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September 17, 2008
Five years later ...
In 2003, Al Bartholet took a big risk in launching Folk Alley, a web-based public radio station. Public radio is risk-averse, so Al put his reputation, and perhaps his career as a public radio station general manager, on the line by dedicating significant time and money into launching a new, grassroots-driven, online folk music station.
"There were plenty of naysayers who gave me dozens of reasons why we should not invest so much time and effort into what some called a distraction," he wrote yesterday, the station's fifth anniversary. "There was a point early on when [I received] a list of reasons why we shouldn't be moving forward."
Five years later, Folk Alley is thriving; it has accumulated $1 million in pledges, amassed a database of 90,000 listeners (unheard of in public radio) and has set the standard for web-based public radio in the United States. (Disclosure: I'd worked with Al and his crew to launch Folk Alley.)
Building word of mouth into the DNA of your organization involves breeding unconventional thinking, making unpopular decisions and taking more risks than usual. Bypassing the seductive gatekeepers of hierarchy and conformity are often the most difficult tasks.
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That is a great story! Kudos to those who have a dream and have the ambition to make something like that possible.
Many thanks, Nick.
Unheard of in public radio? Have you ever heard of Minnesota Public Radio? (http://minnesota.publicradio.org/) It has three completely different radio stations -- with well over an "unheard of 90,000 members in their database. They have a 247 news station (http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/nis/) . A classical music station (http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/cms/) . And an alternative music station (http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/the_current/). All three stream on the web. They additionally provide syndicated shows throughout the United States via American Public Media.(http://americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/) These programs include A Prairie Home Companion, American RadioWorks, As It Happens, Future Tense, Marketplace, Marketplace Money, Pipedreams, Public Insight Journalism, Saint Paul Sunday, Speaking of Faith, The Splendid Table, Weekend America, Word for Word, and The Writer's Almanac.
What about WNYC, which is the largest public radio station inn the United States. Certinally 90,000 listeners is not unheard of for them. They have over a million daily listeners. What about WGBH? The list goes on of public radio stations with long distinguished broadcasting traditions.
I am not diminishing the incredible work that you reference, but it seems that the story would be a little more credible with a more accurate representation of the success in the context of the market in which they operate.
As a matter of disclosure I am not in fact a consultant to MPR, I am simply a proud member.
Wonderful example of customer evangelism! What word of mouth tactic proved to be uniquely valuable in launching this evolution of public radio.
Thanks
Wonderful example of customer evangelism! What word of mouth tactic proved to be uniquely valuable in launching this evolution of public radio.
Thanks
@Joseph -- Folk Alley is a streaming-only station, not a broadcast station. That makes their registered listener database numbers practically unheard of among most public radio broadcast stations, except perhaps for MPR, which some people argue has gone beyond public radio into private radio because it makes so much money from licensing its programs.
