Rural Programming Initiative
Summary #1, KSER

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What did you learn about listening to your station and your research?
The research results were interesting, especially when compared with a similar survey done in November of 1999. Unfortunately, the differences between the two surveys regarding listener patterns and preferences makes it impractical to make changes on the basis of the survey results alone. The differences between the times of year (November vs. June/July) may have contributed to the differences in the survey results. The 2001 survey was conducted in June/July and coincided with the start of our baseball broadcasts of the Everett AquaSox. (A specific question was asked during the survey about whether or not listeners were aware of our baseball coverage and the response appeared very good.) Furthermore, this year was notable for the regional excitement generated by the Seattle Mariners and consequently it is believed that this has distorted the habits of many radio listeners. One consistent result between the two surveys was that much of the listening to KSER occurs in vehicles.

Where are your programming strengths and weaknesses?
The primary weakness of KSER is in the competition faced being very close to a major metropolitan area (Seattle). We believe our programming is reasonably strong, but the fact that it is up against almost 100 other stations in the greater Seattle area makes carving out a significant niche a major challenge. We believe we are building an audience in the Everett area, our city of license about 30 miles north of Seattle, and in surrounding areas, which are rural in setting although semi-rural by location. It is taking longer than we anticipated, but we do see this growth occurring.

In terms of programming weaknesses, I believe that because we have only one staff person, we are providing inadequate coverage of local public affairs issues. However, this may not be programming which will generate a larger audience. The major strength of the programming lies in the diverse and consistent format that is provided during the day.

What process are you using to decide on program changes?
We are looking at the survey results and trying to assess what changes would help to increase audience size consistent with our mission statement. Proposed changes in programming will be reviewed by the board of directors and volunteer programmers before final decisions are made. Implementation will involve the board and volunteer hosts.

What program changes have you made?
Because of the differences between the survey results discussed above, we are reluctant to make major changes until some of the discrepancies can be resolved, perhaps with the next survey results. However, we have eliminated a spoken word program on Sunday evenings that was sandwiched between two music programs. We also are considering moving the BBC Outlook program from noon to the morning drive time based on the finding that audience is lost between the morning and afternoon music programs. This change is still in the evaluation stages.