CPB can take a leadership role in exploring, testing and funding the best methods for ascertaining Americans unmet program needs, the most likely segments of society for initial streams, the economic models for sustaining programming on new media. Likely targets for initial work would be audiences that are demographically similar to our present listeners. Research is needed to help us understand what separates those who listen to public radio from those who resemble listeners but are not now in the audience. Our core competencies are clearly a closer match for serving that segment. Other potential audiences might include Hispanic, Asian, African-American, and younger segments of the population.
Research is required to adequately describe potential audiences.
Enterprising public radio professionals looking for new challenges and open to risk could lead the expansion beyond current audience boundaries. They already face increased competition from giant corporate groups owning up to eight stations in each market, along with other competition for listeners time. Like many things, the status quo is not what it used to be. Former public radio host and reporter John Hockenberry and others are establishing their own shows and identities in front of a national audience each night. Tom Brokaw s likely heir is making his rookie errors on the AAA farm team, not on NBC s primary newscast.