The Center for Native American Public Radio

Non-Traditional Revenues from Off-Air Content
By LORIS ANN TAYLOR, Executive Director, the Center for Native American Public Radio

Everyone who listens to urban public radio stations is familiar with those seasonal pledge drives. Though you might be annoyed with them, pledge drives form the base of support for many stations. For rural Native radio stations, often the source of news and information in Indian Country, that traditional method of fund raising isn’t working. And an artistic tote bag is not going to change that reality.

In some parts of Indian Country, basic telephone services still do not exist. Yet, in other parts of Indian Country, Tribal Nations have worked hard to establish their own telecom services. They’ve proven that pockets of opportunity exist for enterprising Native stations.

Today, the Center for Native American Public Radio (CNAPR), a central voice for the 33 Native-owned public radio stations, insists a more integrated plan in revenue development must take place.

With new technological platforms becoming available even in the most remote and geographically isolated areas of America, Native stations can now develop revenue streams across broadcast, Internet and wireless networks.

Companies and individuals who want to underwrite on the Native Radio System can run ads on the Web sites of each Native station, or on the national Native satellite distribution highway Native Voice One. As the hub of tribal reservation activities, Native stations are positioned to tie into local events and develop integrated plans across multiple platforms to engage the public. Take sports for example. A local Native station could create a sports bulletin, stream video and podcast interviews on their Web site, and even provide sports information on wireless devices. They can provide underwriters an avenue to sponsor the local events themselves, and truly engage their audience.

Technology has changed the way everyone does business, including those in radio. And it is only the start. One of the fastest-growing non-broadcast areas is in mobile services. Mobile Web and mobile video have the potential to reach every Native radio listener in an instant, on and off the reservation.

All these possibilities can happen if the Native Radio System has the resources – human, infrastructure and financial – at hand. CNAPR is working toward a vision: to build the capacity of the Native Radio System and to overcome the digital divide that still plagues much of Indian Country. While we still have a long way to go, employing the benefits of new off-air platforms could result in much needed revenue, and more engaged audiences, for the Native Radio System. That will help us leap the divide.

comments: June 20, 2006

Loris, I like your editorials. Just as I shared thoughts on the development possibilities of KIDE your editorials must have been written as well. What timing, must be a Hopi thang.

Yes I agree, we need financial development working hand in hand with local production capacity. Once looooogn ago when ICA was exploring financial ideas we thought about providing a means to offer major companies underwriting logo space on a broadcast of news analysis services that came off our future digital broadcast services. The idea was that companies would pay for a logo space on a service that allowed consumers to not have their computers tethered to a phoneline in order to view the news. This was 1992.

Other than technology not being at hand the other problem was and still is a lack of Native news crews who can provide ongoing analysis of what's happening in the country. Tribes have not realized the strength of such a concept. Most people keep viewing radio as the local music, local story, local emergency broadcast system. If they turn on the radios at home and get the daily lunch menu at school and the weather report, local language that is of course important and a few of their favorite songs, the radio must be working.

I agree the battle for the underwriting dollar is hard for most Native stations to achieve parity with even their regional non-native media provider. Yet the need for a healthy share of the underwriting dollars is imparative. Again I believe tribes in general don't understand this need and as a result few Native Radio stations have "Development crews". They may have one Development Director, or a volunteer who gets local dollars and helps with fund raisiers, but I do not believe we stations as a radio system have anything that comes close to what non-native media has maintained for decades.

People seem to believe that a radio station must reach a specific area before a company will spend money on it. If we were a commercial service, yes I'd agree. But were are not commercial radio. We have an ideal to support. If the right people were in charge of raising funds for us from the perspective of gaining support for our ideals we may find that many people can agree that supporting Native Radio is the right thing to do. Of course a station's production capacity is a major draw to deeper pockets

We have yet to unite newspaper crews with radio. Writing for radio and writing for print are two different mind exercises, but not an impossible thing to achieve. I can imagine newspapers have websites that provide a multi-media service. How does radio fit in the mix? Should radio be mixed in? Why don't we join forces? More tribes have local Native newspapers than tribes have radio stations. I've watched several radio staff members across the nation move from broadcast to print for one reason or another. Fewer go the other way because, I believe, radio today can not offer the same wage. And in some ways radio news demands ongoing production levels which is not easy for a single newsperson to handle alone.

Now the wireless services are commonplace just about everywhere, but Indian Country. And yet we are seeing that we need to move along with the change or stay small and local. Being small and local is not all bad, but few people will hear us, or learn from us, or understand us and ultimately unite with and support us.

I think before Native stations can move forward to take on a multi-media service and a multi-media underwriting campaign the respective Native communities need to come together to plan out how they will achieve this as a goal that has something important in it for them. Native stations may need to take yet another first step, that being developing a strategic plan on how they can become a stronger community asset. Not that they are not one now, but this process may help stations learn how important they are to the community and see why they need to be stronger.

As for looking further toward addressing the broader idea of providing a multi-media approach I would not want to dwell on why we can't do this as opposed to spending energy on how can we get this done.

Joseph Orozco
Station Manager, KIDE-Hoopa

New Media Opportunities For Native Radio Underwriting
By LORIS ANN TAYLOR, Executive Director, the Center for Native American Public Radio

The broadcast industry is at a marketing crossroads. Now that even the most rural Native reservations accept emerging technologies -- including iPods, video, and mobile video -- radio station managers are thinking about how to shift content from on-air broadcasts to take advantage of these new platforms. We’re thinking about how we engage in the participatory media audiences now expect, where the line between listener and broadcaster dims or disappears.

Broadband and Wi-Fi use will increase, of course, but listeners’ habits and passions will affect how the Native Radio System takes advantage of the trend. This technological and cultural migration certainly will change the ways the Native Radio System underwrites with companies and individuals.

Underwriting packaging will undoubtedly include multi-platform deals that include mobile technologies, podcasting, broadband and Internet banners, as well as other off-line support, including mentions in magazines, events and trade organizations.

For the Native Radio System, more strategic planning will be required. We need to question now how these efforts will tie into what the consumer wants. In the old days -- the day before yesterday -- underwriters were focused on radio airwaves. Today, the audience is in the spotlight because they no longer have a single delivery vehicle, and are, in fact participating in or becoming the program content.

Putting together an underwriting package in a multi-platform arena is competitive. Cable, newspapers and magazines, and even cell phone companies, all want a piece of the action. The success of a multi-platform underwriting package is harder to gauge. There are more factors involved.

Radio broadcasting will be changed by the big boys in the industry, with or without the participation of the Native Radio System. Native stations need to act now to remain relevant to listeners and join in the underwriting race. That is the only way to have a chance to hold -- and grow -- the Native listener base. Once our community is blogging, chatting, downloading and uploading through our station sites, we’ll have its passionate loyalty. We can’t rest until our children consider the Native Radio System an integral part of their day and a facilitator of their many passions.




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