WETA Makes Cuts

The Washington Business Journal today reports that WETA, which has both public radio and television operations in the Washington, D.C. market, made cuts to reduce expenses by some $2.5 million.

Those cuts include layoffs of 15 staffers and the elimination of 14 vacant positions. The Journal quotes WETA President and CEO Sharon Percy:

“Like most of our fellow public broadcasting institutions, we are facing increased competition for our audiences, decreases in membership contributions and corporate underwriting, escalating capital costs and negative returns on investments."

The Arlington, VA based broadcaster also cut senior managers' pay by 13 to 15 percent.

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In Progress: Public Radio Talk Show Handbook

Work continues on the development of an online handbook for Public Radio Talk programming, a joint project of the Local News Initiative and PRPD. This first ever resource for a critical part of our programming is an outgrowth of the Talk Show Matrix developed by LNI's Marcia Alvar (then PRPD prez) and KUOW's Jeff Hansen.

A draft of the Handbook has been developed out of the matrix, based on feedback gathered in the June 2008 Talk Show Convening held in Denver. That draft has been circulated to selected PD's, ND's, talk show producers and hosts for feedback which will be incorporated into the draft in the next month. The final product will be hosted online, on the PRPD website - targeted for April 2009.

Plans are also being made for a session on the Handbook at the June PRNDI conference in Portland. A workshop based on this material is tentatively scheduled for the PRPD Public Radio Programming Conference in Cleveland this September.

Watch for details as the process continues.....
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TV Consumption Increases

151 hours a month.

Is that:

A. How much time it takes to read your email?
B. The time you spend updating your Facebook status?
C. How much time Americans spend standing in line at Starbucks?
D. The amount of television Americans watch?

The answer is "D" according to the most recent quarterly update of the Nielsen Co. survey called the Three Screen Report referring to televisions, computers and cellphones. That's about five hours a day, up 3.6 percent from the same period a year ago.

More details and link to the entire report.
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Two Public Radio Veterans Die

Two long-time public radio on-air hosts have died.

Virgil "Virg" Bissett, a retired Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) personality died Sunday. He was 79.

Bisset joined MPBN in 1976 and was known for his work on Maine Concerns, a live call-in show. He retired in the mid-1990s. He also was a journalist, author and actor.

WRTI, public radio at Temple University in Philadelphia, reports that Harrison Ridley, Jr. has died. He was 70.

Ridley had a Sunday night jazz show for some 30 years. he also taught at Temple and Villanova University.

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New HD Channel Plays Only Local Music

WTMD-Baltimore has added an HD channel that will play all local music all the time. The station's HD-2, The Baltimore Channel, will play only the music of local bands, singers and artists 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The new channel goes on the air Wednesday.

"Baltimore is one of the most important music scenes in America today and it only seemed natural to make sure the musicians who play their hearts out here also have a radio station where they can be heard at any time," said WTMD GM Steve Yasko in a rews release.

The Baltimore Channel is also streamed at wtmd.org.

iMA Public Media Conference Sessions Online

If you're not here in Atlanta, you can watch and listen to the major sessions on the iMA website. There is a video box on the left side of the page... worth your time!

Friday's sessions will include the Public Media Metrics report and the first address to the system by new NPR CEO Vivian Schiller.

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Tech Tip: Make Your Video Viral

Want to be the next Judson Laipply (left)? He's the guy whose Evolution of Dance on YouTube has been viewed more than 100 million times, and which is considered a wildly successful viral video.

Today's Wall Street Journal has an article that outlines the requirements of creating a successful viral video. In short these include:

• Killer content;
• A strong fan base;
• Make it easy for people to find.

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Newspapers Begin Sharing Content

Five daily newspapers -- including long time competitors -- in the Northeast have agreed to share content with each other.

The Northeast Consortium includes the Buffalo (NY) News, the Albany (NY) Times Union and the Daily News in New York, as well as The Record and the Newark Star Ledger in New Jersey. It's expected to be fully operational in May, according to an article in Editor & Publisher.

