The Dreamer

I’ve been called one. It hasn’t always been a compliment: head in the clouds, unrealistic, hopelessly romantic, impractical, out of touch. You know the type. If you’re Irish, you can blame it partially on your genes.

Being a dreamer means an active imagination often spurred on by the mundane but especially the hard stuff, difficulty, tragedy, threat and what appears to be hopelessness. Why do so many comedians come from troubled or abusive homes? For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Out of personal tragedy comes those fantasies and dreams that make us whole again, help us to see the way out, and preserve our sanity. Last year’s presidential election has left “Yes we can” ringing in my ears. Think about what caused that phenomenon.

For us in public radio, the “Newt years” of the 90’s produced or resulted in a greater accountability to our audience and a correlating amount of financial independence, albeit modest. We finally took a hard look at our programming and radio realities and started connecting the dots. Loyalty increased and revenue followed. In many cases, the dreamers and entrepreneurs led us.

What strikes me though is the short distance we traveled and how little we’ve really evolved. I’m mainly talking here about fund-raising and our membership drives. Is it enough to have merely 10% of our audience engaged financially with us? We walk and talk like we have arrived, we’re long in tooth and experienced, but all around us the landscape is changing dramatically. I fear that if we don’t actively imagine our place in this new media world, and act, we’ll slowly paint ourselves into a corner that we abhor, or risk becoming irrelevant. I love this quote: If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.

Remember, audiences are becoming less and less tolerant of commercials which seems to put a check in our column (yay for our team) but our membership drives are essentially 10 day station commercials, barely tolerable in the way we do them and horrific to the 90% who don’t yet contribute.

Here in Portland we just completed a planned 10 day membership drive in 11 days, 13 if you count the quiet weekend interlude before mopping up on that Monday. Yes, we exceeded our goal, raising close to a half a million dollars, which is fantastic, but the goal was and is – as always – based on a subsistence existence – just enough. We’re not-for-profits, right? It’s as much a mindset as it is a fund-raising realty.

We seemed to get real traction with the “great conversation” concept with our community. The response was fairly dramatic and edifying. I’ve never seen this amount of really constructive feedback on so many topics. We launched an aggressive re-design of the programming schedule and spent the drive rolling it out and chatting about it, and asking what do you think? Normally one wouldn’t do it around fund-raising, when so much is at stake nor would you involve the audience so directly. Status quo is – just do what we feel is best for them – current Arbitron PPM data not withstanding. If we’re talking engaging the silent 90% who listen but don’t give, and we’re talking concepts like stewardship, greater service and philanthropy, we must truly be more transparent – off and on our air. If it’s real behind the scenes, with staff and board, then we have a better chance to achieve authenticity with that vast sea of potential stakeholders.

Finally, the concept of dreaming and imagining what is possible was also broached with our listeners, as in here’s what we can imagine doing if we had increased support, if we had your money, in addition to saying what would you like to see happen? Be careful what you ask for and be prepared to handle the input. Our drive ended on Monday and I’m at the station on Saturday still answering listener emails. One by one they are coming on-board and becoming ambassadors for this rare all classical, listener-supported, music station. Big dreams, small steps.

What are you seeing at your station? What new ideas are you implementing behind the scenes, through direct mail, in the community and through your stakeholders? How is spring fund-raising going?

Share if you would!

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us…

And, help imagine a better future for our stations!

Onward.

Sláinte.

From radio-info.com this morning: Senators Claire McCaskill and Kit Bond of Missouri have now joined House reps John Shimkus and Lacy Clay in examining the shady dealings surrounding the sale of St. Louis’s only classical station to religious broadcasters — this from an article in stltoday.com, written by Sarah Bryan Miller.   Miller quotes author Stefene Russell in St. Louis Magazine:

… a twiddle of your radio dial will reveal that “Christian contemporary” is anything but an endangered species. St. Louis has one of the finest (symphony orchestras) in the country, and a long-running relationship with the station that goes far and beyond the weekend live broadcasts. And as Rep. Shimkus and Clay noted in their remarks from the floor (again, reported by Miller, who has done a gangbusters job of covering this story), St. Louis’ cultural community would suffer deeply if the city lost its only classical music station. …

Thanks to all of our journalism colleagues for shining the light on a deal that seems to reek more and more.

