Minding The Old
While Mining The New

Human attention has become the most
valuable commodity on the planet earth.
–Michael Flaster

The Internet has been likened to the Wild West.  Without law or precedent, its settlers are staking their claims while the land is still up for grabs.

It's a weak analogy; the limiting factor is bandwidth, not territory.  But it's apt in one sense: any prospector has got to leave the old homestead before he can settle a new one.  And therein lies the potential problem.

What Does The 'Net Offer Public Radio?

Public radio’s business is public service, and the Internet seems too big an opportunity to ignore.  It makes sense to explore how this new medium might enhance your station’s or your program's service to the public.

The key questions are:

Can we extend our service to new audiences via the Internet?

Can we augment our services to existing audiences via the Internet?

And if if so, at what price and with what effect?

Extending Service

Barriers to entering the new medium are insignificant given its potential reach.  But as cable television demonstrates, reach does not translate into viewing.  Cable offers dozens of channels; the Web allows access to millions of pages from all over the world.  Competition is fiercer than on any electronic medium.

Even if the Web could deliver your services to new listeners, what is the true cost?   What is the true return?  And how do its costs and benefits compare to those of your current distribution medium?  In our rush to the ‘Net most public broadcasters have yet to answer these questions.

Augmenting Service

AUDIENCE 98^® can’t tell you if or how you can win new listeners through the Internet.   But it can help you decide whether web services for current listeners are worth it.

The Internet is like any other medium. It appeals to certain types of people and not to others.  Be sure you understand who’s using it.   The attached worksheet will help you estimate the number of web-enabled people in your audience.  The Internet's efficiency at augmenting your on-air service will vary given the age and sex of your listeners.

Internet Economics

How do the economics of supplementing your service via the Internet compare with the economics of running your station or producing your program?

AUDIENCE 98 doesn't have the full answer.

But you do.

The comparisons are easy.  Begin with what you know.

Unlike the Internet, radio has a virtually universal reach.   Radio is quite effective: a typical public station serves its core listeners 12-15 hours per week; even its fringe listeners hear three to four hours per week.  And radio is extraordinarily efficient: the average cost of serving one listener with an hour of programming is only a few pennies.

Ask your webmaster to generate these numbers for your site:  How many people are actually using it (cume)?  How many are tuned in at any one time (AQH)?  What is their average time spent with each page (TSL)?  What is the gross level of consumption in terms of total time spent with the site per week (listener-hours)?

Take these measures and divide them into the full cost of building and maintaining your site.

How efficient is the Internet in serving your listeners?

What would your on-line numbers have to be to match the cost-effectiveness of your station?

Streaming audio?  Cool.  How many people around the world can you feed it to at one time?  What fraction of your station's AQH audience is that?

Taking pledges via your web site?  Terrific!  Now, divide the cost of that portion of the site into the number of web-based pledges.  What's it costing you to bag an electronic buck?

When you have the answers to these questions, you have the information to assess if the Internet is a viable means of improving your public service.

The Future Outlook

No doubt about it: The Internet is booming, and it has the potential to enhance your public service in creative and interesting ways.  With half of your listeners wired, you’ve got the access problem half-solved.

We now know that time spent in cyberspace is not time taken from public radio.   That too is good news.

But while the Internet is definitely cool, it doesn’t deliver anything like our own medium.

Remember: No site on the planet provides the level of public service you do every day. Significant audiences – and significant programming – are yet to approach the standards of public radio.  And given the inherent differences in the two media, it's likely to stay that way for a very long time.

The danger lies not in exploring this new territory; it lies in leaving the old homestead unattended.

– David Giovannoni
AUDIENCE 98 Core Team

 

Audience Research Analysis
Copyright © ARA and CPB.  All rights reserved.
Revised: September 01, 2000 12:38 PM.