WBGO takes action to sustain public radio – The Short Stack

"The broadcast medium has a legacy of adaptability.” 
- Steve Williams, President and CEO, WBGO

When we interviewed WBGO’s Steve Williams back at the beginning of the year (along with leaders from KCRW and KUT), the conversation focused on station collaboration as one way to help take some of the static out of public media’s growth trajectory. Challenges are, we all know, commonplace for public stations, not the least of which are concerns about funding.

Fast forward to last summer and that concern became an existential alarm bell, when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was forced to cease operations due to the loss of government funding. While many people stepped up to help preserve this most uniquely necessary segment of media, including those creating emergency fund drives, more clearly needed to be done. Extraordinary times required new thinking. To Steve, this included embracing new, non-traditional revenue sources.

As familiar as we all are with public media’s incredible programming, full of stories, information, and perspectives you can’t find anywhere else, we’re equally familiar with the tenor of its sponsor messages – informational and typically without any “flash.” Commercial spots of course play differently, and the prospect of running them across public media was, for most people, never even within earshot. 

So when commercial ads presented an opportunity to help public stations fill in some lost revenue, many expressed concern about the impact to listeners and the space overall. In the name of preserving public radio, Steve/WBGO understood they needed to take the risk. They started integrating programmatic ads from SoundStack Marketplace into the BGO stream several months ago.

When we circled back with Steve to see how the experiment was going, the news was overwhelming. But I don't want to play all of the greatest hits here! Have a read of our case study about how it turned out – including many words of wisdom from Steve himself, as well as what some listeners had to say to him directly about the new kinds of ads they’re hearing across their beloved programming.

A partner success story that represents more than business growth alone, this seemed like a fitting focus for the final Short Stack of the year. When all of our work can also play a role in helping to sustain such an essential part of media, we know we’re in the right business.

So here’s to a new year full of new thinking – especially from the risk takers working to ensure that the radio shows and podcasts we all count on continue to make all of our lives better well into the future. 

Best,