Brenda Barnes is the President of KUSC.  You can catch an interview with her about the ongoing good news, printed yesterday in the online journal LAdowntownnews.com. 

According to the most recent Arbitron ratings, Classical KUSC 91.5, which broadcasts from the 20th floor of the Manulife Plaza building at 515 S. Figueroa St., reaches more listeners than any other public radio outlet in the country. It edges out not just the local competition, but also NPR affiliates WNYC in New York and KQED in San Francisco.

And it’s not just that LA is huge.  I’ve said this before but it bears repeating — KUSC pays an inordinate amount of attention to its community, and the community shows its appreciation.

The approach has had an impact in areas arguably more important than the ratings: KUSC just completed one of its most successful pledge drives, with 10,491 member donations raising $1.1 million. It was the first time the station topped 10,000 pledges, Barnes said.

There’s more, but you can read it for yourself.  Congrats again to all of you at KUSC.  You’re an inspiration to the rest of us.

Sadly WQUB is taking an unusual step on June 1st and firing all on-air staff…

Quincy is in the bottom left corner of Illinois, close to Missouri.  An article in the Quincy Herald-Whig says that WGEM (news and sports) will handle the programming.

“We’re doing this to lower costs,” station manager Robert Weirather said. “There will not be much programming variation. We’ll still emphasize classical music and National Public Radio, and all sorts of news.”

The three people who are NOT losing their jobs are the station manager, a part-time engineer, and the person who does development and fundraising.  That’s a little like firing the players in an orchestra, but keeping the management on. 

Wow.  Just wow.

18.5 million – Total number of subscribers to Sirius XM at the end of last year’s third quarter. The exact count – 18,515,730.

32 million – The number of weekly listeners to Sirius XM non-music channels, from an Arbitron study conducted in October and November. Total listening, including those who listen less frequently, is 35 million. We don’t know what the listening is to the music channels, which don’t accept advertising and weren’t measured.

$37.3 million – Total amount of ad revenue Sirius made in the first nine months of 2009 from the sale of advertising time on its non-music channels. The precise figure was $37,287,000, down from $54,156,000 in the comparable period of 2008.

$1.75 billion – Revenue from subscribers to Sirius XM for the first three quarters of 2009. Up from $1.7 billion the year before. The exact figures are $1,740,477,000 for 2009 and $1,669,700,000 for 2008.

40 million – The number of people who have registered to use online radio service Pandora.

10 million –The number of unique visitors to Pandora each month, on the web and through apps.

$40 million – Pandora’s total revenue for all of 2009, double the $20 million of 2008.

110 million – Number of weekly listeners claimed by the largest terrestrial broadcaster, Clear Channel Radio.

$2 billion – Clear Channel Radio revenue for the first nine months of 2009.

236 million – Number of age 12+ listeners reached by AM/FM radio, per RADAR 103 research by Arbitron.

Stay tuned…

Fred Child, host of Performance Today will be leading an air talent “super-session”. Come and improve your on-air performance with coaching from one of the best on-air talents in the business!

Four of the best live recording engineers working in New York today will lead a “super-session” on production. They’ll take you from beginning to end in the process of recording live performances, cover problem situations, and they’ll have live musicians there to demonstrate.

Veteran author, critic, composer and Juillard faculty member Greg Sandow will give us his vision of classical music’s rebirth…

…and much, much more!  Make your plans to attend now!

The registration fee–dues included–for this year’s conference will be only $295 for the first person from each organization, $150 for each person thereafter.

Accommodations at the Four Points Soho, which is only paces away from WNYC, will be $179 per night.

I believe there’s truth to the adage that philanthropy is an act of faith, hope and charity (if you know your Latin, Fides, Spes et Caritas) which changes not only the recipient but the giver as well. It is an investment in the future and a vision. I believe these “owners” experience us completely differently after a gift. They hear the music and react to the hosts in a much more intimate way. They transform their own vision and landscape by the act of giving as well. We in the trenches are certainly buoyed by the whole process. Let me put it this way, we should be.

