The Psychographic Consequences
of Station Format

And you may ask yourself – Well...how did I get here?
– David Byrne

Sometimes station managers make truly strategic format decisions. Now that we have VALSä2 information from AUDIENCE 98^®, we can clearly see the psychographic consequences of certain decisions.

Several years ago San Francisco’s KQED dropped classical music to go all news, while KUSC in Los Angeles quit NPR for all classical. Philadelphia’s WXPN made a more unusual move towards adult alternative music.

Those decisions were made on the basis of market competition, demographic targeting, and rough projections of the potential for listener support. VALS did not enter into the equation; nonetheless VALS figures significantly in the results.

Psychographic Territory

The chart shows the VALS AQH composition of the audiences for 30 public radio stations. The horizontal axis is the contribution to average audience by listeners whose primary VALS type is Actualizer. The vertical axis is the composition by primary Fulfilleds.

Reading The Chart

• At the top of the chart is KUSC with psychographic coordinates at 56% Fulfilleds and 27% Actualizers.

• Stations like KUSC in the upper left quadrant appeal to Fulfilleds more than Actualizers.

Directly opposite KUSC is WXPN with psychographic coordinates at 16% Fulfilleds and 55% Actualizers.

• Stations like WXPN in the lower right quadrant appeal to Actualizers more than Fulfilleds.

To show the relationship between programming and psychographic appeal, we identified a few outlying cases:

High Fulfilleds/Low Actualizers

KUSC 56% - 27%
WGUC 52% - 21%
WITF 47% - 23%

Low Fulfilleds/High Actualizers

KQED 25% - 63%
KUOW 27% - 63%
WNYC 22% - 63%

Going All News

It was not the motive at the time, but stations that focused mostly on news – KUOW, KQED, WBUR, WHYY – were really focusing mostly on Actualizers. By emphasizing network news and information, they effectively narrowed their psychographic appeal.

You may be surprised to see that WXPN did the same. Blowing off the Fulfilleds, WXPN plays contemporary music for Actualizers.

Going All Classical

KUSC’s mostly classical format really attracts the Fulfilleds. But aside from Marketplace and Garrison Keillor, there’s not much in the format for Actualizers.

WGUC carries All Things Considered but not Morning Edition. The station has a strong heritage in classical music.

Mixed Formats

What about WERN in Madison, WETA in our nation's capital, and WNYC-FM in New York?  Each offers a mix of news, entertainment, and classical music.

Heritage commercial classical stations offer Fulfilleds another place to go in both the New York and Washington markets.  In Madison there is no classical competition, which is why WERN has a higher level of Fulfilleds than WETA or WNYC.

A larger concentration of Fulfilleds requires, by definition, a smaller concentration of Actualizers.

Among the system's major stations, WETA and WNYC have the highest concentrations of Actualizer-Fulfilleds – public radio's key VALS micro-segment.   This suggests that a mix of programs and formats can serve an Actualizer-Fulfilled audience.  (More about the affinity of programs and formats in an upcoming report.)

Zoom In – Zoom Out

Of course, if you want to see the psychographic positioning of public radio stations from the larger perspective of commercial radio, stick this chart on the wall and back up about 100 feet. All of the data points will converge into one fuzzy mark at the center.

The distances between public stations would become insignificant on a map of commercial radio formats like country, rap, hard rock or CHR. They drive away the Actualizers and Fulfilleds while serving listeners in the other six (less educated) VALS types.

Where Do You Want To Be?

Given the attractive economics of station consolidation, public station managers have tended to think in terms of a news and information station linked to an all-classical.

Imagine two consolidated stations that would be targeted psychographically – one aimed at Actualizers, the other Fulfilleds.

Car Talk, for example, would go on the Actualizer channel along with some appropriate music, perhaps like WXPN’s.

Certain informational programs appealing to Fulfilleds, who read avidly to gain knowledge, could fit on the other channel along with classical music.

The macro-formatics of program selection aren’t the only way to determine appeal. PDs who actively manage their staffs make equally consequential decisions each day on the micro-formatic level. Programming causes audience – even if we’re only talking about adding a track into rotation or giving direction to a newscaster.

While the psychographic consequences of the stations charted here resulted from format decisions, understanding public radio’s dominant VALS types and their programming preferences can give managers and programmers more precise control when deciding where they want to be and whom they want to serve.

– Dr. George Bailey
AUDIENCE 98 Associate

 

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