NPR Audience Segmentation & Growth Opportunities

NPR & SmithGeiger Research

Friday, November 5th, 2010Lori Kaplan / lkaplan@npr.org / Tel: 202.513.2811

Research Process

Values

Lifestyle

Media Behaviors & Opinions

n=3,710

Online Survey March/April 2010

Online Message Board Forums

April/May 2010

3-day moderated discussion

Media, NPR & digital

Groups: core, digital, lookalikes, people of color, conservative/Republican

In-home Interviews

June 2010

Interviews with 3 segments

13 in San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta & Philadelphia

Who Participated?Survey Screening Criteria

• Ages 18 to 64

• 50 – 50 Male / Female

• Either:

Casual or core NPR consumers

News/information consumers

Non-consumers of NPR open to public radio & interest in at least one NPR topical category

• If no 4-year college degree, place importance on community leadership, education, and/or lifelong learning

Myths and Mania“Those who cherish NPR as one of radio’s rare dreck-free zones may shudder at a new study that implies it’s limiting its reach by being too “intelligent” and “serious”.

The Bay Area Observer

“I don’t see that there is really much potential [from a donation standpoint] in the [Dutiful] Aggregators.”

George Bailey

“[This] study ..says a key to the future radio audience growth is an issue of style over substance”.

John Sutton

The Big Question

Is there growth potential?

Yes! And it represents a sizeable opportunity. Perhaps more than double existing audience (keeping consistent with our mission).

. . . But who are they?

AwarenessNews/Information Consumers’ Familiarity with NPR

Cross-Platform Usage & AwarenessRadio

NPR.org 22%

Podcasts 72%

iPhone app 81%

iPad app 65%

Android app 83%

Mobile web 79%

Satellite 76%Source: multiple internal and external survey sources

22% of NPR.org visitors listened to NPR programming in the past 7 days22% of NPR.org visitors listened to

NPR programming in the past 7 days

Our Current and Future Audience

Team

Captains

Dutiful

Aggregators

Voracious

Voyagers

Strugglers Traditionalists

Our Current and Future Audience

Dutiful

Aggregators

Motivation: Obligation to be informed

39% weekly NPR Listeners

• 45% Age 18-34

• 40% non-white

• Even political split

• Avid media consumers

• Overwhelmed – too much to know and do

• 39% top news source – local TV

• “Education is important to me”

• “It’s important to learn about and understand the world around me”

• “I don’t believe in absolutes”

• Opportunity: simplifying their chaotic media life

Dutiful Aggregators(19% of sample)

Dutiful AggregatorsVALUE MOTTO: “I check a variety of news sources. Everybody should be informed.”

Our Current and Future Audience

Team

Captains

30% weekly NPR Listeners

Motivation:Leadership

Team Captains(21% of Sample)

• 45% age 45-64

• 37% non-white

• 41% conservative

• Optimistic, self-confident, enthusiastic

• Strong opinions

• 52% top news – local TV

• “I want to be informed so that I can share information with others.”

• “I believe there’s something out there that is bigger than all of us”

• “Spending time with my family is important to me”

• Opportunity: balance and headlines

Team Captains•Business oriented

•Have enthusiasm for life

•Sense of optimism

•Seen as leaders

•Self-confident

“I’m leading my ideal life”

VALUE MOTTO: “Life is good!” and “cut to the chase”

Our Current and Future Audience

Voracious

Voyagers

27% weekly NPR Listeners

Motivation: Curiosity

Voracious Voyagers(21% of Sample)

• 50% age 18-34

• 25% non-white

• Liberal and science-minded

• Prone to dive deep

• Technology, culture

• 54% top news – web portal

• Public radio evangelists

• “I have a passion for learning and discovering”

• “There are so many things I still have left to do in life”

• Opportunity: love depth; increase listening occasions

Voracious Voyagers

“I’m curious about the world around me.”

VALUE MOTTO: “I want to experience that”, “Go hard or go home!”

