Three Things Datebook for the week of 1/18/2022
This week's Datebook begins with a recap of CES 2022. We then look at the reader trends across news websites over the past three years and celebrate 35 years of Weekend Edition Sunday.
Out of respect to not clutter your inbox on the MLK, Jr. holiday, we’re delivering this week’s datebook on Tuesday, and there is plenty to share during this short week.
First, a final reminder about a conversation happening tomorrow (Wednesday), January 19, at 4 pm (Eastern). This webinar will discuss the lack of donor growth across public radio over the past three years. Revenues continue to be strong, but public radio is getting more money from fewer people.
I’ll be moderating a discussion with an all-star group of public radio colleagues1 in a free webinar hosted by CDP. We’ll dig deeper into this issue and explore strategies that have led to success in acquiring new donors for public radio.
THING ONE: CES and the Impact on Broadcast Radio
Two weeks ago, I previewed the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show in the datebook, sharing some of the reasons why the tech event is something for folks in public media to pay attention to whether you attend in person or not.
Several published pieces highlight significant takeaways from the show, focusing on the dashboard and artificial intelligence. Many of those reports also showcased the hybrid radio experience from Xperi, while for others, it was about automated driving, electric cars, and beyond.
To help sort through the hype from the hope, Inside Radio, in partnership with Jacobs Media, will offer a free webinar on Wednesday, January 19th at 2:00 pm (Eastern) to learn about all things CES from automotive, robotics, AI, voice, tech trends, and more. Fred Jacobs will lead the conversation, which should be very informative.
If you’re looking for a more expansive recap of CES 2022, Dieter Bohn from The Verge has a good summary discussing things ranging from the next generation of TVs, laptops, and electric cars, as well as other announcements and gadgets (including a new dog smart collar!) coming out of the show. It’s a good 12-minute synopsis covering the wide range of CES 2022.
THING TWO: Looking at Multi-Year Digital Reader Trends
Frequent readers to Three Things will often see me referring to stories from Sara Fischer, who covers media for Axios. Her Twitter feed is one to watch as she is regularly breaking stories ahead of many others who cover the media biz.
Earlier this month, Fischer teamed with her Axios colleague Neal Rothchild looking at news engagement in 2021 compared with the previous year. The headline didn’t mince words: News engagement fell off a cliff in 2021.
One of the takeaways of the story was that the news cycle in 2020 was a one-of-a-kind event and that it was a given that there would be a fall-out in 2021, particularly after the Insurrection of the Capitol and the Biden inauguration in January of last year.
The analysis of data from NewsWhip, Apptopia, SimilarWeb, and Nielsen by Axios also found that with “fewer singular storylines capturing America's collective attention, news consumption was more scattered and diverted to sports.”
One of NewsWhip’s competitors, Chartbeat2 is used across pubic media allowing newsrooms to track real-time and historical traffic to websites. On Wednesday this week (yes, there’s a lot of stuff happening tomorrow!), the Online News Association and Chartbeat are teaming up to provide a webinar covering reader trends across the Chartbeat network in 2021 while comparing the past two years with pre-pandemic data.
In addition, the session will also offer some strategies for engaging readers in the coming year.
This is a free session happening at 1:00 pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, January 19, and you can register at this link.
THING THREE: 35 Years of WESUN
Thirty-five years ago today (January 18, 1987) was the debut of Weekend Edition Sunday on NPR. On that first broadcast, the Iran-Contra scandal was in the headlines, the Iran-Iraq War was in its seventh year, and the Soviet Union was bogged down in Afghanistan. The top movies of the time were Moonstruck and Fatal Attraction, and Paul Simon’s Graceland won the Grammy for Album of the Year3.
Those early broadcasts featured pianist Stef Scaggiari live in the studio playing during interstitials and notes between stories4. Susan Stamberg was the original host of the program and said during a 2007 segment celebrating the show’s 20th anniversary that WESUN “wasn’t a news broadcast, initially, it was much more a Sunday morning leisure time activity program.” In fact, when the show started, it was recorded, I believe, on Friday.
One of the concepts that Susan had with the show was that it was an audio version of the Sunday paper with some news mixed in with arts, music, and other segments, including a puzzle. Enter Will Shortz, NPR’s Puzzlemaster since the program’s first day. When WESUN debuted, Shortz was with Games magazine and, since 1993, has been the crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times.
Shortz has played puzzles with five permanent hosts of WESUN over the years, including Susan Stamberg, Liane Hansen5, Audie Cornish, Rachel Martin, and Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
With a new host coming to the show and Shortz, who turns 70 later this year, at the 35-year mark with the program, one wonders how much longer he will continue quizzing listeners on Sunday mornings. I’m a fan, so I hope the Sunday Puzzle sticks around for as long as possible.
The other marker for Weekend Edition Sunday was bringing brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi to a national radio audience. I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but Susan Stamberg introduced them as Frick and Frack, as opposed to Click and Clack, on that first broadcast.
The Car Guys had been on WBUR for ten years before their first appearance on WESUN 35 years ago today. It didn’t take long for Tom and Ray to get their own show on NPR as Car Talk took to the air on NPR member stations in the fall of 1987. For no other reason than to hear Tom and Ray laugh, I’ve included a clip of one of the funniest bits ever from the show where the guys fall apart while discussing the dangers of smoking while driving. It’s priceless and something I’ll probably listen to a half dozen times today when I need a laugh.
The other important aspect of Weekend Edition Sunday joining the NPR line-up 35 years ago is that it was an essential step in the evolution of NPR as a news organization.
With WESUN, NPR had a newsmagazine every morning and afternoon across the week. Since the show’s debut, there have been so many news events that occurred either late Saturday night or on Sunday morning that, luckily, WESUN has been there to share with listeners. Here’s a sampling from the first decade of the show:
In 1990, WESUN reported on Nelson Mandela’s release from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa, after 27 years as a political prisoner.
Nina Totenberg broke the story about Anita Hill’s charges of sexual harassment by Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas on WESUN on October 6, 1991.
On Sunday, August 31, 1997, WESUN shared the news with listeners of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, from the injuries she sustained in a car crash in the early morning hours in Paris.
Today, we might take for granted how important it was for public radio to have that news presence on Sunday morning. Still, it’s filled an essential role in serving audiences during those years when NPR moved from being a secondary to a primary news source and continues today.
Congratulations to WESUN on 35 years!
That’s the Three Things Datebook for this week. Thanks for reading.
The panel includes Melanie Coulson, Executive Director of Member Station Services for Greater Public; Jill Hirshi, Development Director with Yellowstone Public Radio; Susannah Michaels, Off-Air Fundraising Manager with Wisconsin Public Radio; Greg Petrowich, President and CEO with WFYI Public Media; Stephanie Patterson, Chief Customer Officer with CDP; and Ken Siebert, General Manager with Yellowstone Public Radio.
This is one of the major benefits that NPR Digital Services provides for NPR Member stations.
These events were mention in the 2007 piece on the show’s 20th anniversary.
The piano break at the end of the Sunday Puzzle still lives on!
Hansen hosted from 1989 - 2011. I came across this very kind tribute to Liane from a listener who once played the Sunday Puzzle and won.