Re: [Swprograms] Public Radio Confusion

[Richard Cuff <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx>]

Here's a quick take:

All three organizations produce public radio programming and distribute
that programming to stations who pay fees for the airing of this
programming.

I.  NPR

NPR is its own entity, headquartered in Washington, DC.  It's the
largest public radio production organization in the USA.  It does
not own or manage any stations.

>From its website:  "
						NPR was incorporated in 1970 pursuant to the Public Broadcasting 
						Act of 1967, but it is not a government agency. NPR is not a radio 
						station itself nor does it own any radio stations, but NPR programs 
						can be heard on more than 780 public radio stations across the 
						United States."

NPR distributes programming that it produces, and also distributes
programming that individual stations (e.g. WNYC, WHYY) produce.


II.  PRI / APR

PRI was founded by Minnesota Public Radio and a group of other stations
and was originally named "American Public Radio".  PRI sees itself as an alternative distribution channel for public radio
programming.  Like NPR it does not own its own programming. 
Most PRI-distributed programming is produced by individual production
companies and public radio stations.  The only program PRI
produces itself is "The World", which is also co-produced by the BBC
World Service and WBGH in Boston.

PRI historically has distributed "This American Life", produced by WBEZ
in Chicago; I am not sure exactly how that relationship works
now.  PRI also funds programming development, but by and large it
doesn't produce any (except what I noted above).  PRI distributes
BBCWS and CBC programming in the USA -- meaning it has the satellite
space for these programs.

PRI claims more affiliate stations than NPR.  Both services charge
a basic membership fee -- based on market size, signal strength, and
similar metrics.  Both then charge for individual program
carriage.  As far as I know, if stations subscribe to any BBCWS
programming, they can then air it all at no extra cost.


III.  APM

You didn't ask, but this is also relevant.  APM is "American
Public Media", which is wholly owned by Minnesota Public Radio
(MPR).  MPR owns a bunch of public radio stations in, natch,
Minnesota, and also operates KPCC in Pasadena, CA.

Several programs that were produced by Minnesota Public Radio and
distributed by PRI have had their PRI distribution pulled; APM now
distributes these programs.  These include "A Prairie Home
Companion" and "Marketplace".  

>From APM's website:  "American Public Media is the national production and distribution arm of St. 
  Paul-based Minnesota Public Radio®, one of the nation's premier public 
  radio organizations. Some 20 national programs and specials, including A Prairie 
  Home Companion®, Marketplace® and Saint Paul Sunday® comprise the 
  American Public Media portfolio. Currently, nearly 700 stations reaching 13 
  million people carry our programs each week.

"Launched in July 2004, American Public Media replaced an arrangement with a third-party distributor [which was PRI - RDC] of Minnesota Public Radio's national content. The new distribution system increases contact with our primary stakeholders and encourages more meaningful relationships with affiliated stations and their listeners."

Other comments on US public radio:

Public radio stations in the USA are generally independent, nonprofit entities that are funded by some government dollars, some local public sector dollars (e.g. Pennsylvania Arts Council) and individual / corporate donatoins.

Public radio stations produce some of their own programming, but many acquire programming from PRI, NPR, APM, and other independent producers.

An interesting new development -- the Public Radio Exchange, http://www.prx.org/, was set up as a marketplace for independently produced programming that is not distributed through these other aggregators.  Individuals can listen to much of the content offered there free of charge, a rather nitfy feature.  Individual listeners can write "peer reviews" (see http://www.prx.org/reviews/3985 for an example).

Radio Netherlands has quite of bit of its programming posted at PRX for stations to acquire; 126 individual programs from RNW are listed at the PRX website, including many of the documentaries, Vox Humana, and Euroquest.  I suspect that a piece of the licensing fee charged to stations is how PRX makes its money.

So...hope this short description was useful.  There is a chance I've made a couple factual errors, but I believe most of this to be correct.

Another useful website is http://www.current.org/, a web version of a public radio station-focused newsletter.

Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA  USA

On 9/1/05, Peter Bowen <peter.bowen@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Would someone please explain, in detail if need be, the differences
between the U.S. public radio services NPR, APR, and PRI?

_______________________________________________
Swprograms mailing list
Swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://dallas.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms

To unsubscribe:  Send an E-mail to  swprograms-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above.