CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

Abstract

~THROUGH: SUBJECT: Public Radio Expansion Background Since 1988, the public radio community has held building its audiences as one of its primary goals. As an outgrowth of that goal, the system has engaged itself in discussions about the need to extend public radio signals into unserved areas and about the need to diversify the audience for public radio programming. Management has been following the system discussions and has been studying CPB's options for assisting stations with the goal of audience building. In FY 1989, the audience building focus sharpened, to concentrate on the audience building potential of both signal extension into unserved areas and diversification of the public radio audience. Toward that end, CPBManagement has undertaken a year-long study of how, if at all, CPB could assist with the expansion of the radio system to effect the audience building goal. As a result, we have determined that CPB should remain directly involved in service expansion. Furthermore, we have determined that CPB's involvement must be corporate-wide, given the broad range of activities to be accomplished. Thus, the proposals included in this report reflect the input and joint deliberation of the Programming, Station Relations, Government Affairs, Budget, Corporate Communications, and Policy Development and Planning staffs. It should be noted that this report does not constitute the full extent of CPB's involvement with system expansion. We only have provided here information about the proposed radio expansion activities and highlighted major existing activities that have direct impact on radio expansion. However, all of the system support and programming activities in which we are engaged have direct or indirect impact on furthering the goals of full system deve 1opment.