With overall revenues of over 800 million dollars annually and estimated asset values at $3.5 billion, the public radio industry is strong and revenues continue to climb. The audience for public radio has grown more than fivefold since 1980; it has doubled in the past 15 years. Much of this recent growth has been from listeners in their 20s, 30s and early 40s. Currently one in nine people listen to public radio weekly and recent findings indicate that over the past couple of years, public radio listening has increased at every time of day and in nearly every demographic.

Technology, demographics and the economy are creating an environmental shift that offers public radio an unprecedented opportunity to attract and engage a new community of listeners.

Internet Radio usage has increased for every audience group and across every demographic. While new technologies provide additional opportunities for connecting with public radio listeners, terrestrial radio is forecast to remain the predominant way people listen to radio for at least the next 20 years.

The need for strong public media has never been greater. Corporate media consolidation in the commercial sector has deprived many communities of locally owned media. The result has been the loss of independent voices and in-depth coverage of substantive issues that matter to people. In recent years, there has been an alarming downsizing in the newsrooms of print and broadcast journalism, and an explosion of infotainment that passes as news.

There are only a few large organizations that own the majority of stations in the marketplace, and these organizations continue to accumulate stations. Currently, three of the ten largest station owners in the country are religious group broadcasters. The largest religious group broadcaster, EMF, has seen its stations grow from 1 station in 1988 to over 200 stations in 2007. EMF offers no local programming and only two program formats.

Media consolidation has whetted the nation’s appetite for the independent voices, in-depth journalism, unbiased news, diverse music and cultural programming. During the past 20 years, public radio has increased its audiences by 500%, while commercial radio audiences have declined. In 2007, National Public Radio (NPR) estimated that in the top 38 radio markets a total of 86 million people were not fully served by the range of available public radio formats and programs. Despite the strong forces of corporate media consolidation, or perhaps even because of them, there are market opportunities and listeners just waiting to tune into public radio!