Why public radio isn't - and what you can do about it

Whole Earth Review, Winter, 1992 by Rachel Anne Goodman

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME you felt like you were the "public" in public radio? Seldom, you say? Now there's a new trend that may remove you for good. Once seen as immune to market speculation and rapid swings in format, public radio has gone commercial in its thinking. The programming will soon follow, and the biggest losers in this battle for dollars will be us, the listening audience.

This article is an attempt to analyze the latest trends in public radio programming, and to reveal the conversations that are taking place behind closed doors. What is at stake is more than just hearing your favorite classical piece with the minor movements cleanly excised for "happier listening." We stand to lose our voice in the one medium that claims to be by and for the public.

There are approximately 1,500 noncommercial stations in the US. Some use the label "public," some "community," and some "educational." For the sake of this discussion, "public" will mean the 340 stations funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and interconnected to a central programming source by satellite. "Community" generally refers to stations as to a community group or college, with a strong local identity, that upholds public access as a guiding principal. While there are many different formats on the noncommercial dial, trends are afoot that affect everyone equally.

It doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to find signs of public radio's current direction. Just take a look at the audience descriptions in this year's Broadcasting Yearbook. For every one that says "ethnic/cultural" or "diverse," there are three that read, "target audience: |upwardly mobile, educated youth,' |upscale, affluent, societally conscious,' |25-50 urban professionals,' |educated adults.'"

Most stations make no apologies about the high income level of their target audience. They assume they will attract the wealthiest listeners by offering an inoffensive menu of classical music and news. A recent CPB-funded survey of 750 public stations found that classical-music formats dominated the field, occupying 34 percent of on-air hours. Jazz and news came in second and third. The survey found that public radio had less appeal for African Americans, Asians, and nonhighschool-educated folks. Station programming plans through 1995 show no indication of a change in that demographic.

One Station/One Format

There is a new move toward single-format public radio stations. WHYY in Philadelphia used to have news, classical, folk, blues, jazz, and local public-affairs programming. One day the program director called in the on-air volunteers and told them their services would no longer be needed. The station went to an all-news format, relying heavily on satellite feeds from NPR and augmenting it with local news and talk. The trend caught on at KPBS in San Diego, which went all news/talk in winter 1990. "The whole point was to serve the community," insists Michael Flaster, program manager and architect of the switch. "We didn't want to isolate the communities and say, |this is your half-hour, and this is your half-hour.'" These stations are reporting a big increase in dollars and a surge in their ratings. Most of the dozen or so all-news stations are in major cities, where there are lots of other radio choices. But what happens when a small town's only non-commercial station follows this path?

Space Invaders: Satellite Takes Over

Once a station gets a satellite dish, hundreds of high-equality programs become available at the flip of a switch. Currently the average programming ratio is 60 percent local, 40 percent national, but the hours for satellite-fed shows are increasing, along with their placement in prime-time, slots. Program directors argue that highly produced programs like "Morning Edition" and "Talk of the Nation" draw more listeners and dollars. They also cost so much that some stations are cutting other programs to pay for them. Does that mean all our local public stations will become mere repeaters for National Public Radio in Washington? In the end, the expense of these programs may ensure that the local programming will remain. But what exactly does local programming sound like?

Uneasy Listening

Consultants from a Cleveland, Ohio affiliate are hard-selling public radio stations a new, $8,000 computer software package. The program spits out play-lists each day based on key words that are designed to inspire people to tune in. For the morning it chooses "uplifting, inspirational" classical pieces. The computer prints out popular selections which are composed in major keys, or if not, suggests omitting the movements in minor keys. "Familiarity creates tune-in" is a favorite catchphrase of program directors. That means you will hear warhorses trotted out in formation. The tried-and-true melodies of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. How about the theme from Swan Lake? Or that second movement from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony? Does this sound like the Classical Top Forty? WMRA-FM, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, recently spent $18,000 of listener contributions (unbeknownst to the contributors) for classical marketing research to go with their new computer-run programming system.