Capstone Paper
May 13, 2014
Andrew Gibson
Laura Davison
Jake Kreinberg
Kristofferson Culmer
Manav Singhal
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary ………………………………………………………….…………………..…2
Description of Task ………………………………………………………………………………... 3
Description of Process …………………………………………..…...…………………………... 3
Appendix I: Business Plan …………………………………………………………………..….. 11
Appendix II: Program Listing …………………………………………………………………... 20
Appendix III: Video of App in Use ……………………………………………………..………. 27
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
For the Reynolds Journalism Institute Student Competition, we were tasked with developing a
mobile application that combines content from PBS, APM, NPR, PRI and/or PRX as part of a
public-media-wide effort to lower the average age of its news consumers and push further into
the digital realm.
Our application is ShortCut, a multimedia business news app for Android devices. Users enter
their commute time, select whether they want audio and/or video content and then get a playlist
that matches their travel time. They can upvote or downvote stories, allowing the app to learn
their preferences over time.
ShortCut’s primary target audience is smartphone-owning 25- to 49-year-old professionals who
live in urban and suburban areas (especially those will longer than average commutes).This is a
coveted market segment for advertisers because it’s full of young people with above-average
incomes. If ShortCut takes off and the public media sponsorship network is able to raise its
rates by just 1 percent, our app could generate an additional $2.29 million in revenue for public
media (see the business plan for more detail about how we came up with this figure).
Many hours of research went into the creation of ShortCut. From fleshing out our idea to crafting
a full business plan to conducting usability testing, this was no simple task. Although we didn’t
win the RJI Student Competition, our team walks away with a working application and a plan for
how to launch it into the public media sphere.
The rest of this document gives more detail on the steps of this project and references the
research behind our various decisions. It also contains the finished business plan and a video of
ShortCut in its final working state.
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I. OUR TASK
Public media has a problem. Its legacy platforms -- TV and radio -- have an audience that’s
increasingly old and therefore less willing to adopt digital platforms as its primary way of
consuming news.
An August 2013 article from The Wrap summarizes this problem well. “For PBS, young adults
have sometimes been a ‘lost generation,’” Jason Seiken, the network's general manager of
digital, said. “Children watch ‘Sesame Street’ to learn to read, count and be nice. Then they
disappear until middle-age, when they learn to appreciate ‘Masterpiece Theater,’ ‘Frontline’
documentaries and nature shows.”
Although organizations like PBS have made efforts to reach the young-adult demographic on
the entertainment front (programs like “Downton Abbey,” which has performed well among the
18-34 demographic, are a great example), public media are still looking for the right way to
expose young people to their news content.
Thus the Public Media Platform. This burgeoning digital infrastructure aims to combine content
from multiple public media providers (including National Public Radio, Public Broadcasting
Service, Public Radio Exchange, American Public Media and Public Radio International) under
a single application programming interface (API).
And thus the Reynolds Journalism Institute Student Competition. We were assigned to develop
a news application that:
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Is optimized for mobile devices
○ This could be a web or native application
Delivers content to a clearly defined target market
Must serve up content from at least two different public media content providers via the
PMP API alone or from a combination of APIs
Content should not be divided based on where the content came from
II. THE PROCESS
The pitch
In developing our idea, we first honed in on the problem public media faces: an increasingly old
primary audience.
That’s why the idea of creating an application for commuters first came to mind. If people are
commuting, that means they’re working. If they’re working, that means they’re likely in the 65
demographic. And if they’re working and own a smartphone, the right boundary of that range
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sinks to a significantly younger age. Proof comes from a Pew Internet study published in
January 2014:
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83 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds own smartphones
74 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds own smartphones
49 percent of 50- to 64-year-olds own smartphones
19 percent of people older than 65 own smartphones
We also had strategic reasons for pitching an application focused solely on business news.
First, public media has a vast trove of both audio and video business news, thus ensuring
ShortCut would contain a wide spectrum of content.
