frequency that no one can receive seems a little disingenuous.  "No, we're not getting rid of it -- we're just putting it in the back of the attic where no one can easily get to it."

Fortunately, there's an upside to all this. Most stations that shift their music programming to HD2 also move it to the Internet. And online listening is an option that's growing among public radio listeners (just like the rest of the public).

The Jacobs Media survey shows the Internet to be the second-most used media for their study group (mobile phones were tops at 96%, Internet second at 91%). And over half regularly listen to content from their smartphone or MP3 player in the car. Sure, it could be podcasts (44% usage for this savvy group), or stored songs, or Pandora (only 18% usage). But there's a good chance that a significant part of it is content from the station -- and not necessarily their broadcast signal.

I have to admit that as much as I hate the programming of over-the-air WQXR (which I think is bland and boring), I love Q2 Music, which is their online-only alternative classical music service. It's innovative, it's fresh, it features living composers and unusual repertoire -- it's great! And it's online.

And I don't think they ever pretended it was available on an HD Radio channel.

WTJU and the Offline Pushback -- Epilogue

Yesterday I shared my story of the listener who will no longer listen to our radio station because I mention the website too often. (WTJU and the Offline Pushback -- Part 2)

The post elicited some interesting responses. One reader was thrilled to discover that WTJU had an archive of shows (wtju.net/vault). I've mentioned it several times on air, but it was reading the information online that did the trick. Call it another benefit of being online, I suppose. While I announce that information often on the air, if you're not listening the moment I do so, it's as if I never said anything at all. Links in feeds, though, are there whenever the reader gets to them.

The best overall comment about all this came from a colleague of mine at another station. During a Twitter discussion of the post he reminded me of an important concept of broadcasting.

"One caller represents the views of... one caller."

The responses from folks on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ were all positive. Many expressed amazement (or was that amusement) that well into the 21st Century someone's dead-set against any of that interwebtubes stuff.

But of course, the response group was self-selecting. Because anyone who shared my ex-listener's viewpoint would never see the post, because they avoid going online.

I regularly say on air, "If you're only listening to us on the radio, I think you're only getting half the WTJU experience." In this case, my ex-listener and those like her missed the entire conversation.

Swinging London 64-66 – A WTJU special

For the Rock Fundraising Marathon at WTJU, I programmed and hosted a show entitled Swinging London 64-66. It was an overview of the musical scene of the day, focusing on UK artists (especially those that were bigger in the UK than the US).

It would have been easy to stick with the leaders of the British Invasion – the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and the Who – but those artists have plenty of representation on other stations. This show attempted to show just how diverse the scene really was (by playing lots of groovy music).

 Below in the complete playlist, along with videos for some key tracks. As you can hear, even though a variety of styles were represented, there was something uniquely British about the sound (and what a great sound it was).

We were also luck to have Steve Myers on the broadcast team. At 15 he actually worked for one of the legendary pirate radio stations that presented exciting alternatives to the conservative fare of the BBC. The parallel between that, and WTJU’s relationship with local commercial stations was noted (see the second paragraph above). Steve brought in some sounders from Radio London and Radio Caroline, which we used liberally. If you missed the show, you can still play it from the WTJU archives through 2/30/12. After that, you can just browse these links – you’ll get the flavor of it.

The Swinging London 64-66 playlist:

"Something Better Beginning" - The Kinks
"Little Children" - Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas
"Downtown" - Petula Clark
"Have I the Right" - The Honeycombs
"Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" - Gerry and the Pacemakers
"Hey Hey Hey" - Chris Farlow & the Thunderbirds


"He's in Town" - Rockin Berries
"High Wire (theme from "Danger Man" - Edwin Astley Orchestra
"Watcha Gonna Do" - Billie Davis
"One Fine Day" - Shel Naylor


"He Who Rides the Tiger" - Patsy Anne Noble
"I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town" - Rod Stewart
"A World Without Love" - Peter and Gordon
"Gimme Some Money" - The Thamesmen
"Snakes and Snails" - Alma Cogan


"Cups and Cakes" - The Thamesmen
"As Tears Go By" - Marianne Faithful
"Its Love I Should Have Tried" - Rick Minas
"I Like It" - Gerry and the Pacemakers
"Sounds Incorporated" - Sound Incorporated
"She Wanted Me" - Tony Jackson


"Something Good" - Herman Hermits
"Go Now" - Moody Blues
"Stop Breaking My Heart" - Tom Jones
"Some Things Just Stay In Your Mind" - Vashti Bunyan


"True Story" - Twice as Much
"Crawling Up a Hill" - John Mayall
 "For Your Love" - Yardbirds
"Tired of Waiting for You" - The Kinks
"When I Think of You" - Twiggy


"Gloria" - Them
 "Sweet and Tender" - The McKinleys
"Tobacco Road" - Nashville Teens
 "When You Walk in the Room" - The Searchers
 "Tin Soldier" - Small Faces



"Somebody Else's Baby" - Samantha Jones
 "Money" - The Beatles
"That's How Strong My Love Is`" - The In Crowd
 "Heart Trouble" - Eyes of Blue


"You Really Have Started something" - Britt
"Get the Money" - Gary Farr and the T Bones
"Make Her Mine" - Hipster Image
"Theme from the Saint" - Original Soundtrack
"Theme from the Avengers" - Original Soundtrack
"That's the Way It's Got to Be" - The Poets
 "You Too Can Be a Beatle" - Polly Perkins


"She Loves You" - The Beatles
"Look Through Any Window" - The Hollies
"Ferry Cross the Mersey" - Gerry and the Pacemakers
"I'm Telling You Now" - Freddie and the Dreamers

Fundraising -- the gentle touch

As I write this, I'm getting ready to head out to the radio station. Long-time readers know I volunteer for WTJU 91.1 fm, the community radio station run by the University of Virginia. And, being a non-commercial station, it's one that relies heavily on financial support from the community.

