Public Broadcasting Sites Should Push Exclusive Local Content, Research Says
SAN FRANCISCO - Websites of local public broadcasting operations shouldn’t represent both a TV and a radio station and should offer program content and other information not available in newspapers, according to participants in focus groups. “They want public radio to be everything - and that’s a hard thing to deliver with limited resources,” said Public Interactive COO Debra Hughes. Public radio listeners and users of public radio websites were asked in late summer to evaluate the websites developed by Public Interactive for their local station and those in Boston, Dallas and Portland, as well as public broadcasting sites from Chicago and San Francisco and NPR.org. The results, and those of a companion poll, were presented at the Integrated Media Assn.’s Public Bcstg. New Media Summit here last week.
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Participants said information on cultural events and traffic, weather and news were important to them, said Pres. Bruce Fohr of FMR Assoc. Research. The feedback on weather is frustrating because the demand is “huge” yet “it’s such a commodity - there’s nothing novel we can provide,” Hughes said. National and international news rated very high, Fohr said, along with NPR news specifically, news analysis and information on local political candidates. But for now, local newspaper sites are where participants mainly say they go for local news online, he said. Public Interactive is helping stations it works with adding local news while trying not overshadow national and international, Hughes said.
Of the participants, 46% said information on a public radio site had prompted a listed action, up from 40% in a comparable 2002 study. Just over half said it had spurred attending a cultural event, buying a book or making a station pledge. Over 1/3 said they had been moved to visit a museum, gallery or exhibit, buy event tickets or attend a community event.
The 3 Public Interactive sites tested highest, on 3 of the 4 pages that groups evaluated, for encouraging public radio listening. NPR.org, and especially its new page, also did well. The Public Interactive sites, especially in Portland, showed the most improvement in encouraging community event attendance. These sites and NPR.org were credited with generating the most action responses overall. KQED.org tested highest on 3 of the 4 pages for encouraging support to public radio.
These changes were noted from 2002: (1) Those saying they had visited a public radio site in the past week increased 86%. (2) Heavy patronage of a site and of a radio station are directly related. (3) 82% said radio listening was influenced by site content, up from 77%. (4) More than 80% said they had listened to a radio stream, up from 73%.
The researchers made these other recommendations for sites to increase public radio listening: (1) “More bold, colorful pictures and graphics.” (2) “Better layout and organization… less clutter.” (3) “More descriptive listings -- not just titles of shows (and more information about upcoming shows during the day).”
NPR.org and KQED.org were most often mentioned as encouraging support for public radio. Association with NPR gives visitors the impression a station “is really doing a lot” and is affiliated with an organization “worthy of support,” the researchers said. “It is important to… have a clear-cut and consistent way to allow for on- line pledging,” they said, as best exemplified by the sites of Chicago and San Francisco public broadcasters.
To encourage more community involvement, the researchers said, sites should display local events and features more prominently, add event pictures, make event headlines bolder or add boldface and offer more event links and an event calendar searchable by date and category.
A separate survey last year showed use of public radio websites is growing. Almost 1,300 public radio listeners and Internet users in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Portland and Tampa were chosen at random for questioning last year. A 2002 study in the same markets established comparative baselines.
Use of public radio sites increased in all the markets but Boston, which has the greatest use, Fohr said. About 53% of respondents had logged on to a public radio site, up 14% from 2002. Among visitors, the proportion using a site at least monthly increased to 42% from 38%. Where in 2002 only 2% of those who weren’t public radio members had visited one of the sites; 2 years later that proportion had jumped to 22%. Those satisfied with the sites rose to 85% from 73%. Those who said they were “very satisfied” increased to 53% from 49%.
NPR.org was the site 8% said they visited most often for world or national news, up from 8%. “We thought the needle might move a little more than it did,” Fohr said. CNN.com was the top site tested, at 23%. NYTimes.com had the most growth, to 18% from 11%. BBC.co.uk, which “didn’t even make the cut” in 2002, rated 7%. But 28% said “none of the above” for national and world news and 58% for local news, so “there’s a lot of room for growth” for public radio sites, Fohr said.
Half the respondents expressed interest in on-demand programming online, up from 40% in 2002. Site visitors were twice as likely as others to be interested, Fohr said. Interest in public radio news clip archives rose 26%, to 38% of respondents. Those who said they had listened to audio archives increased to 38% from 28%.
Those saying it’s important for sites to have information on financial support rose to 44% from 31%. The proportion preferring Internet solicitation in fund- raising rose to 26% from 18% and of those preferring to pay by credit card online to 29% from 17%. Preference for other fund-raising and payment means dropped, except for paying by credit card over the phone, which was flat.
Respondents were more likely than in 2002 to say public radio sites had increased follow-up with various kinds of action. Book buying was up the most -- the proportion of respondents rose almost 50% -- but the percentage saying they had been moved to buy event tickets or other merchandise also grew substantially.
But “attended a community event or civic activity” dropped to 20% from 25%. “We were kind of scratching our heads about why that might be,” Fohr said.