JOHNSON CITY, TN - On Monday, Feb. 1, 2010, WETS-FM (89.5 MHz) underwent a significant transformation. The non-commercial public station licensed to East Tennessee State University has changed its weekday programming to news and information.
"We have examined programming options for WETS for more than two years," said Wayne Winkler, station manager. "WETS has been a vital part of our community for 36 years, and we feel this change will best fulfill the mission of the university and of WETS-FM. We feel a new approach to programming is in the best interest of the station, its listeners, and its financial future."
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With this change, the evening news program "All Things Considered" will air for an additional two hours, from 4-8 p.m. The station will also add the BBC World Service from 9-10 a.m. and from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Other new programs include "The Diane Rehm Show" from 10 a.m. until noon, "Talk of the Nation" from 2- 4 p.m., and "Bob Edwards Weekend" on Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon.
Most weekend programming, including "Car Talk," "A Prairie Home Companion," "Mountain Stage," "American Routes," "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," and the locally-produced "Studio One" and "Ritmo Latino," will be unaffected, although some programs will be heard at different times.
Winkler said the changes at WETS-FM reflect the evolving radio marketplace. "More and more, people are turning to radio for news and perspectives rather than music. Today, people tend to program their own music choices with CDs and MP3 players; fewer people depend on radio for music."
Winkler also cited the need for dependable news sources as a motivating factor in the change. "We've seen a huge increase in sources for news and information in the past couple of decades, particularly on cable TV and on the Internet, but more is not always better. WETS will be using two of the world's most respected news sources, National Public Radio and the BBC, both of which are non-commercial."
Monday's programming change will mean that classical and Americana music are no longer heard at 89.5 on weekdays, although Americana will be featured on weekend programs.
"We took many things into consideration before deciding on this change," says Winkler. "Ratings were certainly a factor, as were the results of the last several fundraising campaigns. It was clear to us that the bulk of support for WETS came from those who listened to news and information programming."
Recently, ETSU contributed more than $52,000 toward the cost of a new transmitter and facilities on Holston Mountain, and they will be operational soon.
"The new transmitter will replace our original equipment, which dates to 1974, when we first went on the air," Winkler said. "This, along with our new generator, will provide greater dependability and will allow us to stay on the air with full power during electrical outages such as we experienced a few weeks ago. The new transmitter will also allow us to incorporate HD broadcasting in the future if we decide to do so."
The full schedule of programs on WETS-FM is available at www.wets.org. For more information, e-mail wets@etsu.edu or call 1-888-895-9387.
What follows is a Q and A session submitted by East Tennessee State University explaining the change in programming.
Q: What will change?
A: We will change our weekday evening and weekend schedule to some degree, although Morning Edition and All Things Considered will be heard at the same times. (All Things Considered will be extended to 8 p.m.). On weekdays, we will add BBC World Service at 9 a.m., The Diane Rehm Show at 10 a.m., Talk Of The Nation at 2 p.m., and BBC World Service from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Fresh Air will move to noon, and Democracy Now! will be heard at 1 p.m. On Saturdays, there are few changes; we will now broadcast American Routes at 3 p.m. and Out On A Limb from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. On Sundays, The Thistle and Shamrock has moved to 6 a.m., and Celtic Clanjamphry is heard at 7 a.m. Bob Edwards Weekend has joined our Sunday lineup at 10 a.m., and New Dimensions has moved to 9 p.m.
Q: Why are you making this program change?
A: In looking at listener preferences, there are additional opportunities to improve our public service and increase the number of listeners to WETS-FM. We believe this program change is in the best long-term interest of WETS in terms of both listeners and fiscal stability.
Q: How exactly do you measure a program's performance on WETS?
A: We receive data and research from several different companies. Arbitron is the company that collects the initial information. They issue diaries to radio listeners in the Tri-Cities market and ask participants to track their listening. The company uses the accepted practices of sampling and polling to determine radio listenership. Over time, patterns emerge. Ratings only inform our decisions. They are not the reason we decide to change programming. Furthermore, we take a long-term approach and usually give a program every opportunity to succeed before we even consider removing it from the schedule.
Q: Why didn't you take a poll or survey of the members to see what programming they want to hear?
A: The data collected from Arbitron, over time, translate to thousands of listeners. This is the most accurate indicator we have of listener preferences. Also, our semi-annual fundraisers provide a good indication of which programs are listened to and supported.
Q: Is this research available to the public?
A. You can make an appointment with Larry Mayer, WETS-FM's Program Director, or Wayne Winkler, WETS-FM's General Manager, and they will be happy to give you an overview of the data. The information is proprietary, so we are forbidden from sending it out or making it available on our website.
Q: Does the WETS-FM programming change follow a national trend among public radio stations?
A: Yes. Although we made the changes for other reasons as well, we know that, for the past decade, public radio stations around the country have been switching to mostly news and public affairs programming on their primary channels. In fact, by 2000, the number of public radio stations broadcasting news and public affairs programs exceeded those with mixed news-music programming.
News-talk radio programming has become most preferred among listeners of all radio formats around the nation, outranking country music for the first time, according to the latest Arbitron report. Recently, stations in Nashville, Winston-Salem, Fort Myers, Birmingham, Hartford, and Vermont have made this change.
Most stations make the switch because it boosts listenership, membership, and revenues. Typically, stations see an increase in the number of listeners as well as contributions and underwriting revenues.
Q: Why not offer some music on weekdays?
A: The most effective way to program radio is to stick with a single programming type. Currently, NPR News and information is the single most effective programming we can offer in terms of audience growth, listener and underwriting support and is the best public service WETS can provide.
