1. See the report of the Public Radio Expansion Taskforce, 1989, "Our central strategy is one of multiple services, delivered through multiple stations." See also, Giovannoni, David, c. 1992, CPB, c. 1999, Audience Research Analysis, Radio Intelligence: Format Focusing: Stations Plan to Do More With Less, "Nothing about the future is certain, of course; but least uncertain is this: multiple services, delivered through multiple stations, will play a key role in the continued development of public radio's national audience service. The more choices the public has among programming streams and stations, the better it will be served by public radio's flourishing programmatic diversity."
2. See Radio World, "Will Success Spoil the Mix?" June 19, 2002. "Commercial radio programmers might envy Jay Kernis' problems. As NPR's senior vice president for programming, Kernis is riding high with skyrocketing ratings. In March, according to Arbitron's nationwide estimates for Fall 2001, NPR announced record audiences, with 19.5 million weekly listeners tuning in to NPR programming on public radio stations each week - a 19-percent increase compared with fall 2000 figures. Arbitron's nationwide estimates for fall 2001 showed an average gain of 19 percent for NPR newsmagazines, 32 percent for NPR talk programs and 15 percent for NPR entertainment programs."
3. See Radio World, Uncertain Revenue Streams and a Choppy Stock Market Likely to be on Managers Minds at Radio Convention, September 1, 2002, "To measure the health of a radio station, the market generally relies on two simple tests: ratings and revenues. But over the last several years, numbers in both of those categories have fallen, due to reasons as varied as increased competition and a fracturing of the radio-listening segment from other media . . .."The economy is the one issue that drives the rest of the discussions," said Jimmy Steal, a member of the NAB Radio Show Steering Committee, which organized the conference and exhibition. "A general manager of mine once said, 'If it's not about ratings and revenue, I'm not interested.' That pretty much lays out the hierarchy" of how things work in radio. When one considers that radio basked in uninterrupted revenue growth through most of the 1990s until revenue pulled back in 2001, the thumps that the recent economy has handed out will be of primary focus"
4. See American Bankruptcy World, November 6, 2002: Big City Broadcasts Radio Station Auction - New York-based broadcaster Big City Radio Inc. announced late on Monday, Nov. 4, the retention of Jorgenson Broadcast Brokerage to auction off all 16 of the company's radio stations in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy protection . . . Big City said last month it would seek such remedies after missing the semi-annual interest payment on its 11 percent senior discount notes due in 2005. Payment on the $174 million principal amount of notes originally was due Sept. 15. Big City has been in default since the 30-day grace period for payment lapsed on Oct. 15. Proceeds from any sale will go first to pay Big City's note obligations. Any surplus will then be distributed to shareholders. "No assurances can be provided that the company will be successful in selling the stations at all or selling the stations at prices sufficient to pay the principal and interest on the notes," Big City said in a statement. "In the absence of successful sales, the company will consider other strategic alternatives, including filing for protection under the United States bankruptcy laws."
5. WDCU, WNYC, and WJHU were each slated for multi-million dollar sales in recent years. Only the latter two finding means to remain public radio outlets, with WJHU being able to access capital market via the efforts of Public Radio Capital.
6. HD Radio, the currently proposed standard for terrestrial digital radio supports a supplemental audio channel, which was first publicly demonstrated by Impulse Radio, under contract to NPR, at the Public Radio Conference 2002.
7. Internet radio now ranks above newspapers as a primary source for news and information among the population. Source: Arbitron.
8. On demand content opportunities in the HD Radio format include traffic, weather and full store and forward access to our program offerings ("Tivo-like" radio). Secondary audio services, via conditional access for subscription or copyright protection purposes are provided for in existing transmission protocols.
9. The only nationwide survey of public radio coverage was completed in 1988 (Public Radio Coverage in the United States, NTIA, 1989). That study concluded that 86% of Americans were within range of at least one public radio station. Several targets of opportunity were identified and pursued with success in the 1990s. Now, it has been reported that two or more stations serve over half of Americans, and one quarter of all Americans can hear three or more CSG-supported stations. (Giovannoni, ibid).
10. Current estimates for a full national coverage survey of the comprehensive scope of the 1988 study are roughly $400,000. NPR believes a focused study on the top 100 markets could be completed for approximately $150,000 and is working to raise commitments for this effort.
11. Actual proposal wording and vote tallys: Strategic Plan (Plank 3) - Pursuit of New Distribution Channels for Expanded Public Service-" Making frequency acquisition a priority by means of digital receivers with multiple audio service capabilities; identify vulnerable AM properties; aggressively court other non-commercial, non-religious, non-CPB stations for partnerships and acquisitions and pursue Channel 6 spectrum for non-commercial radio use [item 19]." 154 points, 52 votes; Use frequency discovery software [item 17]. 50 points, 18 votes. Commit to serve new audiences through new formats on new channels while encouraging complementary programming strategies in major markets [item 21]. 50 points, 17 votes, 254 points total, 87 votes.