MORE FACT SHEETS: STATE OF THE NEWS MEDIA

Hundreds of local and regional radio and television stations comprise the U.S. public media system. On the radio side, organizations such as NPR, American Public Media (APM) and Public Radio International (PRI), which merged with PRX in 2018, produce and distribute programming, reaching audiences through local stations as well as digital channels. Individual stations, such as New York’s WNYC and Chicago’s WBEZ, produce nationally syndicated original journalism as well. On the television side, PBS NewsHour produces an evening newscast that airs on local PBS stations around the country. The organization has a digital operation as well. On the whole, the news offerings of U.S. public broadcasters have been marked by relative financial stability and, in the past year, little to no audience growth. Explore the patterns and longitudinal data about public broadcasting below.

Audience

The top 20 NPR-affiliated public radio stations (by listenership) had on average a total weekly listenership of about 11 million in 2018, about the same as in 2017. (This includes listeners of NPR programming as well as original or other syndicated content aired on these stations.)

Weekly broadcast audience for top 20 NPR-affiliated radio stations Year Listenership 2015 8,724,100 2016 10,212,600 2017 11,210,500 2018 11,047,900 Pew Research Center

When looking specifically at NPR programming across all stations that carry it, terrestrial broadcast listenership declined somewhat between 2017 and 2018. (Traditional radio listening is “terrestrial,” i.e., coming from radio broadcast towers rather than satellites or the internet.) About 28.5 million average weekly listeners tuned in to NPR programming during the year, down from 30.1 million in 2017, according to internal data provided by the organization.

Programming from PRI, which distributes programs such as The World and The Takeaway, reached a terrestrial audience of about 9.7 million on average per week, up from about 8.8 million in 2017. (PRI and PRX merged in August 2018, but the data presented in this fact sheet is for PRI programs only.) Audience figures from APM, which produces Marketplace, remained stable at 20.1 million average weekly listeners in 2018, on par with 20.5 million in 2017.

Weekly broadcast audience of NPR, PRI and APM

National Public Radio

(NPR)

Public Radio International

(PRI)

American Public Media

(APM)

Year Listenership 2005 25,300,000 2006 25,500,000 2007 25,500,000 2008 26,400,000 2009 26,400,000 2010 27,200,000 2011 26,800,000 2012 26,000,000 2013 27,300,000 2014 26,200,000 2015 26,000,000 2016 29,700,000 2017 30,100,000 2018 28,500,000 Pew Research Center

Year Listenership 2015 8,132,000 2016 8,861,000 2017 8,813,000 2018 9,666,300 Pew Research Center

Year Listenership 2016 19,100,000 2017 20,500,000 2018 20,100,000 Pew Research Center

NPR’s broadcasting reach remained stable between 2017 and 2018 in terms of both the number of member stations (stations either owned or operated by member organizations) and the number of stations airing any NPR programming (which includes member stations). The number of member organizations – flagship educational and community organizations that operate at least one station – stood at 263, on par with the previous year.

Broadcasting reach of NPR

NPR stations

NPR member organizations

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 NPR member stations 849 946 972 990 991 1,001 All stations (member and nonmember) airing NPR programming 1,001 1,029 1,054 1,072 1,074 1,074 Pew Research Center

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 NPR member organizations 269 263 265 264 260 263 Pew Research Center

For both PRI and APM, the number of stations airing their programming remained more or less stable between 2017 and 2018.

Broadcasting reach of PRI and APM

PRI stations

APM stations

Year Stations 2016 836 2017 830 2018 849 Pew Research Center

Year Stations 2016 988 2017 998 2018 996 Pew Research Center

NPR’s digital platforms continue to be an important part of its reach. The NPR One app, which offers a stream of individual shows and podcasts, had a similar or slightly higher average number of total completed sessions in 2018 as in 2017, depending upon the device. (A completed session is any instance in which a user starts and stops using the app.) The NPR News app, which offers livestreams from individual stations and digital content, declined in completed sessions among Android and iPad users. (Data for the NPR News iPhone app is unavailable for 2018.)

Monthly sessions on NPR apps App 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 NPR News: Android 2,913,814 3,613,494 5,005,041 8,242,722 6,756,099 NPR News: iPhone 6,947,956 7,826,679 11,433,558 14,502,478 NPR News: iPad 2,734,069 1,610,358 1,630,880 1,488,862 1,248,160 NPR One: Android 460,263 1,326,320 2,396,494 2,984,181 NPR One: iPhone 758,531 2,649,326 4,462,950 4,506,901 Pew Research Center

The audience for public television programming declined over the past year: In 2018, the NewsHour program, which airs on PBS, attracted 1.1 million viewers on average, down 6% from the year before.

