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Why (FM, Not XM) Radio Sucks
wemmick writes "The Washington Post has an article "Can XM Put Radio Back Together Again?" which discusses the history of marketing FM radio, how XM could be different, and about Lee Abrams -- "the man who shackled FM radio to the tyranny of mass market research" and is now program director for XM."
Because moderators are on crack. Glad I could help.
Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
Radio is about discussion, as well. About people talking, expanding on their viewpoints in a way that's impossible on television. Radio is about educating the public, providing background information, involve the public in the why and how of the decisionmaking process. Music is just entertainment. Is that the only concept you Americans have of media? That it provides entertainment while you digest your hamburger? Sad, man. Real sad.
NPR gets about 2% of it's funding from tax payers. It's nearly completely listener funded.
The 2% number is definately "fishy." NPR, a distributor of public radio content, receives only 2% of its funding directly from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) which gets money from the Federal Government.
But NPR is but a small part of public radio, and even it gets plenty of taxpayers funds indirectly that are "laundered" through other entities.
For example, NPR gets 30% of its revenue from programming fees from public radio stations. Those stations often receive Federal funding from the CPB (community service grants, for example) and also can receive funds from state governments directly, through educational institutions, from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) through the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP), and often from local governments as well. NPR's satellite distribution service, the PRSS, also receives Federal funding.
So if you "follow the money," you will see that far more than 2% of taxpayer funding ends up going to public radio.
The CPB says that membership accounts for only 25% of public broadcasting revenues. Businesses and foundations contribute 22.6%. Public and private educaitonal sources contribute 10.4%.
So at the end of the day, it is reasonable to say that around 50% of public broadcasting revenues come from taxpayer dollars. Due to the larger number of state supported public television networks, I suspect the number is slightly less for public radio (~40%).
But it isn't 2%...