E & P said,

"... the initial plan is to set up a central content repository with each paper having access electronically to stories and photos ... a system in which editors would submit their budgets each day and then provide content they wish to share to the central location."

The Star Ledger in Newark, NJ and The Record in Hackensack, NJ compete for much of the same news.
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Radio: Wave of the Future

That's the title of a well written article in Media Post by Caroline Krediet of TAXI-NYC. Its oriented toward the marketing and commercial realm but cites A Prairie Home Companion and WNYC's RadioLab. And some of the responses are worth reading. An excerpt:

True, radio is no match for the infinite utility of the Internet. But radio still has a purpose, and a following. Sixty-four percent of the U.S. population tunes in once a day, and 94% of adults tune in every week. That's a cumulative audience of 283 million weekly listeners. It may not be seen as essential, but it does seem to entertain a substantial majority of the population.

The good news in these tough economic times is that radio is relatively cheap to create and produce. Moreover, its short and simple production times allow brands to be opportunistic and flexible in their media buys--a noteworthy advantage over the more-than-four week production lead times of out-of-home, magazine and newsprint, and TV's eight-week minimum.
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KUAF Prepares for New Building

University of Arkansas Chancellor G. David Gearhart joked that public radio puts him to sleep each night. And, he meant it in a good way.

He made his remarks at the groundbreaking for the new building for KUAF-FM's the public radio on the U of A campus. The 7,500-square-foot building is expected to be opened in November, and will include a performance studio.


KUAF is in the middle of a campaign to raise $1.5 million for the project. They have $900,000 in the bank thus far.
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Klose from NPR to U of Maryland

Kevin Klose, president emeritus of NPR and president of the NPR Foundation, will become the new dean of the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.

NPR and the university made the announcement today.

Klose began his journalism career as a reporter for the Washington Post in 1967. He served as president of NPR from December of 1998 to September of 2008. Klose is also the author of five books.
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Satellite Radio Gets Liberty Instead of Death

New York magazine today reports that a one half billion dollar investment by Liberty Media (owner of DirecTv, among other companies) is keeping Sirius XM satellite radio alive. The magazine reports:

"Sirius might have been forced into bankruptcy today if not for Liberty Media's John Malone, whose $530 million investment will enable the embattled satellite-radio provider to pay off its loans and remain solvent — at least a little while longer. The loan, which ultimately gives Liberty a 40 percent stake in the company, comes with a 15 percent interest rate."
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Schiller Evangelizes About NPR with CBS

Talking to MarketWatch's Jon Friedman, new NPR CEO Vivian Schiller sang the praises of her new employer, suggesting it belongs on a media Mt. Rushmore if one is ever carved.

Friedman quotes Schiller:

"'You can count on one hand the number of really important news organizations in this country,' she said, perhaps not recognizing that the newspapers, magazines and broadcasters who didn't make Schiller's private cut might be a tad offended."

"'NPR one of those organizations,'" she told me, in staccato fashion. 'It has an incredibly powerful audience -- more (so) than any other media organization.'

"Schiller, as it turned out, was just getting warmed up. When she discussed NPR's ability to pull off the rare feat of offering local, national and international news coverage under one roof, she proclaimed: "We're the only ones who can.'"
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Pub Radio Folks Go Cross-Platform

Two well known public radio folks showed up in other media today.

1. Todd Mundt, newly minted as VP and chief content officer at Louisville Public Media, appeared on CNNMoney.com talking about, of all things, television. Actually, he discussed cutting the cable and finding TV programs online.

2. NPR's Eric Nuzum was interviewed today by a blue cartoon character, and no, it was not Barney. He discussed his book The Dead Travel Fast on the site Good.
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Virginia Pubcasters Face Major State Funding Cuts

Public broadcasters are not surprised these days to hear about possible funding cuts, but stations in Virginia are facing a potential total cut of funding from the state.