PBS NewsHour viewership Year Total average viewership 2016 1,007,000 2017 1,187,000 2018 1,110,000 Pew Research Center

Economics

The financial picture for news outlets in public broadcasting appeared strong both locally and nationally.

At the national level, NPR increased its total operating revenue in 2018 to $252.1 million, up 8% from 2017 levels. PRI gained as well, rising 4% to about $18.8 million in total revenue for 2018. (PRI and PRX merged in 2018, but the data presented in this fact sheet is for PRI programs only.) APM’s total revenue, on the other hand, fell 20% year over year, amounting to $134.7 million in 2018. (According to APM, a change in accounting practices caused a one-time reduction in revenue recorded in 2018, and these revenues should substantially recover in 2019.)

Total revenue for NPR, PRI and APM

NPR

PRI

APM

Year Revenue 2015 $195,900,000 2016 $213,100,000 2017 $232,800,000 2018 $252,100,000 Pew Research Center

Year Revenue 2015 $17,400,000 2016 $21,900,000 2017 $18,100,000 2018 $18,800,000 Pew Research Center

Year Revenue 2015 $134,200,000 2016 $126,200,000 2017 $168,000,000 2018 $134,700,000 Pew Research Center

At the local public radio level, an analysis of the public filings provided by 123 of the largest news-oriented licensees (organizations that operate local public radio stations) shows that in 2017 – the last year for which reliable data is available – total revenue for this group was $904.7 million.

Local public radio station revenue Year Total revenue 2008 $672,802,561 2009 $643,940,194 2010 $686,136,170 2011 $749,103,474 2012 $748,813,191 2013 $782,737,012 2014 $828,887,471 2015 $816,934,539 2016 $852,897,571 2017 $904,711,768 Pew Research Center

This revenue for local public radio comes from a range of streams, but individual giving (which includes member revenue and major gifts) and underwriting (from businesses and foundations as well as other nonprofit organizations) are two key sources of funding. Among the 123 news-oriented licensees studied here, individual giving and underwriting accounted for a combined $595.5 million in revenue in 2017.

Individual giving and underwriting revenue for local public radio news stations Year Individual giving Underwriting 2008 $252,188,412 $191,368,970 2009 $266,879,214 $169,783,646 2010 $273,641,191 $169,662,827 2011 $297,404,887 $170,980,687 2012 $301,896,974 $183,138,683 2013 $316,851,081 $183,378,779 2014 $329,574,209 $195,853,661 2015 $352,159,144 $204,335,864 2016 $362,070,403 $209,451,245 2017 $383,819,720 $211,637,752 Pew Research Center

The total number of individual members – defined as anyone who has given money to one of the stations owned by these 123 licensees in each calendar year – in 2017 was 2.3 million, about a 10% increase over the previous year.

Local public radio station membership Year Total membership 2008 1,665,924 2009 1,743,232 2010 1,790,393 2011 1,940,486 2012 1,956,201 2013 2,016,449 2014 2,103,547 2015 2,046,745 2016 2,087,018 2017 2,292,509 Pew Research Center

On the television side, NewsHour derives its revenue from a variety of sources, including PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and a mix of “nonpublic” streams such as corporations, individual giving and foundations. While the details about public sources of revenue were unavailable for this analysis, NewsHour did provide information about its breakdown of nonpublic funding. In 2018, contributions from individuals comprised 13% of total nonpublic funding. (Information on whether the total amount of this funding rose or fell was also unavailable.)

PBS NewsHour nonpublic funding makeup Year Individuals Corporations Foundations 2014 3% 41% 56% 2015 6% 23% 71% 2016 11% 19% 70% 2017 13% 17% 70% 2018 13% 17% 70% Pew Research Center

Newsroom investment

Program and production expenses for the 123 news-oriented local public radio licensees was $446.8 million in 2017, compared with $439.6 million in 2016. While program and production expenses comprise only a portion of overall station expenses, an increase in these kinds of expenditures indicates that the stations are directing more dollars toward the creation of news content.

Local public radio station expenses Year Total program and production expenses 2008 $327,421,171 2009 $339,869,569 2010 $343,679,417 2011 $363,060,881 2012 $374,386,544 2013 $375,165,424 2014 $396,766,427 2015 $415,016,962 2016 $439,623,671 2017 $446,778,558 Pew Research Center

Find out more

This fact sheet was compiled by Senior Writer/Editor Elizabeth Grieco.

Read the methodology.

Find more in-depth explorations of public broadcasting by following the link below: