We want to thank our many friends and partners who took time to complete Public Media Company’s March 2024 field survey. We received responses from an array of public and nonprofit media organizations, as well as support organizations and funders. Your responses are incredibly helpful and give us valuable insight into the issues that are impacting local media organizations’ businesses models and services to their communities. We learned that:

• Overall, financial sustainability and audience growth are the 2 biggest concerns facing nonprofit media organizations and their supporters. The related topics of fundraising and community engagement were not far behind
• However, breaking the scoring down by type of respondent, funders and support organizations raised collaboration as their top issue
• Written comments reinforced the importance of financial sustainability and collaboration, emerging as the areas where respondents would like the most support in serving their communities
• Focusing on Public Media Company, our strategic consulting, facilitation, and analysis services were seen as most useful. Cost constraints and lack of awareness were highlighted as the biggest deterrents to using our services

If you’d like to learn more, additional survey insights are below. We’re now using the results to help inform our focus and work at PMC. Our team knows well the important role of nonprofit media in community life, which is why we want every community across the country to be enriched by local media, and why we strive to be both a catalyst and facilitator of this vision. The survey is helping us think about our organization, informing our mission and focus, and how we can continue to be of service to public service media organizations, the broader system, and to the moment that we are all living through.

A quick note: In the survey, we posed a few quantitative questions and several qualitative questions. Given the number, breadth, and length of many of the answers, we used AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, and CoPilot) to help summarize the responses. We then crossed-checked those summaries against the actual responses to ensure the accuracy of this post.

We deeply value the insights that you have provided and look forward to working together in the future. Please reach out to me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Tim Isgitt
CEO
Public Media Company

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FIELD SURVEY RESULTS

What are the big issues facing your organization?

From what you know of Public Media Company, how might we best help you (or members, grantees, or organizations like you) serve your community?

1. Financial Assistance and Planning: Respondents emphasize the importance of grants, funding assistance, and long-term financial planning, including capital financing.
2. Consulting and Support Services: Strategic planning, business modeling, and guidance on mergers/acquisitions/partnerships are highlighted. Tailored advice on strategy, governance, board and organizational development are also needed.
3. Data and Insights: There’s a demand for research, data, and best practices related to fundraising, audience engagement, and content distribution. Analysis and insights on financial health and content strategies of local stations, particularly focusing on diverse communities, are desired.
4. Capacity Building and Collaboration: Assistance in identifying and supporting collaborations with independent hyperlocal news organizations is needed. Facilitating collaboration among stations, promoting knowledge transfer, and capacity building, especially for smaller or rural teams, is crucial.
5. Community Engagement and Impact: Respondents seek support in serving BIPOC communities, navigating shifts from traditional to digital media consumption, and evaluating potential mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and collaborations.
6. Awareness and Communication: Stakeholders emphasize the importance of keeping them updated on PMC’s services and aligning them with organizational priorities. Enhancing PMC’s visibility through marketing campaigns and communication efforts is suggested.

Overall, respondents value PMC’s role in providing expertise, resources, and collaboration opportunities to help public media organizations better serve their communities. Key areas of interest include financial assistance, consulting, data analysis, capacity building, community engagement initiatives, and enhancing awareness of PMC’s offerings through improved communication strategies.

How might we best serve the larger field of public service media?

1. Financial Sustainability and Innovation: Respondents emphasize the need for PMC to assist in developing new revenue streams, identifying mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships, and offering tailored financial services. There’s a call for research, analysis, and modeling to inform strategic decisions.
2. Collaboration and Networking: PMC is urged to facilitate collaborations, shared services, and partnerships among stations and organizations. There’s also a suggestion to partner with industry associations to extend services, coordinate grants, and foster discussions for shared services.
3. Philanthropic Education and Advocacy: Respondents highlight the importance of educating the philanthropic community about public media’s significance and advocating for structural changes. PMC is expected to provide thought leadership and encourage strategic thinking for sustainability and innovation.
4. Information Sharing and Best Practices: PMC should share best practices, trends, and innovations across the public media landscape. Foster discussions and exchanges between stations to address common challenges and provide resources and training on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
5. Strategic Planning and Support: There’s a need for PMC to offer strategic planning, consultation, and support services tailored to individual station needs. Recommendations for mergers, consolidations, and operational efficiencies are sought after.
6. Community Engagement and Growth: PMC should support audience growth and retention strategies and encourage experimentation and innovation in content creation and presentation.

Respondents want PMC to facilitate collaboration, mergers, and consolidation, provide strategic guidance and thought leadership, conduct research and analysis, offer operational support services, foster innovation, and facilitate information sharing. There’s also a mention of coordinating or assisting with larger funding opportunities and promoting public media’s value. Overall, PMC’s role is crucial in guiding public media’s evolution through strategic leadership, facilitating collaboration and consolidation, research and modeling, and driving innovation and sustainability.

Are there any services (direct or shared) that we aren’t currently providing that would be valuable to your organization (members or grantees)?

1. Training and Educational Services: There’s a demand for training programs such as GM 101/business training for station managers and board development/governance training for board members. Additionally, there’s interest in leadership transition training, specifically interim leadership capabilities.
2. Fundraising/Revenue Assistance: Respondents express a need for fundraising support, assistance in identifying new revenue streams, and updating business models to ensure financial sustainability.
3. Operational Support Services: Services such as accounting, bookkeeping, and CFO services are desired. Support for improving digital presence and engagement strategies is also highlighted.
4. Advocacy Role: Some respondents suggest PMC could play a role in advocating for local stations with national organizations like CPB, NPR, and PBS.
5. Shared Services: There’s recognition of the growing importance of facilitating more shared services across stations, indicating potential interest in PMC’s involvement in this area.

Overall, respondents appreciate PMC’s current services, but suggest areas where additional support or clarification could be beneficial. While there’s modest demand for exploring training offerings, fundraising/revenue consulting, selective operational support services, and facilitation of shared services, respondents caution against mission creep and emphasize the importance of maintaining PMC’s focus on its core strategic services.

What might deter you from using Public Media Company as a partner to your organization?

1. Cost Constraints: Cost emerges as the primary deterrent, with many respondents expressing concerns about affordability, limited budgets, and challenges in justifying expenses, especially for financially constrained organizations.
2. Lack of Awareness: Another significant deterrent is the lack of awareness about PMC’s services, including unclear pricing and limited understanding of the full range of offerings. Some respondents indicate the need for further research to comprehend PMC’s services adequately.
3. Strategic Fit and Previous Experience: Concerns about finding the right strategic fit with PMC’s services, as well as worries stemming from past deals that didn’t meet expectations or had unfavorable outcomes, are mentioned as potential deterrents.
4. Editorial Standards and Institutional Policies: For newsroom/editorial partnerships, adherence to the organization’s editorial standards is seen as a requirement. Additionally, institutional policies, particularly in universities, may create obstacles to partnering with PMC.
5. ROI and Value Demonstration: Some respondents mention the need for PMC to demonstrate clear return on investment and value for the investment to overcome potential deterrents.
6. Duplication of Services: Concerns about potential duplication with other service providers the organization uses are raised by a few respondents.

Despite these deterrents, many respondents appreciate PMC’s services and express openness to partnering if budgets allow. Many note that they are currently facing economic challenges, making outside consulting difficult at the moment.