Public Radio State of the Industry Report

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January 2013 – Public Radio Capital announces the release of its Public Radio State of the Industry Report, covering trends in audience, revenues and federal support. This year’s report includes the most recent industry-wide data collected for fiscal year 2011. PRC has prepared this report annually since 2004 for distribution to bond rating agencies, and starting this year, it will now be available to the greater public media community.

Following are highlights from this year’s report:

  • Public radio continues to attract new listeners. The weekly audience for all NPR affiliates rose slightly to a record 34.3 million in 2011.
  • Despite the economic recession, public radio increased its revenues and is now nearly a billion dollar industry, supported primarily by listeners.
  • Public radio’s total non-federal financial support increased by 6.2% over 2010, or by approximately $51.5 million.
  • Membership and underwriting increased by 6.4% and gifts by major donors was up by 12.2%.
  • While new media platforms have changed the way users access and consume media, broadcast radio reaches 93% of Americans age 12+ every week and is expected to maintain this high market share for the foreseeable future.

Read Public Radio Industry Report January 2013.pdf

For additional information on the Report, contact Russ Otten at r.otten@publicradiocapital.org.