As audience advocate for WOSU, I receive constant responses and suggestions regarding programming. Most recently, there has been a strong response to Ohio State University sports being broadcast on our 820 AM station.
Our positioning statement for our AM station is “WOSU 820: All day NPR news station.” That is the statement that most accurately reflects the programming broadcast, but it is not a brand (a fixed stance on the kind of programming we offer). It is understood that organizations take artistic license with positioning statements. Take Wal-Mart for example. “Lowest Prices Always” or Target “Expect More, Pay Less.” While these statements are factual most of the time, they are not true all of the time. Sometimes, as with our sports broadcasts and Bluegrass Ramble, we choose to enhance our programming with other offerings that are not always news-oriented.
The sports broadcasts on 820 AM fill less than 2% of programming a year. Out of 8,760 total broadcast hours, sports programming takes up approximately 136 of those hours. It may seem that men’s ice hockey, baseball, and women’s basketball take up more time than that because the broadcasts air in a concentrated six month period. Our AM station chooses to air these broadcasts to offer listeners seasonal coverage of local popular sports.
Many listeners have expressed both pleasure and displeasure with the sports broadcasts. We hear form listeners on both sides of the fence. The most frequent frustration seems to be the pre-emption of regular NPR programming. Because of the unpredictable nature of most sports, sometimes other programming is preempted in order to accommodate them. More often than not, the preempted broadcasts can be found on NPR’s web site, www.npr.org, where listeners can hear programs in their entirety at their convenience.
WOSU uses its sports broadcasts to give those who cannot attend home or away games the opportunity to hear them on the radio. For fans like Lori, who has no internet access, and Sara in Durango, CO, hearing coverage of Ohio State baseball games on the radio is their way to keep up-to-date on their favorite sports. The Ohio State athletics program has a large fan base which our sports broadcasts seek to address as a licensee of The Ohio State University.
Our station co-brands with WBNS 1460 AM as recognition for the sports commentary they provide us. This service provides income for WOSU as we receive funding from OSU per our contract with them, as well as from 1460 AM for making their commentary available to our listeners.
WOSU hopes to attract audiences of all demographics with a wide array of programming options, although we remain loyal to our core audience. OSU sports is merely one of the avenues we are pursuing. “All Things Considered,” it is a very small avenue, at best.
