337 Resources

Jennifer Brandel has been exploring ways to bring audiences into content decisions for years. Last year she launched Hearken, a model and supporting technology for enabling audience engagement at every point of the editorial process. In this session, Brandel will convene a panel of newsrooms using this audience-first approach and walk through, step by step, how engagement can lead to higher-performing content and attracting more members. It turns out, you don’t have to choose between your mission and the metrics. (Also, you don’t have to use Hearken to benefit from and use these same approaches!

Larry Rosin will present surprising information from Edison’s studies about Podcasting including special findings among public radio users.

Kelsey Padgett of Radiolab and More Perfect takes us on the roller coaster ride that goes into making compelling, entertaining audio. What does it take to make a fully realized segment? How many drafts are too many? And why are editors so hard on you? (Spoiler: It’s because they love you.)

Last November, KPLU’s owner Pacific Lutheran University announced that it was selling the license to University of Washington owned KUOW in Seattle. The announcement sent shockwaves throughout the region and all of public radio, and it seemed certain that most of the KPLU staff would lose their jobs. Then something surprising happened: The community rose up and demanded a chance to raise the money to buy the station as a community licensee. What happened next is a tale of hyper community engagement that resulted in a successful fundraising effort: $8.5 million in four and half months. KPLU is now independent KNKX. Come hear about their lessons learned and how you can apply them to your station (even if you aren’t facing an existential crisis).

StoryCorps teaches us that “listening is an act of love.” It’s also the most elemental unit of the public radio economy. Following more than a year of record increases in listening, stations are converting that listening into new revenue to fuel new content creation, including new content for future audiences. Let's talk about how growing listening sustains public radio, and allows stations to tell new and deeper stories to all kinds of audiences.

Digital platforms, mobile devices, and streaming services are all changing the way we discover and enjoy music. Hear industry leaders discuss the challenges and opportunities for public media music stations as we all navigate a path through this ever-changing terrain.

Would you like get to know your audience first-hand?  Do you want to build momentum and energy for an audience centric perspective in your culture? 

WAMU partnered with PRPD and Jacobs Media to conduct qualitative research with an initial batch of listeners—and we’re dying to share what we’ve learned about who they are, what they like, and what they say it would take to keep them. Join us as we share our top-level findings.

PRPD’s latest, system-wide knowledge project has its first full-scale roll-out. Learn what our next audience thinks about our brand our value in the mediascape, diversity and inclusion – and discover the role local shows play in bonding this critical audience to your station.