What's The Buzz
About the Internet?

"Just because you’re paranoid
doesn’t mean they’re not after you."
– Observed by many,
including Kurt Cobain shortly before he shot himself.

A few years ago I was talking with a colleague about the Internet. He suggested that increased use of cyberspace is a boon to public radio. He painted a bright picture of listeners giving up television at night to browse the Web, listening to our stations while they surf.

In this scenario the evening dayparts become more important, as public radio’s fortunes rise with those of the Internet.

I’ve heard less optimistic people suggest that the Internet is replacing conventional news sources, like newspapers, TV and radio. And no wonder: that’s the idea you get from reports about the Internet, including stories on public radio.

Theories like these can have a significant impact on how we do our jobs. They can lead us to change our programming or our presentation style. They can cause us to ask ourselves questions like "Should I start airing a show called ‘Surf Music’ at night for Web browsers?" Or "What do I put in my schedule when the Internet steals my news audience?"

It’s easy to go too far in this direction, carried away by the paranoia about competition and enthusiasm about new technologies.

While AUDIENCE 98^® offers some unique information about Internet and on-line service use by public radio’s audience, the fact is, we already have most of the answers. Just take a look at the research.

Using Arbitron data and analytic tools like AudiGraphics and the Q-system and T-system, we can check out periodically whether serious changes in listening habits are taking place among our listeners.

Is your station gaining audience after 7 PM? Check the persons using radio (PUR) numbers at night and compare them to past books. See any increase you can’t attribute to anything but the Internet theory?

Are you losing news listeners? Take a look at your AudiGraphics. Are Morning Edition and All Things Considered still your schedule’s tentpoles? Is your average loyalty line at the same level? These are pretty good indicators of whether things have changed much.

If those data aren’t good enough for you, AUDIENCE 98 can add to your information. For example, your listeners’ use of the Internet has not affected the amount of TV they watch. So you can probably stow that idea about surf music.

AUDIENCE 98 also tells us that your news listeners are more likely to use the Internet than your music audience – but only by a few percentage points. The important thing to remember is that neither group is listening less to your station because of time spent in cyberspace.

If you’re fretting about the Internet, you’re not alone. Media moguls like Rupert Murdoch and Time-Warner’s Gerald M. Levin are too. They’ve spent millions of dollars on web development and still can’t find a way to profit from their investments.

As The New York Times reported recently, many of these big, traditional media companies are "rushing from mass to niche programming," an approach that appears to be "whittling away the economic underpinnings of their business."

Fortunately, public radio has a niche. And happily, we aren’t supported by advertising revenue, which Murdoch, Levin and others see draining away as the public is given more media choices.

Our bills are paid by listeners who benefit most and value most highly from our services.

Our best strategy may be to improve these services.

That’s a buzz about the Internet we need to get going. And it’s an excellent remedy for techno-paranoia.

 – Michael Arnold
Program Director, WUNC
AUDIENCE 98 Associate

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