Sunday, November 06, 2005

NPR goes from strength to strength

National Public Radio--by far the most important source of noncommercial radio in the United States--continues to prosper and grow. In a recent Chicago Tribune piece (registration required), Phil Rosenthal noted how the loose national network of public radio stations has doubled its national audience, from 13 to 26 million, in just the past six years. And they've done it without having to worry too much about impressing Wall Street and corporate investors.

Rosenthal also states that "listen to an NPR program for 30 seconds and you know you're listening to NPR." Actually I'd say it's more like five seconds. To me, NPR sounds so different to just about everything else on the dial--whenever I'm driving long distances and searching for the local NPR station, I find I can recognize it almost instantly. The measured tones of the presenters are streets away from the exhortations of commercial DJs and talk radio hosts, who often seem to prefer just ranting at their audiences.

Yes, some might complain that NPR is still compromised by having to raise revenue from sponsorships, foundation support, and of course support "from listeners like you." Even so, and perhaps because the rest of American radio is so bad, NPR sounds so good. And public radio is going from strength to strength: Rosenthal notes that, while other news operations are cutting back, NPR's "in the midst of a $15 million, three-year plan to add 45 staffers and open new bureaus, including one in West Africa."

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it is great that NPR is so successful. It offers a great alternative to the commercial radio that we are regularly exposed to. Commercial radio has become more and more annoying lately. It seems virtually impossible get through ten minutes without there being a loud commercial for an obnoxious car dealer, or a plug for some new website or company. I have held the notion that NPR was boring and for "old people", but NPR is a valued resource. It can be very educational and obviously has a large audience. Its popularity is a positive reflection on society. Maybe everyone isn't completely consumed by commercialism.
~Shannon Cox

11/07/2005 10:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I also feel that NPR is one of the best things to happen to public radio. I started listening to NPR at work, because it was the only radio station which i could get, and now listen to NPR almost eight hours a day. I find NPR to be informative, yet interesting, something most radio stations fail at. At first it surprised me that I could listen to radio news for an extended period of time, but I now find it an easy way to stay informed, without having to sift through as much "extra stuff" you find with most television news shows, and on almost all other radio stations.
- Liz Mann

11/09/2005 11:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I find it amazing to read that NPR is actually attracting more listeners in the past six years. For a radio station that does not rely on money from advertising this is quite am accomplishment. Is it possible that the reason for this increase in listeners is that the education of the general public has also been on the rise?? More people than ever before are taking part in "higher education" these days, and NPR is definitely geared towards a more scholarly audience than say KISS fm. I think that it's great that NPR is flourishing because it provides an alternative to the commercial mega station, and the programming can be quite interesting if you give it a chance...

-Sam Minassian

11/10/2005 10:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My hay days of NPR was when I lived in the Prescott (pronounced like biscuit--don't ask) Arizona. It was there that I had three stations to choose from when driving around the (5,000’) mountainous terrain (all within a 30 mile radius). I was in heaven since I never missed a beat, wherever I was, there it was. If only all of life could be so easy and kind to the ears. I am so addicted to NPR that I would go online and download the latest station list so I was able to find it on the dial to get away from bad pop stations, hellfire and brimstone preachers or the farm reports with staggering statistics on soybeans and pork belly futures when accomplishing a mad dash across the continent. Don’t laugh, when you are driving 2,400 miles by yourself it’s good to have something of substance to break up the two dimensional world of the prairies. I wish that fees were imposed on AM/FM stations to help defray the cost of public radio and ditto for TV stations for PBS.If I were Emperor for a week...

DJ Smith

11/10/2005 5:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The fact that NPR has gained 13 million listeners within the past 6 years really excites me. NPR is a welcomed switch from the incessant ranting of radio station Deejays that I normally hear during my time in the car. NPR just keeps doing its thing, and is gaining much deserved recognition as a reliable and entertaining medium for information. It’s great not to have to listen for 5, 10, or even sometimes 15 minutes to commercials depending on what time you tune in to a top 40 or other similar radio station. There aren’t enough educational radio stations around with as great a reputation as NPR; hopefully this gain in ratings will show there is a possibility of success for other similar radio stations.


- Ed Green

11/12/2005 11:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think that it is great that NPR has been so successful... I don't listen ot it on a regular basis but I must agree that it differs greatly from regular talk radio such as 98PXY... It seems to me that talk radio hosts chat amongst each other and talk AT the audience more than they talk TO the audience. NPR does sound very different than any other radio program... It is very much like PBS, especially with the NPR slogan about the support from "listeners like you" and PBS slogan about how the airing of a particular program is made possible by "viewers like you". I also think that NPR is more wholesome than many of the other radio programs out there. It is ok for anyone and everyone to listen to.

11/16/2005 11:34 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

NPR is plan and simple great radio. It's full of so much information and it does really have a distinct sound to it. I can remember when my parents would drive me to school in the morning and they would have it on. I found it very nice to get all the news in one trip and it was always to the point. And I know for a fact that my parents give money because they like it so much. I'm glad that there are people out there who care so much about the program and it's success that they are spending money to make it better and add more staff.

Melody Kuzniar

12/08/2005 1:19 PM  

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