National Public Radio execs are on a road trip to demo web services to the network’s 268 affiliated U.S. radio stations. The roadshow is also an effort to calm stations upset by earlier indications that purchase of expensive digital services would be required of all affiliates. NPR recently bought the Public Interactive web services company from Public Radio International.
NPR Digital Services provides stations with improved webpage templates with options to customize layouts and add localized weather reports and feeds from NPR and other sources like PRI and the BBC. Stations can also participate in an NPR revenue-generating program allowing national advertisers to customize ads for local markets.
This is a much better idea than an earlier NPR brainstorm, selling stations on canned music programming for so-called HD Radio side channels, a monopoly of the iBiquity Corporation that requires listeners to buy special radios to hear short-range broadcasts of alternative programming.
NPR production and operations are funded by listener contributions to subscribing stations, corporate underwriting, and CPB grants. The tiny bit of government funding is used to subsidize services to rural stations.
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