AUSTIN, Texas – July 12, 2017 – The KUT 90.5 and KUTX 98.9 membership and development team was recognized for achieving and maintaining outstanding fundraising performance with the 2016 Benchmark Award at the annual Public Media Development and Marketing Conference (PMDMC) in San Francisco last week.
The data-driven Benchmark Award compares stations’ fundraising performance across the country, honoring a station that has sustained excellent performance in the most important of all the fundraising metrics – the Community Financial Support Index or CFSI.
The CFSI measures a station’s ability to support its daily public service with listener support, corporate support and other audience sensitive revenue, enabling the station to maintain its public service while withstanding the vulnerabilities that come with subsidies. In other words, over a five-year trend, KUT and KUTX have set the benchmark for public radio!
Additionally during this five-year span:
· Listening grew by 35 percent
· Gross audience-sensitive revenue grew by 33 percent
· Net audience sensitive revenue after deducting fundraising expenses grew by 53 percent
“It’s thanks to an engaged and passionate community that we’re able to deliver news and music programs to Central Texas in a sustainable way,” said Stewart Vanderwilt, KUT and KUTX director and general manager. “It’s inspiring to know that our local community is invested in our service – strengthening the impact of federal support.”
Sylvia Carson, associate general manager for development and marketing, accepted the award at the annual PMDMC attended by 1,000 public radio development and marketing professionals from across the country and Canada. The PMDMC is an intensive conference on the best practices and trends in revenue and sustainability for public media.
About KUT 90.5, Austin’s NPR station, and KUTX 98.9, The Austin Music Experience
KUT and KUTX are community supported public media that fuel Austin’s love of discovery. KUT 90.5, Austin’s NPR station, uses the highest editorial standards to report the stories that matter to Austin and KUTX 98.9, the Austin Music Experience, enriches listeners’ lives with the music and experiences that reflect the spirit of Austin.
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Contact: Erin Geisler (512) 475-8071