Currently, the app has integrated more than a dozen programs:
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Marketplace from APM
Marketplace Money from APM
Marketplace Tech Report from APM
Marketplace Morning Report from APM
Marketplace Whiteboard from APM
Marketplace Conversations from the Corner Office from APM
NPR Business
NPR Economy
Planet Money from NPR
PBS NewsHour
Social Entrepreneurship from PRI
Freakonomics Radio from WYNC
Money Talking from WYNC
For a full list of desired programs we’d eventually like to integrate into ShortCut, see Appendix
II.
Another benefit to focusing on business news is that, though we can’t prove this with
quantitative research, it’s logical to assume those who listen to business news have aboveaverage incomes. The content focuses on topics like stocks, economic health and
entrepreneurship, things that would seem only to interest people with assets invested in
financial markets.
Lastly, it’s worth noting why we chose to pitch our app for Android instead of iOS. Not only were
our two developers more comfortable developing for this platform, but Android also has
important demographic advantages. Simply put, “Android is more popular among young
people,” according to a 2013 eMarketer study.
Here’s a numeric breakdown:
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After pitching our idea, we were one of two teams selected to develop applications for the
competition. This is what we said ShortCut would do:
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Allow users to enter their commute time and get a playlist of audio and video business
news that fits that time
Allow users to play, pause and skip stories
Allow users to upvote and downvote stories, allowing ShortCut to learn user preferences
over time and thus provide tailored playlists
Provide a framework that would allow for sponsorship messages, display advertisements
or pledge drives to be eventually incorporated
Provide a largely hands-free experience
Provide the ability to share stories on Facebook and Twitter
Target two audiences (more on this in the business plan):
○ Smartphone owning 25-49 year-old professionals who live in urban and suburban
areas, especially those will longer than average commutes.
○ Smartphone owning professionals who already listen to or watch public media in
traditional broadcasts formats.
Designing the app
As with
design
begun
sketches
possible
virtually any
process, we
with
rudimentary
of all the
app screens:
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Afterward, it was a matter of turning these sketches into basic wireframes using Adobe
Illustrator. Here’s an example of what we created:
We quickly learned none of us had the graphic design abilities to create the final user-interface
elements for ShortCut, so we decided to use some of our designated $3,500 to hire Haley
Arndt, a recent Missouri School of Journalism graduate who now works as the creative
marketing director at 1canoe2.
We largely gave her creative freedom on the design. A few stipulations we provided were:
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To make blue dark blue a primary color
○ According to a blog post from social media service Buffer about the psychology
of color, blue is associated with sentiments like power, credibility, professionalism
and business. Given ShortCut is a business news app aimed at working
professionals, we felt it was essential to make blue a primary color.
To include sharp edges and clean lines
To convey in the logo that the app is designed for commuters
After we provided these initial specifications, Arndt immediately began working on the design
elements. She regularly sent files our way and asked for our feedback. Everything on the design
front was more or less finalized by the first week of April, thus giving our developers plenty of
time to incorporate them into the app.
Coming up with a name
This was one of the most difficult parts of the process. At first, our names were far too literal
(some of the initial ideas were BusinessRide and BusinessTrip. After several discussions during
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weekly conference calls, though, we learned we should coming up with a name that conveys the
abstract benefits of the app, not what it literally does.
That brought us to “ShortCut.” There are three purposes for the name:
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The concept of a shortcut is fundamentally tied to travel and transit. You take shortcuts
while walking or driving to arrive at your destination more quickly. Given our app’s
defining feature is business news timed to your commute, implying transit in the name is
crucial.
The hope is that users will be so engaged in the business news they’re listening
to/watching that it will make their commute seem to go by quicker (a figurative shortcut
of sorts)
The audience using this app will presumably be working professionals looking to excel
quickly in their careers. By using ShortCut on their morning and evening commutes,
they’ll be more informed about what’s happening in the world of business. The app thus
serves as a shortcut up the corporate ladder.
Development
Technical overview
Core functionality
The video function of the ShortCut is powered by the PBS Cove API, which conforms to REST
standards. The audio function of the app is powered by the NPR API.
Commute-time function
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ShortCut always load more minutes of content than a user requests. Finding a mix of content
that exactly matches an entered commute time is virtually impossible, so the app errs on the
side of caution and loads more minutes than necessary.
