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| Public Radio Capital Update
January 2010 |
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Greetings!
Happy New Year! Once again we share a brief annual review and outlook for the year ahead. Our mission is to protect, expand, improve, innovate and finance public radio, the most trusted source for news and information and the airwaves' major source of classical, jazz and diverse triple A music. Public radio is transitioning to a public media mindset, one that marries the brand values in "public" with the signal value of "radio" and moves into the mobile, networked and wireless media reality of the 21st century. It's a journey we look forward to taking with you!
We hope our outlook resonates with yours and that our paths will cross in 2010.
 Sincerely,
Marc and Susan
Marc Hand and Susan Harmon
Public Radio Capital | |
Opportunities in the Economy
Economic turmoil contributed to our two biggest transactions in 2009. With PRC's help, KERA in Dallas and WGBH in Boston both acquired strong FM signals, together bringing new public radio services to nearly 10 million people.
2010 is shaping up to be a year when the ripple effect of the recession trickles down from state governments to state universities and colleges and, for many of these institutions, their public radio stations. We are already at work on a number of opportunities to help local community leaders transform "at risk" stations to independent community licensees and/or to find partner institutions to maintain and improve public radio services as well as grow audiences.
The Public Radio Fund ended 2009 with more than $3.1 million in station loans in place and the Fund has nearly $10 million in investor loan commitments. The Fund will be an increasingly important source for public radio stations in need of financing for capital projects in 2010. Commercial lending and public finance options will continue to be constrained by the recession, even as the economic "light at the end of the tunnel" brightens.
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Younger and More Diverse Audiences
Nothing says "21st century" like America's demographic shift. 2009 was a watershed year for PRC in projects that will create a public media future with and for young, diverse and media savvy adults who have not yet found a home in public radio. With CPB funding, we are a principal consultant to new service projects in Los Angeles and Denver, working with Radio Bilingüe, and Colorado Public Radio, respectively, linking the projects for efficiency and impact.
With the support of targeted Surdna and Haas grants, and ongoing Ford Foundation support, we are building new operating and content models to reach younger audiences and exploring specific market opportunities where we could launch them.
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| Collaborating to Strengthen Public Media
At PRC, we work with local partners to advance a national strategy that will make public media authentic, inclusive, and indispensible for new and diverse audiences. We believe there are several audience focused initiatives - both in public radio and television - that can benefit from PRC's expertise and willingness: to take risk in developing new services; to implement ownership structures that maximize economies of scale as well as local governance and service; to access capital including PRC's own Public Radio Fund; and, to coordinate, manage and communicate with similar projects in multiple markets. A key partnership with Paragon Media Strategies deepens our market research capabilities and adds years of radio operations experience for which we are grateful.
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| Looking Ahead
For public radio to become public media, and to be relevant and responsive, we must hold on to the power of our "one to many" radio broadcast signals, and incorporate the strengths and advantages of online and mobile media. With these assets, public media can promote a level of audience engagement and iterative content development that is game changing for us, our audiences and our communities. We look forward to working with new and existing clients and collaborators to build public media that is firmly anchored in local communities, with strong broadcast signals, differentiated services, and new media destinations that inform and entertain, enriching lives and strengthening our democracy.
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