News & Info Affinity and Potential

Dutiful Aggregator

Team Captain

Voracious Voyager

NPR Loyal Listener 19% 13% 19%

Discovery 38% 46% 40%History 37% 35% 30%FOX News 36% 36% Food 35% 29%CNN 36% 35% 22%MSNBC 32% CNBC 28% ESPN 38% 33% 23%TLC 21%Colbert Report 19%

Dutiful Aggregator

Team Captain

Voracious Voyager

News Junkies 18% 24% 20%

News Regulars 39% 42% 45%

Headline focused 31% 28% 26%

Universal Life Attitudes

69%

62%

60%

59%

58%

53%

50%

50%

49%

48%

Spending time with my family is important tome

It’s important to me to make time for fun

There’s something out there that’s bigger thanall of us

There are so many exciting things I still have leftto do in life

I have the freedom to choose who and what Iwant to be

Technology creates new possibilities

Helping others is important to me

Most Americans focus too much on pop cultureand celebrities and not enough on their own

I’m curious about the world around me

My personal and family life is more importantto me than a career

Top 10 News Audience Attitudes - % Strongly Agree

Life Attitudes by MarketTop 10 News Audience Attitudes - % Strongly Agree

Life Attitudes by MarketTop 10 News Audience Attitudes - % Strongly Agree

Universals’ Connection to Life SatisfactionPeterson, C. and Seligman, M.E.P. – Traits Central to Human Thriving

WISDOM• Creativity• Curiosity• Open-mindedness• Love of learning• Perspective

HUMANITY• Kindness• Love• Social intelligence

JUSTICE• Fairness• Leadership• Teamwork

TRANSCENDENCE• Appreciation of beauty and excellence• Gratitude• Hope• Humor• Religiousness

TEMPERANCE• Forgiveness• Modesty• Prudence• Self-regulation

COURAGE• Authenticity• Bravery• Persistence• Zest

More questions answered

How do we grow the audience, while continuing to serve our core?

In two words…

Increased Accessibility

The Accessibility Prism

Content

BrandDo they know about us? What do they know? Are we telling potential audiences that NPR is for them?

Are we delivering what they’re looking for?

Physical

Can target listeners access us?

Content

Brand Accessibility

“I hesitated for years [to become] a regular listener. I believed that its programming outlook was very exclusive, highbrow and catered to Ivy League dispositions….. What I found at NPR was well spoken, intelligent and welcoming hosts who instantly made me feel that I was in the right place to learn. My opinion of exclusion, however, is generally shared when I bring up NPR.”

– Current NPR Listener

“If a robot were a radio

it would be NPR.”-Male, age 35-44,

White/Caucasian,

Lookalike

Accessibility

“NPR I feel is mostly foreducated adults from middle

class and up. That is my impression.”

-Male, age 25-34, Hispanic/Latino,

Emerging Platform User

56%

51%

50%

50%

48%

46%

45%

45%

44%

42%

Politically-minded people

People who want to learn

Intelligent people

People who are well educated

Culturally-minded people

People in their 50s

Liberals

College graduates

People over 60

People in their 40s

Perception of Who NPR is For

Chart based to those familiar with NPR

“”

“”

Who is NPR for, by Market

Charts based to those familiar with NPR

Dallas Houston

L.A.47%

47%

51%

54%

55%

People who are welleducated

People in their 50s

People who want tolearn

Culturally-mindedpeople

Politically-mindedpeople

43%

43%

44%

45%

48%

People in their 50s

People who want tolearn

Culturally-mindedpeople

People who are welleducated

Politically-mindedpeople

42%

43%

45%

45%

58%

Culturally-mindedpeople

People who are welleducated

Intelligent people

People who want tolearn

Politically-mindedpeople

Who is NPR for, by Market

Charts based to those familiar with NPR

Phoenix San Francisco

48%

50%

54%

55%

60%

Culturally-mindedpeople

People who are welleducated

People who want tolearn

Intelligent people

Politically-minded people

58%

60%

61%

63%

64%

Intelligent people

People who are welleducated

Culturally-mindedpeople

People who want tolearn

Politically-minded people

Brand Accessibility

Based to those familiar with NPR

Top Positive Perceptions of NPR Most Cited Negative Perceptions of NPR

Which Personalities Speak to Consumer Values?

28%

24%

23%

23%

22%

19%

19%

19%

18%

18%

Tina Fey

Ellen DeGeneres

Queen Latifah

Jon Stewart

Quentin Tarantino

Anderson Cooper

Taylor Swift

Conan O’Brien

Tyler Perry

Rachael Ray

Top 10 Most Relevant Personalities (% Saying “Completely for you”)

“Below are a number of different personalities you might know from TV, radio, print publications, and the web. Please indicate how much each of the following personalities is for you.”

