From the Radio World “Who’s Buying What” page: 88.3 WBGO(FM), licensed to Newark, N.J., is the only full-time jazz station in the New York City tri-state area. This fall, it partnered with SoundStack to launch programmatic advertising on its stream.
It’s the first noncom station to partner with SoundStack for programmatic ads, the technology company told us.
SoundStack said that its Marketplace platform presents noncom stations the opportunity to book accounts that would not conform to FCC restrictions for underwriting and sponsorship copy.
Since the Trump administration executive order and the subsequent wind-down of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, WBGO has held several fund drives in the last few months. But according to a SoundStack release, the station sought long-term funding sources.
Crafting ads
WBGO reaches an audience of approximately 100,000 weekly listeners via its live stream, according to the release, using SoundStack as its streaming partner.
The station began selling streaming inventory in programmatic ad exchange through SoundStack Marketplace this fall. Each ad impression is auctioned in an open exchange and sold to the highest bidder within a few weeks, the company said.
Steve Williams, WBGO’s president and CEO, said the station has used concise messaging around the change to be straight with listeners. Mindful of “inappropriate ads” ending up on its live stream, Williams said WBGO monitors controls through the Marketplace platform.
That the insertions sound much different than traditional noncom copy, Williams said, is a positive for the advertiser, because the listener will react to the difference in “texture.”
SoundStack said that WBGO has added “thousands in incremental sponsor revenue” from the time CPB began to wind down.
Listener response
Williams cited two messages from listeners. One understood why the station opted for the ads and, as a longtime supporter, wished WBGO the best, while another listener was fine with the content of the ads but requested that their volume level match that of its on-air announcers.
Most listeners realized that the station is running on a tight budget in the wake of cutbacks, the release said.
Williams believes the practice will become commonplace in the future.
“Traditional media, in response to consistent shrinkage of audiences and revenue sources, must adapt with an open and opportunistic mind to generate new, non-traditional revenue,” Williams said in the release.
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