The success of the Urban Alternative stations was the talk of the recent PRPD conference. The Drop, the Urban Alternative (“UA”) station in Denver, scored historic gains in the August Nielsen Audio PPM ratings.
We compared The Drop’s August 2021 estimated weekly listeners to similar data from August 2019 and found that the station’s audience has grown 98% larger.
But wait, there’s more news about UA. At the PRPD conference CPB announced a huge vote of confidence for the fledgling format by providing $1.3 million to add three new UA stations. This means UA will soon be heard in seven markets.
It seemed appropriate that these developments were happening during the 2021 PRPD conference, because the theme was “Redefining Public Radio.” Sessions explored ways to diversify the public radio audience and serve younger listeners. During the session about UA, one of the attendees said in the chat box “Wow, these folks are doing it for real right now.”
Mike Henry of Paragon Media Strategies, the architect of UA, said in a press release, “The UA format is more than a small niche, but rather is a viable, mainstream format that does bring young and diverse audiences into public radio.” Henry put UA’s success into a larger context “This is a major feat for public radio, which for decades has built audiences from content aimed at older, highly educated, upper income, non-ethnic (White) listeners.”
A major reason for The Drop’s growing presence is that now more people can hear the station.
When the The Drop debuted in early 2019, it was only available to listeners as an audio stream of KUVO’s HD2 channel. Then, in February 2021, Rocky Mountain Public Media, KUVO’s licensee, purchased a translator station (104.7 FM) that covers the Denver metro like a blanket. As a result, The Drop is now the fastest growing music station in the Denver-Boulder market.
In addition to The Drop, UA is currently heard on three other stations — Vocalo in Chicago, The Vibe in Houston and Blazin’ Hot 91 WNSB in Norfolk.
Soon, UA programming will heard on stations in Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Jackson, Mississippi, thanks to the $1.3 million two-year CPB grant.
WYMS, 88Nine Radio Milwaukee, is scheduled to debut in June 2022. At first, the UA format will appear on WYMS HD-2 channel and its audio stream. This is the way The Drop established itself in Denver. UA will also be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee’s FM station from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. weekdays, and midnight to 3 a.m. on weekends.
• In Minneapolis, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) adult alternative station, The Current, is collaborating with KMOJ, a community station that is already popular with music fans for its tasty R&B, hip-hop and blues programming. It is anticipated that the new UA station will launch in 2022 on one of MPR HD channels and its audio stream.
• WJSU in Jackson is using CPB’s support to refresh its Cool and Current mix of jazz and news. WJSU will also pursue a multi-platform strategy similar to what The Drop has done in Denver.
People at participating stations say they are exited to work with the UA format. Jordan Lee, station director at 88Nine Radio Milwaukee, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the UA format is an important step for the public radio system.
“This format is to Black American music what the AAA format is to rock-based music.” Jordan added that CPB and station management “realized they didn’t have a version of AAA format for Black American music.”
Public broadcasting in America is a public/private partnership that is unique in global media. CPB brings seed money, stability and financial guidance. Private entrepreneurs, such as Mike Henry, bring new ideas, resources and the passion needed to make things happen.
Henry’s company, Paragon Media Strategies, has provided strategic planning, research and consulting services to Sony, ESPN, SiriusXM and many other media and music companies. He is the creator the AAA formats for noncommercial stations including The Current, WXPN and KEXP.
Henry began developing the Urban Alternative format in 2015 when CPB provide a research grant to build a new music format aimed at younger, Black audiences that historically weren’t being served by public radio.
In 2016, with CPB’s support, WBEZ transformed its second station, Vocalo, into “Chicago’s Urban Alternative.” That led to a $1.3 million CPB grant in 2018 to bring the UA format to Denver, Houston and Norfolk.
Henry told us the success of the UA format is a personal success for him:
“Since I started in public radio in 1979 in Athens and was swept up in the early ’80s college radio craze, I’ve tried to stretch the definition of public radio to include the true public.”
“My personal journey has led to the creation of Triple A and Indie Rock music formats to introduce public radio to younger demographics, and the creation of the NPR News brand along with my work with local NPR News stations to lower demos and broaden appeal to all news users.”
“Most recently, it has led to helping Jazz stations lower their demos and widen appeal. The Urban Alternative format is the next step in this journey, and one that may prove to be the most impactful because we’re finally piercing the young ethnic bubble.”
“I grew up in the Deep South and I strive to be an agent of racial acceptance in my personal life. The Urban Alternative format is a manifestation of my personal and professional goals. On a societal level, the UA format is a vehicle to introduce public radio to young and diverse audiences at a time when America, and public radio, is struggling to embrace a multi-racial reality.”