The Community Idea Stations (CIS) in Richmond (including WCVE, WCNV and WMVE public radio) posted a letter on their website that said they could lose some $700,000, and that public broadcasting statewide could lose $3 million. The state Senate cut public broadcaster's appropriation by 10 percent. On the other hand, the state House Appropriations Committee eliminated all funding in their version of the legislation.

CIS is asking members and listeners to contact their legislators.
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When is An NPR News Analyst NOT An NPR News Analyst?

NPR is asking Juan Williams to ask Fox to not identify him as being from NPR.

It's really not as confusing as it sounds. NPR doesn't want Williams labeled as being one of its own when he appears on the O'Reilly Factor, according to mediabistro.com.

The online media website quotes NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepard as saying:

To date, I've received 56 angry emails. For comparison, this year so far, listeners sent 13 emails about Steve Inskeep, 8 about Mara Liasson and 6 about Cokie Roberts — other NPR personalities who I often get emails about.

See Shepard's complete blog post on the issue.
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The King is Dead?

Content is king.

Or is it?

Time magazine carries an interesting piece today that posits content -- from stories in newspapers to movies to, yes, radio programs -- is being devalued, especially by accountants. Some of this, says the author Douglas A. McIntyre, is due to the faltered economy. However, no stimulus package of any size is guaranteed to bring back the full value of content.

According to McIntyre:

"The best assets bounce back when the economy recovers. But, by forcing companies to write-down their content assets so extremely they are saying that the firms can never go home again. Their TV shows, movies, magazines, and newspapers will never recover all of their value."

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More Americans are Tweeting

The number of Americans using Twitter, the online microblogging site, continues to increase.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 11 percent of Americans on the Internet use the service that boils down communications to 144 characters. According to TV Week, that compares to 9 percent in November and 6 percent last May.

TV Week says:

"Twitter users skew young, with one in five online Americans in the 18-to-24 demo using Twitter. But Pew also said the median age of a Twitter user is 31, compared to 27 for MySpace, 26 for Facebook and 40 for LinkedIn."
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More Weekend America Replacements

Stations continue to add programs to replace Weekend America, which has been shuttered, and NPR's Day to Day, which is scheduled to go off the air next month.

Arizona Public Media a.k.a. KUAZ AM/FM is juggling its Saturday program lineup to add Studio 360 from PRI and WNYC will air at 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

Read KUAZ's entire news release.

Democracy Now! and Swingin’ Down the Lane have been added to KCCU's (Lawton, OK) lineup.

Democracy Now airs weekdays at noon, replacing Day to Day, and Swingin' Down the Lane is on at 2 p.m. Saturdays.
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Sirius XM May be Studying Potential Bankruptcy

There are indications that Sirius XM satellite radio may become a victim of the sour economy and credit crunch. The New York Times is reporting that the company "... has hired advisers to prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing, people involved in the process said."

The Times' story says customers may not see service interrupted if Serious XM files Chapter 11 "... but the company might have to terminate contracts with high-priced talent like Mr. Stern or Martha Stewart."

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Obama Touts PRPD Board Member

Well, sort of..........

Last night in his Elkhart, Indiana the President in the first 30 seconds of his speech said, "In fact, local TV stations have started running public service announcements to tell people where to find food banks, even as the food banks don't have enough to meet the demand."

Those spots for the regional Food Bank were voiced by PRPD Board member, Joan Swanson, Executive Director of JazzWorks.

Says Joan, "I just about dropped my cup of tea."
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Muzak in Chapter 11

Reuters reports that "elevator music" company Muzak has filed for bankruptcy. The company says that this is a financial restructuring and their operations will continue as normal.

According to PR Newswire, Muzak CEO Stephen Villa said:

This process will provide us with the ability to address our outstanding debt position and to continue 'business as usual' at Muzak -- providing high quality music and messaging products, innovative technologies and superior client service. Muzak has a strong foundation in place and we are fully committed to making this financial restructuring successful and positioning the Company for sustainable profitability.

