Public Radio Tunes Into All-Day News Programs

Change is inventible, and KUAF 91.3-FM, a public radio station based in downtown Fayetteville, isn’t immune to it.

“Technology has changed so much, but a good story — that’s not changed,” station manager Rick Stockdell said.

Public radio brings its listeners a story they might hear on the way to work. “You’re seeing the scene that I describe in your mind as you’re driving down the road,” he explained.

The internet allows for access to so much information, but people turn to radio stations, such as KUAF, to sort through all the content and tell a fact-based story.

On July 4, the station, which also streams live at www.kuaf.com, changed to an all-day news and all-night classical music format. KUAF is available in high definition and has two other HD stations: a 24-hour classical music station, KUAF 2, and an all-news station, KUAF 3.

Stockdell said NPR stations around the country have been changing to an all-day news format.

Some of the changes included moving “Of Note with Katy Henriksen” to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and removing “Performance Today.”

“The Diane Rehm Show,” which was previously only available on KUAF 3, is now live from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. weekdays. It’s followed by a live broadcast of “Fresh Air with Terry Gross.”

While the most recent Nielsen ratings for KUAF won’t be available until early August, Stockdell said a lot of people stopped listening at 9 a.m., which was when “Performance Today” started. The station also had a drop in listeners at noon, which was when “Of Note with Katy Henriksen” had ended.

“NPR’s Morning Edition,” between 5 and 9 a.m. weekdays, is the most-listened to show with about 30,000 weekly listeners.

“Our total audience is 45,000 to 50,000 listeners a week,” Stockdell said.

Established in 1973, KUAF operates with a 100,000-watt transmitter and reaches a 14-county area in Northwest Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma and southwest Missouri.

In 2010, the radio station, which is owned by the University of Arkansas, moved from campus to the $2.5 million Carver Center for Public Radio at 9 S. School Ave.

Loyal Listeners

Listener reaction to the changes has been mixed so far, Stockdell said. But how much it’s impacted who’s listening and when won’t be known until next year after the 2016 Nielsen ratings are released.

In the past, a good indicator of who’s listening was when listeners would donate to the station during one of its fundraisers. The way listeners are giving, however, has changed over the past three years, Stockdell said.

Sustaining members account for about 40 percent of listener donations. Those are members who give a set monthly amount. Historically, listeners would give at the time they listen to the station, but sustaining members usually won’t because they’re already set up to give.

It’s certainly not a bad thing for fundraising.

The rise in sustaining members has led to a decrease in the amount that the station must raise during its on-air fundraisers each year.

The station raises most of its $1.1 million budget during the fundraisers: a week-long fundraiser in the spring, a week-long fundraiser in the fall and a four-day fundraiser in December. The goal is to raise $500,000.

Because KUAF is a noncommercial radio station and doesn’t sell ads, it relies on its listeners to pay for programming costs. It pays NPR and PRI between $300,000 and $400,000 each year for programming.

Payroll is the station’s biggest expense at $500,000. KUAF is comprised of nine full-time staff, three part-time staff and four volunteers.

Program underwriting, which is support from businesses and organizations, provides for $300,000 of the annual budget.

Its top three underwriters are Walton Arts Center, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Fayetteville auto dealership Adventure Subaru, giving between $10,000 and $20,000 annually.

Susan Idlet, marketing manager at Adventure Subaru, said the Fayetteville car dealership doubled the amount it was giving when she started there four years ago. It’s donated to the station for about 10 years.

Underwriters receive on-air mentions throughout the day. Adventure Subaru has 12 spots each week, mostly running during the morning and afternoon drive times.

“It puts a little bit more trust in our business,” Idlet said. “Sort of like a club in a way.”

Because the on-air mentions aren’t ads, they can’t include “call to action” phrases, prices or use adjectives such as “the best,” Stockdell said.

Idlet, who’s a sustaining member and has been donating “for decades,” is fine with the all-day news format.

“It’s great that they have a couple of HD stations,” she said. Adventure Subaru first offered access to HD radio stations in the 2010 Outback. “All new Subarus have HD radio.”

All-Day News Trend

In 2010, KASU 91.9-FM, a public radio station in Jonesboro, switched to an all-day news format, station manager Mike Doyle said.

The move led to increases in listenership and in giving, he said.

The only exception to the news format is music show “Arkansas Roots,” which was added in 2013, providing a welcome break at noon.

“We get a lot of social media response to it,” Doyle said. Listeners who tune in via the internet and live outside the station’s 30-county broadcasting range find the program on social media, so they can like it.

“It’s a unique show. We pack it with some interviews.”

Like KUAF, KASU started to offer “The Diane Rehm Show” on the FM dial when the station changed to all-day news, and the show has been “very successful,” Doyle said.

Unlike KUAF, KASU kept “Performance Today” between 7 and 9 p.m., followed by “The Concert Hall,” from 9 to 11 p.m. Overnight, the station plays jazz.

“We have always carried ‘Performance Today,’” Doyle said. And it’s a program KASU will continue to offer.

KUAF dropped “Performance Today” and moved “Of Note with Katy Henriksen” to 8 p.m.

“We knew it made no sense to have a lot of news, my one-hour show, followed by lots of news,” Henriksen said. The two-hour show allows her to “play entire pieces without interruption, and sometimes that means one piece is nearly an hour long. The prior formatting gave me 54 minutes total of airtime, which meant that sometimes all I could do was play one piece of music.”

The expanded time slot also means she can “highlight local classical recordings and an opportunity to partner with local classical music concerts for move live coverage like we offer in the incredible Mozart in the Museum partnership with Artosphere Orchestra of Walton Arts Center and Crystal Bridges.”

Henriksen produces her show in the afternoon before it airs and typically isn’t in the studio when her show is broadcast. “It’s been a delight to get in my car and listen to my show or to sit down after a long day and enjoy my show,” she said.

Another change is that “Sunday Symphony” is now part of “Of Note.”

“I still emphasize symphonies in my Sunday episode of ‘Of Note’ to continue a tradition listeners have come to enjoy,” Henriksen said. “There aren’t many places you can turn to hear entire symphonies these days.”

Living Large

One thing that hasn’t changed is the station’s newsmagazine, “Ozarks at Large,” which remains in its usual spot from noon to 1 p.m. weekdays and 9 to 10 a.m. Sundays.

Kyle Kellams, the program’s creator and KUAF host, sees the change to all-day news as a good thing, and several listeners have shared similar sentiments.

“I think it’s really positive,” he said.

Kellams’ position really hasn’t been impacted by the change, but he understands that radio stations run the risk of losing listeners when they make changes.

If a program is dropped, “it’s somebody’s favorite,” Kellams said. Someone’s always going to be disappointed. “It’s inevitable.”

“It’s important to try to serve the audience that will stay with you.”