Why NPR is the Future of Mainstream Media

I have been a huge fan of NPR for as long as I can remember. While an undergraduate at UAlbany I interned at one of the best public radio stations in the country, WAMC. Here in the NYC area I listen to WNYC…both on the radio and on the web, plus Ira Flatow of NPR/Science Friday is a friend a past speaker at a NY:MIEG event. I remember back in my Albany days (late 1970′s) NPR was always on the cutting edge…for example, they were the first networks to use satellite for distribution and have been involved in digital “before digital was cool.” The following is a great article I recently read from Mashable via SmartBrief.

In March of this year, National Public Radio (NPR) revealed that by the end of 2008, 23.6 million people were tuning into its broadcasts each week. In fact, NPR’s ratings have increased steadily since 2000, and they’ve managed to hold on to much of their 2008 election coverage listenership bump (with over 26 million people tuning in each week so far in 2009), unlike many of their mainstream media counterparts.

Compared to cable news, where most networks are shedding viewers, and newspapers, where circulation continues to plummet, NPR is starting to look like they have the future of news all figured out. Or at least, they appear to doing a lot better at it than the rest of the traditional media.

But what is NPR doing differently that’s causing their listener numbers to swell? They basically have a three-pronged strategy that is helping them not only grow now, but also prepare for the future media landscape where traditional methods of consumption (TV, radio, print) could be greatly marginalized in favor of digital distribution.

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