And now a commercial word
My colleagues in commercial radio don't think much of public radio. The general perception seems to be that non-commercial radio exists on the government dole (which they often translate into "unfair competition"), and that while they have to scramble for advertising dollars, we in the pubradio sit back and just collect the money squeezed out of hard-working citizens taxed beyond their means.

It's a nice picture -- but hardly true. In the case of WTJU, for example, over half of its funding has to come directly from the listeners. The University pays a small part (the bulk of their contribution is in providing the space and the salaries for the few paid employees). An even smaller sum comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

The reality is that should the CPB funding go away, the station would be in a tough financial position, but it could still survive. Take away the University support, and it becomes more problematic. But even if those two revenue streams remain, without listener support the station is dead.

Follow the money
Commercial radio stations serve their clients -- the advertisers. There's nothing wrong with that model, but many people don't understand that for a commercial station the audience isn't the customer, it's the product. The product (a lot of ears) that's sold to the customer (the advertiser who wants a lot of ears to hear his message).

Public radio's a little different. The listener IS the customer. Don't believe me? Follow the money. Where does a commercial radio station get its money? From advertisers. Where does a public radio station get its money? Mostly from the listeners (and those other sources can be traced back to the public, too).

The gentle touch
So here's the challenge. During our fund drive, I need to make our listeners understand how important they are to the success of the station they listen to.

The station they listen to for free.

Because whether you've ever contributed to WTJU or not, you can tune in, or listen online and we're there.

We're there because others have contributed and supported the station. What I need to do is to persuade all those others who listen that they're contribution is not just helpful, but vital. Commercial radio sales teams every day have to sell businesses on the concept of radio -- and how it can help them. It's a tough job (I used to work at a commercial station and saw it first-hand).

Can you imagine the DJs having to canvas their listeners and make the case for paying for the music they here? That's what we have to do. And it's a tough job, too. Because if an advertiser doesn't pay, he doesn't get on the air (or doesn't stay on very long). But if a listener doesn't contribute, they still get to listen.

So in a few hours I'll go on the air and talk to that audience, explaining why their contribution is important. And if I can stimulate a little enlightened self-interest, the station may live to fight (or broadcast) another day.

I'll include a postscript later telling you how I did!

And if you're a listener, either to the broadcast or to our online stream, please consider contributing. It's the right thing to do.

Peering into the Mouth of the Congressional Cannon

This is a continuation of the yesterday's post about H.R. 1076, the bill to kill NPR. Interestingly enough, the Republicans who rushed this to the floor broke one of their own promises (and on purpose, I suspect). Remember how they vowed that they would make the text of every bill public for three business days to allow public scrutiny and feedback? Why the rush, boys? I usually only skirt the rules if I know I'm doing something sketchy.

Despite not being available for public scrutiny for 72 hours, the text was finally posted today I had a chance to look at the actual bill and it's even stranger than I first thought. Here's the meat of it:

To prohibit Federal funding of National Public Radio and the use of Federal funds to acquire radio content

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL FUNDING OF NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO AND RADIO CONTENT ACQUISITION

(a) IN GENERAL
- No Federal funds may be made
(1) to an organization that is incorporated as of the date of the enactment of this Act for each of the purposes described in subsection (c), or to any successor organization

(2) for payment of dues to an organization described in paragraph (1); or(3) for the acquisition of radio programs (including programs to be distributed or disseminated over the Internet) by or for the use of a radio broadcast station that is a public broadcast station (as defined in section 397(6) of the Communications Act)

b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION
1) OTHER PURPOSES
- Paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (a) shall not be construed to prohibit the making available of Federal funds to any entity, including an entity that engages in the payment described in such paragraph (2) or the acquisition described in such paragraph (3), for purposes other than such payment or acquisition

(2) RADIO CONTENT ACQUISITION BY BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS OR DEFENSE MEDIA ACTIVITY- Subsection (a)(3) shall not be construed to apply to the acquisition of radio programs by the Broadcasting Board of Governors or the Defense Media Activity.

OK, so they plugged the Internet loophole I mentioned yesterday. But what if NPR switched to straight video/TV production? Not covered. Now the bill further defines what funds can't be used for, and do so by basically paraphrasing NPR's articles of incorporation! (Just so there's no confusion).

Now some analysists think that this bill specifically targets NPR while allowing funding to go to the other providers like PRI and APM. i think the reasoning is that the list of disallowed funding purposes "for each of the purposes described in subsection (c)." That could mean only organizations who do all of the proscribed activities, not just a few. But I'm not so sure. What if it's interpreted as "any?"

The disallowed activities, for example, include:

"To establish and maintain one or more service or services for the production, duplication, promotion and circulation of radio programs on tape, cassettes, records or any other means or mechanism suitable for noncommercial educational trnasmission and broadcast thereof."

That pretty much defines the activity of every syndicator and producer both large and small.

And what about this disallowed purpose for funding?

"To lease, purchase, acquire and own, to order, have, use and controct for, and to otherwise obtain, arrange for and provide technical equipment and facilities for the production, recording and distribution of radio programs for broadcast over noncommerical educational radio stations, networks and systems."

Well, parts of that cover every station in the system. So if Federal funding can't be used for program creation or acquisition, or equipment maintenance/upgrades, I guess that leaves only salaries. Does that mean public radio employees will be able to make a living wage thanks to an act of Congress?

Now there's an unintended consequence!

BTW - Section B, subsection 2 exempts Voice of America and military broadcast service from this ban. So does that mean VOA and the DoD would become NPR's biggest customers? Just wondering...