THE SETTING

In the early 2010s, NPR was already a beloved news brand. But it was an aging news brand on a platform with declining tune-in. How could NPR make the transition into the digital era?

THE STRUGGLE

With a four-decade history of producing mission-driven audio content to serve the public, NPR wanted to ensure that it made the transition into a digital landscape without jeopardizing its heritage and mission of quality journalism and storytelling.

THE TURNING POINT

Informed by a series of audience insights, NPR ramped up its investment in cross-platform content that would appeal to a younger generation of adults.

NPR collaborated with Research Narrative to understand and measure its growing cross-platform audience, as the organization launched two mobile apps, two dozen podcasts, and programming integration into smart speakers.

RESOLUTION

A 2016 study by Research Narrative demonstrated that NPR was America’s most favored news brand, echoing its consistent audience growth. Our additional research showed that by the Spring of 2017, more than half of NPR’s audience started their NPR day on a platform other than radio!

By October 2017, NPR had reached an estimated 99 million people each month and had held the spot as America’s #1 podcast producer for 17 months in a row.

THE SEQUEL(s)

Since that time, Research Narrative has collaborated with NPR on many projects, including a multi-wave brand tracker that identified the organization as the most trusted of 13 competitive national news sources in 2023.

And that deep exploration of (and long-term relationship with) public radio has since expanded to stations. We’ve worked with local station leaders across the country to:

• Develop strategies for local and digital programming
• Cultivate audience and community engagement
• Fine-tune and launch new local and national programs
• Evaluate the impact of multi-station program initiatives, and
• Develop 3-5 year strategic plans