San Francisco’s well-known public radio station KQED is aware that listeners can get a little tired of pledge drives, especially if they have already contributed.
In an experiment that might have far-reaching consequences, KQED will make an exclusive pledge-break-free Web/mobile feed available to contributors pledging $45 or more early for the May 2011 spring fundraiser. The program content for that feed will be the same but hosted by a second team, operating in a second studio.
The stream is for this pledge-drive only, however depending on the popularity of the stream, KQED is evaluating its possible use for fundraisers and it’s hopeful that others in public media will, too.
KQED Executive Vice President and COO Donald Derheim stated: “We want to create a better public radio experience during our on-air fundraising periods. This is, we hope, only a step toward alternative funding models that generate significant donor revenue and enable uninterrupted access to great programming.”