Shared News is Good News for Ohio Stations

Listeners to WYSU (Youngstown State University) get their morning news from WKSU (Kent State University) and do not move the dial. The two stations have created a news-sharing agreement to provide WYSU's listeners with more local news.

The Cleveland Plain dealer reports:

"The WKSU news team is providing hourly newscasts to WYSU heard during the Youngstown station's National Public Radio's newsmagazine 'Morning Edition.' Regional and state news from WKSU reporter/producer Amanda Rabinowitz are heard following national headlines from NPR at the top of the hour from 6 to 8 a.m."

Gary Sexton, WYSU's director of broadcasting, is quoted:

"We currently don't have the staff or the resources to provide regional and state headlines to our audience, but it's something we have wanted to do."

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(How) Will Newspapers Survive?

American newspapers are cutting staff, reducing the number of days they offer home delivery, trimming pages, eliminating ... You get the picture.

Today's The New York Times has some suggestions by eight folks who know about media. One is Craig (crigslist.com) Newmark. He says:

"First, new media, particularly blogging, and traditional newspapers are already blurring together. Second, some things don’t change. There will always be a need for fact checking and the courage to “speak truth to power” — whether this is being done by new or old media. As a lover of news and Web businesses, I’m seeing some interesting shifts happening.

"For example, there is substantial interest in the philanthropic model for news, like ProPublica.org. Meanwhile, Spot.Us is an organization developing a kind of microfinance model for sponsored reporting. What’ll work? No one knows, but we need to experiment."

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Krauss-Plant Album Good for WXLV & Americana

WXLV, the public radio station at Lehigh Carbon Community College in Schnecksville, PA did not win a Grammy Sunday night. It is, however, enjoying a boost because of one winner in particular.

The Allentown Morning Call reports that Raising Sand, the multi-winner collaboration by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant is giving greater visibility to Americana music, the focus of WXLV. The Call quotes PD Burr Beard:

"The Krauss-Plant windfall is ''just a great thing for us. 'It's good for Americana any time one of our core artists like Alison Krauss does an album with a rock star that's so successful.'''

See the video about the making of Raising Sand.

Love is On The Air

Where can you find songs by DeVotchka, Arthur Prysock and James Brown? And, love songs, no less.

On NPR Music, which is hosting the Make-Out Mix, a list of love songs (and songs about the "B" side of love) chosen by member stations. The list is similar to the one of holiday music compiled in the same way.

Participating in this list of songs about love and loss were WNYC, The Current, Folk Alley, WGUC, WFUV, KEXP, WDUQ, APM, WXPN, Jazz 24, WBGO and KUT.

Listen to the entire stream.

And, for even more "les chansons d'amour" (as the French say), check out NPR Music's list of what it calls Lesser-Known Love Songs.
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Leading Classical Music Critic Answers Questions

Who is responsible for educating Americans about classical music?

Are there operas that are overlooked and deserve to be performed more often?

Where is classical music headed in the 21st century?

Those and other questions are being answered the rest of this week by Anthony Tommasini, classical music critic for The New York Times. He will answer questions through the rest of the week.

Tommasini previously covered music and theater for The Boston Globe, and has written about dance, jazz, rap, books and AIDS. He graduated from Yale University in 1970, and earned his master's from the Yale School of Music and his doctorate from Boston University. He formerly was a classical pianist.
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WBEZ Adds Two Programs from CBC

WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio, like many other public radio stations, found itself in need of programming to fill a gap left by the cancellation of Weekend America.

Starting this weekend, WBEZ will air the CBC's Definitely Not The Opera at 2 p.m. and Ideas, also from the CBC, at 3 p.m.
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Collaboration Watches the Shovels of Stimulus

WNYC, New York, the morning news program The Takeaway and the non-profit investigative journalism organization ProPublica, are working together to track just how federal economic stimulus money is spent.