Personality Relevance by Market

Top 3 Most Relevant Personalities by Market

(% Saying “Completely for you”)

Dallas Houston L.A. Phoenix San Fran

Tina Fey

Jon Stewart        

George Lopez        

Queen Latifah        

Ellen DeGeneres        

Anderson Cooper      

Quentin Tarantino  

Tyler Perry        

The Messenger Does MatterTop 10 Across Ethnicities

Black/African American

HispanicWhite/

Caucasian

Tyler P erry 61% 21% -Maya Angelou 52% - -Queen L atifah 49% 26% 18%J ennifer Huds on 46% - -S pike L ee 44% - -Tom J oyner 38% - -Quentin Tarantino 32% 31% 19%Anders on C ooper 32% - 17%G eorge L opez 32% 34% -Tina F ey - 32% 28%S hakira - 32% -E llen DeG eneres 31% 27% 23%J on S tewart - 25% 24%C onan O’B rien - 23% 18%Taylor S wift - 22% 20%R achael R ay - - 17%B rian Williams - - 16%

Top Personalities that are “Completely for You”, By Ethnicity

Favored News Personalities

Dutiful Aggregators Team Captains Voracious Voyagers

Which of the following personalities is for you? (of the news personalities)

Anderson Cooper 23%

Brian Williams 19%

Matt Lauer 17%

Soledad O’Brien 15%

Anderson Cooper 22%

Brian Williams 21%

Matt Lauer 20%

Soledad O’Brien 13%

Anderson Cooper 22%

Brian Williams 14%

Rachel Maddow 13%

Soledad O’Brien 12%

Brand Mass-tige – Not Prestige

Dutiful Aggregators Voracious Voyagers

If NPR could reflect the qualities of any of these different names below, which would you chose for it to reflect?

49%

49%

48%

60%

52%

50%

59%

50%

Independent Booksellers 40%

Dutiful Aggregators Team Captains

Get in Front of the Brand

Content Accessibility

“This type of story could be interesting, but the reporter's voice and intonation is soooo affected, upper class, wasp, PhD student-like, it detracts from the story. She speaks like she is writing a novel, too overly descriptive.”

– NPR Non-Listener

What is Elite?From Washington Post Outlook Section, “Are You Part of the New Elite?” Sunday October 24, 2010

1 Who is Jimmie Johnson?

2 Can you identify military ranks by uniform insignias?

3 Do you know what MMA and UFC stand for?

4 What is Branson, MO famous for?

5 Have you ever attended a Kiwanis or Rotary club?

7 Have you ever lived in a town with < 25,000 people (college doesn’t count)

6 Who replaced Bob Barker as this show’s host?

8 Who are the authors of the “Left Behind” series?

9 Do you live in an area where most people lack college degrees?

10 Can you identify a field of soybeans?

Conversational Tone

51%

50%

48%

48%

46%

45%

44%

43%

40%

40%

64%

64%

58%

65%

58%

58%

57%

58%

62%

64%Ask good questions

Make you think

Educate you

Introduce you to new things that you would nothear about otherwise

Have a good sense of humor

Make you laugh out loud

Share knowledge and expertise

Are good conversationalists

Are lively and energetic

Keep you entertained

NPR Listenters

NPR Non-listeners

Impact of Potential NPR Personality Traits (% More interested)

Breaking News

65%

55%

54%

52%

44%

39%

29%

27%

26%

26%

Breaking news

News from your city or town

Quick news updates or headlines

National news

News from around the world

Music

Stories about the human experience

Stories about interesting everydaypeople going through extraordinary life

Humorous review of the latest news andnewsmakers

Puzzles, games and trivia

% “Very” Interested in Type of Media Programming and Coverage

Content & Topic Interest

Dutiful Aggregators Team Captains Voracious Voyagers

Content Interest

Breaking News 53%

News from your city 48%

Quick news updates 46%

Topic Interest

Current events 41%

Entertainment 38%

Health and wellness 37%

Content Interest

Breaking News 78%

National News 68%

News from your city 66%

Topic Interest

Technology/gadgets 57%

Current events 57%

Health and wellness 51%

Content Interest

Breaking News 69%

Quick news updates 58%

National news 57%

Topic Interest

Current events 53%

Technology/gadgets 48%

Science 45%

Dutiful Aggregators

38

Content Accessibility - Topics

36%

33%

33%

30%

30%

29%

28%

27%

24%

51%

32%

44%

42%

36%

46%

37%

34%

40%

45%

38%

30%

41%

32%

28%

38%

27%

22%

47%51%

26%

Current events/newsmakers

Health and wellness

Science

Technology and gadgets

Medical issues

Sports

Entertainment

Environmental issues

Policy and government legislation

Finance

White/CaucasianBlack/African AmericanHispanic

% Saying “Very Interested” Among Ethnicity

Breadth of Perspective & Balance

35%

31%

23%

22%

20%

The American news media is biased

I turn to news outlets that report all sides of astory

I like to pick and choose the headlines I want tolearn more about, so I prefer to get my news from

the web or a mobile device

A radio station can have credible news even whenit also has talk programming that expresses a clear

point of view

A media outlet can have credible news even whenit also has talk programming that expresses a clear

point of view

Top 5 Strongly Agree Media Statements

47% of Team Captains strongly agree

“Hearing both sides of the story is very

important.”-Prospective Listener

“”

Physical Accessibility“The only thing really holding me back is time in the day. I try very

hard to get everything I need to get done completed and really don't have much time for anything else. I think NPR would be a good fit for

me, but I have too many other things to do to find time to listen.”