Membership drives are indeed hard. They kick the stuffing out of us and push us way out of our comfort zone. But, I hope they never go away. (yes! to greater efficiency and as short as possible) They connect us to our community in a way that simply cannot be duplicated. These ‘great conversations’ are vital.

Our station here in Portland is about to enter our 3rd day of a projected 10 day drive, with a goal of $450,000. With a nifty little early bird pre-drive effort, we’re already 28% of the way towards our goal. We’re feeling renewed and inspired by the gifts and the conversation.

What was once a carousel ride is now a gallop along the Moldau.

Onward & upward!

P.S. Thanks to the volunteers at our stations who labor by our sides. They get this message a thousand fold. We could not do this without them.

No surprise then I ended up in broadcasting. Mind you, having this gift doesn’t necessarily make me gregarious, it merely means, I think, I was given a way of seeing things, and a boat-load of words to use up. You know the type. As a reader here, you’re either a talker or a listener, or both, but my guess is, radio is a love of yours.

We’ve all had favorite DJ’s. Scanning across the years and the dial, perhaps back in the day you tuned in to hear Alexander Scourby, Murray the K, Cousin Brucie, Wolfman Jack, Arthur Hoehn, Robert J. Lurtsema, or Karl Haas. Great and enduring voices. Maybe these days you enjoy Robert Aubrey Davis, Terry Gross, Garrison Keillor, Fred Child, or Michael Barone, each of whom fills the speakers in their own unique and engaging way. Listen long enough and familiar local voices become close friends, trusted guides and companions. Without these voices, radio becomes a soulless medium. Those services are out there if you seek isolation.

This past week saw the passing of one of those special companions, one of the good ones, Pat McElroy of All Classical FM here in Portland. Pat’s was the first voice I heard a few years back as I listened on-line to Portland’s classical music service. I’ll never forget that moment and his back-announce of Loch Lomond as sung by the Dutch vocal ensemble Quink. “Melifluous” is over used to describe warmth in a DJ’s voice, but in Pat’s case, it was spot on.

Pat McElroy was our Saturday morning host and opera impresario. Formerly heard in Detroit at WQRS, Classical 105.1, he was also an accomplished actor, having performed in numerous plays and films, including the role of Jesus in the award-winning film Divine Mercy No Escape with Helen Hayes.

Pat taught music appreciation for Dearborn Adult Education and regularly gave pre-concert talks for the Oregon Symphony’s guest conductors.

Sadly, Pat died on February 17, 2010. He was a broadcaster, a true veteran right up until the end. As a matter of fact, a family member shared in a eulogy on Saturday at Pat’s funeral Mass that even though Pat was struggling with the return of cancer (none of us knew) he recently spent the night at the station the night before his shift due to a weather forecast of snow and ice. He packed a lunch and bedroll and camped out alone on the floor of the station. The show must go on.

Pat McElroy

If you work long enough, work involves hiring, firing and layoffs , but rarely does it include the death of a beloved colleague, one actively working in our midst. Pat McElroy was a true broadcaster who passed bravely, quietly and with great dignity into the ethers, the “air” he loved so much.

My feeling is that old broadcasters never really die, they just change frequencies.

Miss you brother.

Onward & upward.

Greg Sandow, former critic for The Village Voice, Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, will speak at this year’s MPC. His upcoming book will be titled “Rebirth: The Future of Classical Music.” Greg will address the reasons he thinks classical music will re-engage with the culture, and how–and how that relates to what we do as broadcasters. 

 In case you’re not a radio insider, MPC stands for Music Personnel Conference, and you can find out more about this year’s meeting here.   The host of the 2010 MPC is the new WQXR in New York City.  The meeting will be held in the station’s beautiful Greene Performance Space.  If you haven’t been to an MPC lately, I hope this will be the year you decide to come.  The benefits of the national meetings include the chance to reinvigorate your enthusiasm and share your energy and expertise about best practices with those of us in the field.