Called ShovelWatch the website says it will use

"... investigative reporting, interactive features, and (not least) help from you, we’ll be tracking the stimulus bill dollars as they travel from Congress to your neighborhood. With your help, we’ll make sure that one of the biggest, fastest appropriations ever has a big, fast army to track whether it is well spent."

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Back to the Future at WDET

Change is in the air and on the air at WDET, Detroit. Starting later this month, there will be changes in programming and, in one instance, on-air talent. And, much of the change means looking to the past to ensure WDET's future.

J. Mikel Ellcessor, who took over as WDET's GM in November, says he is bringing back some of the elements of WDET's better days and expects the station to become an important voice in and for the community. One element of that is the return of Ann Delisi, a host for a dozen years in the '80s and '90s. She is expected to bring more locally-produced music to WDET.

WDET is located at Wayne State University. It started life operated by the United Auto Workers union.
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Mundt Promoted at Louisville Public Media

Todd Mundt has been named to the new position of vice president and chief content officer for Louisville Public Media.

Mundt will be responsible for all broadcast and online content. A member of the PRPD board of directors, Mundt will also supervise the station managers and on-air hosts, negotiate with program distributor and analyze audience measurement data.

And, Mundt will continue as the local host of Morning Edition, as well as to help craft LPM's new media strategy.

Schiller Steps Out

New NPR CEO, Vivian Schiller is attending the PRIMA meeting in San Antonio - her first in-person system appearance. In brief introductory remarks she touched on her initial impressions in the job and some of the "third rails" of our system. Beyond the content of her remarks, I think it important to note a refreshing enthusiasm and optimism in her tone.

Some of her observations:

* The level of passionate loyalty to public radio doesn't exist anywhere else in media.
* She is struck by the fact that almost everyone who learns of her new job responds with "that's my favorite station".
* It's extraordinary that we have a "tentacles" into every single local area, campus, community in the nation with our stations. We have to do much more in local/national news collaboration.

Regarding the "third rail" issues:

* By-pass - We should not have NPR.org in competition with stations. Must figure out how to use our power, technology, people and tools to enable a network of sites, a constellation of sites, run by local stations but serving a hole in our communities that exists today. We can provide a hub of local news & information with world class content on international and national level.

* Fundraising - There is an unavoidable tension in the fact that every potential NPR donor is a local listener. We need to work together to come up with win-win solutions.

At the same time, we can't let the understandable fears of where the money goes get in the way of maximizing the available funds. As we work out the issues here, NPR can move forward with efforts that help stations raise money more efficiently with all money going to stations.

* Old vs. new media - There is "absolutely no reason" to think that radio is going away. It's dynamics are different from newspapers and even TV which will will cause it to remain an important vehicle for delivery of content for a long time.
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Cell Phone Sales at Saturation Point?

Half of the world's population owns a cell phone. Still, there are folks who believe that sales of the ubiquitous devices are reaching a point of saturation, and one analyst says they won't bounce back when the current economic nosedive ends.

The New York Times today reports industry officials hope that many existing customers will upgrade to smart phones -- iPhones -- and similar devices like the BlackBerry. Salvation may also lie in the transmission of data rather than just phone calls.

CITA, a trade association for the wireless industry, suggests that 250 million Americans have cell phones. That's 82 percent of the population.
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WMFE's Radio & TV Hit by Layoffs & More Cuts

Orlando pubcaster WMFE has announced layoffs of 15 staffers in both radio and television.

WMFE's President and CEO Jose Fajardo said that every revenue stream, especially membership and corporate support, has been hit by the economy. The broadcaster cut 10 full-time employees last fall. Among those laid off in this round is Chief Operating Officer Dale Spear.

Fajardo said local programming will be focused on radio because it is less expensive that television programming. Part of the cut was dropping the locally-produced TV Show, "The Arts Connection."

The Orlando Sentinel reports that:

"... remaining staff must take two weeks off of unpaid leave, and WMFE has eliminated employer-matching 401(k) funds for what the station called 'the foreseeable future.'"
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