Recommendation engine
Currently, ShortCut only factors in content upvotes into the recommendation system. The
downvoting feature will need to be integrated later.
The engine is based on a similarity score. Essentially, when a logged-in user upvotes a piece of
content, ShortCut will calculate a score for that piece of content that factors in its length, source
and the words in its headline. Over time, the app will learn user preferences and come up with a
master score that influences the app’s content decisions.
Business plan
While our developers hashed out code, the journalism and business members of our team
worked on crafting a business plan that highlighted ShortCut’s competition and outlined
marketing strategies and financial projections. Much of the research we did for this app lives
in the business plan.
You can view the full business plan in Appendix I. However, it’s worth noting here that part of
our promotional plan was to build a video and Web page for ShortCut. Here’s a screenshot of
the Web page, which contains a YouTube embed of the video we shot and edited:
Usability testing
After the bulk of ShortCut had been developed, we recruited three volunteers to run through a
series of tasks while we observed and took notes. The tasks included:
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Logging in
Entering a commute time, choosing audio/video content and then starting the commute
Listening to audio and video content, including switching between the two and skipping
stories
Upvoting and downvoting content
Checking upvoted stories
Editing a commute
Logging out
During observation, we noticed several things that we needed to change before our final
presentation:
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Some stories had incorrect imagery associated with them
The upvote and downvote buttons didn’t have the correct effects needed to indicate they
were being tapped
Hitting the upvote button was causing the app to crash
The email field of the login was autocorrecting when it shouldn’t
The upvote, downvote, social sharing and skip story buttons weren’t grayed out for
unregistered users
The back button didn’t work when the commute was in progress
On the side flyout menu, users were confused by the “History” tab. They thought it would
take them to a list of all their past commutes when it fact it only shows upvoted stories.
There were a few typos
We did testing on the Wednesday before the presentation the following Monday. That meant our
developers had ample time to fix these bugs.
Presentation judging
We presented ShortCut both to a panel of public media judges and at the RJI Tech Showcase
the following morning (view the latter presentation here).
In the end, we did not win the competition.
Future steps
Although ShortCut didn’t win the RJI Student Competition, it’s still worth highlighting future
features that we could integrate to make the app a viable product in the Google Play Store:
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Voice commands for play, pause, upvote, downvote and skip story
Add programs from PRI
Add a bar at the top of the play screen that indicates how far along users are in their
commute
Add a button on the play screen that allows users to add five minutes to their commute if
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they get stuck in traffic, etc.
Allow users to download playlists to their phone in case they’re traveling in an area
without reliable reception
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APPENDIX I: THE BUSINESS PLAN
Fundamentals
Mission statement
ShortCut is the intelligent mobile app that gives on-the-go professionals a hands-free way to
stay connected with the latest business news from public media providers.
Tagline
Commute Intelligently.
Company description
ShortCut is a business news application for commuters. ShortCut asks for a user’s commute
length and serves up a personalized playlist of audio and video business news from American
Public Media, National Public Radio, Public Media International and Public Broadcasting
Service.
ShortCut playlists start and stop with you, meaning you can extend or shorten your commute
playlist depending on traffic. ShortCut gives you quality public media content based on your
interests.
Differentiation statement
This is specifically designed for professionals who commute. There isn’t a news app out there
that targets this group.
There are plenty of personalized news apps, business-news apps and transportation apps. But
there isn’t an app that combines all three functions. The entire experience is delivered with the
user in mind — no cumbersome log-in experience, no banner ads that steal attention from the
content.
Industry analysis
There are several personalized news apps and several commuter-friendly news apps. We’ll give
brief summaries of these “quasi competitors.”
Notable personalized news apps
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Flipboard: This is probably the most popular personalized-news apps. Users can
connect their Twitter and Facebook accounts, allowing Flipboard to deliver personalized
content based on what it learns about your social media accounts. Users can also select
topics that interest them and create individualized “magazines” with custom content.
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Flipboard has seen significant success. In April 2013, the company said, “Over 50
percent of its users are reading these personalized ‘zines daily,” according to
TechCrunch.
