Overview
Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! is not a typical weekly news and entertainment radio program. It focuses on testing the audience’s knowledge of news by presenting quizzes that challenge them to determine which is the real news story. This exciting way of presenting news encourages the audience to be aware of current events in order to correctly guess the answers to the questions. This program format gives the show writers material to constantly present in the show by integrating everyday events into the script, which will not only keep the audience entertained, but it will allow them to stay informed. The show is recorded in a studio in Chicago, IL and it is co-produced by National Public Radio and WBEZ, Chicago. Aside from airing the show on the radio, the show is done in front of a live audience and there is a podcast which can be accessed through NPR’s website.
According to the Podcast Industry Audience Ranking released on August 2017,
PODTRAC August 2017 Industry Rankings
“Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! is among the Top 20 Podcasts in the United States.” (PODTRAC, 2017).
Assets
Photo by Kristen Norman
One of its best assets is the show host, Peter Sagal who has been able to captivate audiences since 1998. His charismatic style has been able to maintain audiences throughout the years. His interactions with special guests on the show have kept everyone so entertained that it continuously sells out of tickets for the live shows held at the Chase Auditorium in Chicago. Although, Peter Sagal is the star of the show, like any great show its success also depends on his team who include Bill Kurtis, Carl Kasell, Doug Berman, Mike Danforth, Ian Chillag, Robin Linn, Miles Doornbos, Robert Neuhaus and Lorna White.
Business Model
NPR has over 900 Member Stations that all share the desire to broadcast news to the world and entertain at the same time. This image shows where all of the stations are located;
NPR
A Member Station is an independent, locally owned and operated broadcaster. These stations have the freedom of creating their own schedules and programming based on the interests of the local audience. Some of these stations are affiliated with universities, including Syracuse University which broadcasts Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! on WAER.
Revenue Model
This business model allows NPR to offer public radio stations the ability to apply for an NPR membership that, once approved, would grant them a set of rights to use NPR content. The stations that have a membership are charged a membership fee for individual NPR programs that it decides to broadcast. Its member stations mainly rely on listener contributions and sponsors. However, for NPR its primary source of revenue comes from the fees paid by its members. Its other large source of revenue comes from corporate sponsors, institutional grants, individual contributions and others. For Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! there is some small income that comes from the ticket sales for its live shows.
Moving Forward
We live in a rapidly changing world and many businesses have been left behind when they could not adapt to the new trends and technologies that took over. However, NPR has been able to adjust to modern times successfully. Radio used to be the method of entertainment and it allowed the audience to stay entertained and informed by listening. With today’s technology, people’s attention is constantly on their smartphones. In order to keep up with new consumer trends, radio has been transformed into a multiplatform media, streaming its shows online where people can see them and access them at any time. Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me is one of the shows that adopted this practice. It decided to turn its show into an accessible podcast so all of the audience that could not tune in during the regular program hours, could access it at their convenience. Steve McFarland stated, “NPR Presents is taking public radio out of the studio and into theaters and intimate spaces across America with entertaining, thought-provoking live events.” (McFarland, 2017). NPR Presents allows the audience to purchase tickets so they can attend and watch the live unedited version of the show, which includes a lot of content that usually doesn’t make it on the radio broadcast. Another method that it has adopted is using social media such as Facebook and Twitter, to engage its audience. These methods of adaptation have allowed the show to survive and thrive for almost two decades.
References
Johnson, S. (2016, December 19). NPR’s ‘Wait Wait’ is even more fun live. Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-1220-wait-wait-taping-20161219-story.html
Industry Rankings. (2017, July). Retrieved September 10, 2017, from http://analytics.podtrac.com/industry-rankings/
NPR. (2009, July 16). About ‘Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me’. Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/2010/12/10/110997427/about-wait-wait-don-t-tell-me
NPR. (2013, June 20). Corporate Sponsorship. Retrieved September 12, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/about-npr/186948703/corporate-sponsorship
NPR. (2013, June 20). Stations and Public Media. Retrieved September 13, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/about-npr/178640915/npr-stations-and-public-media
NPR. (2017) NPR Presents. Retrieved September 12, 2017, from https://www.nprpresents.org/
NPR. Public Radio Finances. (2016, June). Retrieved September 13, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/about-npr/178660742/public-radio-finances
NPR. (2017) Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! Retrieved September 13, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/