Public radio tunes out tough economic times

More than most broadcasting outlets, public radio appears to have formed a fierce emotional bond with its listeners. Lisa Gray, interim director of marketing and communications at WDAV, said the economy has had the effect of making that bond even tighter.

“There’s tremendous uncertainty. There’s a lot of anxiety out there,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of donors who called and told us how they needed the calming effect of classical music.”

Gray said the suspension of her station’s on-air fundraising drive had as much to do with pleasing the station’s audience as it did with concern that the economy has curtailed giving. “We decided that what our listeners needed most was music,” she said.

Said Roe of the same station: “For a lot of people our station serves as a coping mechanism.”

Then there was the campaign season, which created a unique situation. Some people may have been holding out on making their customary donations to public radio because they only had so much cash available, and they were directing some of it to their favorite candidates and causes.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that when the election is over and people adjust to the recession,” Fretwell said, “that they will loosen up that portion of their discretionary income that they give to charitable and other parties.”

On the other hand, because of the hotly contested political races, many listeners were turning to public radio for their election information, which in turn created fundraising opportunities.

“Many of our stations have had record-breaking pledge drives in the fall,” NPR’s Rehm said. “What we have heard from audiences is that they have appreciated the quality of our election coverage and war coverage.”

Still worried about making money
But clearly, with each passing dark day on Wall Street, public radio and those in its realm get a little more nervous. “I have heard from other marketing directors at other stations,” Gray said. “Their pledge drives are coming up and they’re worried.”

In the meantime, many stations are thinking creatively. Fretwell’s station in New Jersey covers Princeton University. “We’re going to branch out like we’ve never done before,” he said. “We’re asking higher-end people in the Princeton area to host dinner parties for those who may not have been donors before,” he said. “We’re talking to the Institute of Advanced Studies to host a reception so we can tell our story.

“It’s forcing us to think outside the box.”

Hanley said that the reason public radio has been able to weather these brutal times is because it is needed. He cited an example of how his station’s recent fund drive promised that a portion of the donations to the station would go to a local food bank. That created an enthusiastic response from listeners.

“It used to be that public radio was an alternative,” he said. “Now we’re an essential media with 160,000 listeners for our station alone and 30 million nationwide.

“We’re not an alternative anymore. We’re critical for culture and news and information. It’s OK for us to ask for money because we’re essential now.”

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