– NPR Non-Listener

One in four core listeners say that NPR is “difficult to fit into their day”.

Physical Accessibility

Internet Replaces TV News

61%

42%

23%

45%

56%

4%

7%

14%

4%

6%

6%

3%

1%

1%

29%18-34

35-49

50+

The internet/web TV A print publication The radio A mobile device

Primary News Source by Age

Tune-In / Visitation Intent by Platform (Q31)

21%

16%

40%

41%

25%

27%

14%

16%

On the radio

Online

On a mobile device

Definitely would turn to NPR regularly Probably would turn to NPR regularly

Probably would not turn to NPR regularly Definitely would not turn to NPR regularly

Tune-In Intent by PlatformConsumers already seek access through multiple platforms

“My commute is less than 5 minutes, which is less than the time of a lot of NPR news stories. I don't have a radio in my house, and I don't have internet on my phone. I guess I've never thought to go to their website - maybe that is something I would do in the future.”

– NPR Non-Listener

Physical Accessibility

51%

39%

25%

20%

20%

19%

15%

11%

11%

11%

7%

Facebook

Yahoo! News

Google News

CNN.com

MSN News at MSN.com

ESPN.com

FoxNews.com

Pandora

NYTimes.com

IMDB

NPR.org

Top 10 Web Destinations

(% A few times/week or more)

Why Does This All Matter?34%

34%

29%

29%

25%

24%

22%

22%

21%

19%

I’d rather go somewhere else for thelatest news updates

I’m just not familiar enough with NPR tohave a reason to listen

I’d rather listen to a radio station thatplays more broadly appealing music

I prefer to listen to more lively andenergetic radio stations

I can get a well-educated point of viewthrough other sources

I don’t really know where to find NPRprogramming

NPR doesn’t offer the kind of music I liketo listen to

It’s difficult to fit NPR into my day

I don’t like listening to news on the radio

NPR doesn’t seem relevant to my lifestyle

NPR Tune-In Hurdles (% Major Reason)

Based to NPR casuals and prospects

Don’t Go!

What’s Been/Being Done

Findings Shared & Socialized• At conferences: PRPD, ERPM, WSPR (now)• NPR AReps Meeting & Summary Distributed • NPR Senior Leadership• Host Conversations & Executive Producers• Executive Retreat Discussion

Programming Marketing Station Engagement

Programming Action

Activities Underway • New (more diverse and younger) voices on air• Pacing of the shows• Length of the pieces• More conversational host interplay• Innovation pilot• More strategic about host travel• Faster on the new and newsier• Facilitating content everywhere the listener may want to listen• Tell Me More research – creating relevance by reflecting a wider

swath of society

Team: Ellen Weiss, Ellen McDonnell, Dick Meyer, Eric Nuzum, MPS, Margaret Low Smith, Lori Kaplan. Keith Woods will play a consulting role

Marketing Action

• Create personas based on the 3 segments as the basis for marketing – share their language, their activities more deeply

• Invite leading marketers in to share their expertise

• Take full advantage of social media with specific goals in place for what we want to accomplish

• Consider how our events strategy (First Festival/cinema) feeds into our overall strategy

Team: Dana Davis Rehm, Eric Nuzum, Andy Carvin, Kate Myers, Amy Blaszyk, Micah Greenberg, Margaret Low Smith, Lori Kaplan. Keith Woods playing a consulting role

Station Engagement

• Share all research from Audience Opportunity study – digital, fundraising and marketing dives available later this Fall

• Continue tools to support strong local journalism (Morning Edition Grad School)

• Impact of Government – first of many collaborations

• Continue investment in Public Media Platform

• Collaborate with stations to execute local marketing efforts and activate listeners to tell the NPR & public radio stories

• Work with DEI to form fundraising scripts utilizing language from the key segments

Team: Joyce MacDonald, Dana Davis Rehm, Eric Nuzum, Mark Stencel, Joel Sucherman, Ellen McDonnell, MPS staff, Margaret Low Smith, Lori Kaplan. Keith Woods in a consulting role.

Lori Kaplan, NPR Director Audience Insight & Research lkaplan@npr.org

September 2010