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Zite: Users choose topics that interest them (movies, professional football etc.), and then
the app delivers news content about each topic. Users can view a “top stories” page that
pulls the top content from all selected topics, or they can view stories one topic at a time.
Users can give a thumbs up or down to individual stories, allowing Zite to learn users’
preferences.
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Pulse: This LinkedIn-built app is similar to Zite. The main difference is that instead of
users selecting topics that interest them, they select news organizations they like. Users
can give a thumbs up or down to individual stories, allowing Pulse to learn users’
preferences.
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Feedly: Also similar to Zite, but this app is broken down by specific websites. You select
topics that interested you, and then Feedly finds relevant articles. If you read one you
like, you can then follow the site.
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StumbleUpon: This app is not specifically for news, but it uses the same concept as the
previously mentioned apps. Users select their interests, and then StumbleUpon delivers
relevant content. There is an upvoting and downvoting feature, as well.
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NPR’s Infinite Player: See description in following section.
Notable commuter-friendly news apps
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NPR’s Infinite Player: A Nieman Lab article nicely summarizes how Infinite Player
works: “Press play to hear the latest NPR newscast, followed by a never-ending playlist
of random feature stories. It doesn’t stop till you turn it off, just like the radio. Optionally,
click ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ while listening and a secret algorithm adapts to your
preferences.”
It might sound strange to call Infinite Player a competitor given NPR is one of the key
contributors to the Public Media Platform. But we must consider it such because NPR
certainly does. When PMP Executive Director Kristin Calhoun tried to set up a phone call
between our team and the Infinite Player developers so we could learn from them, NPR
refused. Apparently, it’s worried proprietary information about Infinite Player could leak.
Thus, it appears even apps developed within public media should be considered
competitors.
We have good reason to pay close attention to Infinite Player. Although it’s not designed
for commuters, the fact it plays news content endlessly while adapting to user tastes
means it could very well become part of a commuter’s routine.
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WYNC’s Discover App: “Designed originally with offline underground subway riders in
mind, the feature will generate custom downloadable playlists for users who punch in the
topics that interest them and the amount of time they want to listen,” according to a New
York Times article.
This feature, which is integrated into the WYNC app, presents somewhat of a threat
given it’s specifically tailored to commuters. However, it isn’t focused on business news.
That means ShortCut still has competitive advantages.
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The Tribune Company’s Newsbeat: No doubt, this app shares many similarities with
ShortCut (for the record, Newsbeat was released after we came up with our concept). It
“provides personalized audio streams of news stories consumers can listen to during
their commute,” according to TechCrunch. What’s more, users can select their favorite
topics and and skip stories they don’t like. A potential weakness, though, is that
Newsbeat partially relies on text-to-speech technology. For some stories, a robotic voice
reads text out loud, which can sound awkward.
Here’s a summary of our three primary competitors:
Discover
Infinite Player
Newsbeat
Commute-time
function?
YES
NO
NO
iOS?
YES
YES
YES
Android?
YES
NO
YES
Content from
multiple umbrella
organizations?
YES
NO
YES
ShortCut’s competitive advantages:
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Commute-time feature
Business-news centric (meaning we have a niche audience with above-average income,
making it attractive to advertisers)
Audio and video content
Content from four public media providers
How we’ll fare in the market
It’s difficult to make a numeric prediction of what kind of market share this app will gain. That’s
because ShortCut aims to create a new market: personalized business news for commuters.
We have quasi-competitors in the personalized news app market and in WYNC’s Discover app
and the Tribune Company’s Newsbeat -- but our app still presents a unique set of features,
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which we’ve already outlined.
In today’s oversaturated mobile-app market, being unique is hugely important. Consider these
two (non-consecutive) paragraphs from an industry analysis conducted by IBISWorld, a market
research firm:
The number of smartphone app developers has grown exponentially over the past few
years due to low barriers to entry and solid demand for a seemingly endless array of
possible app creations. As a result, competition between industry operators for market
share remains extremely high.
With an overwhelming number of new mobile apps entering the market each year,
developers will need to find new ways of marketing their new apps and reaching out to
consumers in a saturated market. Creating an effective marketing pitch that
differentiates the product from other similar ones and reaching the greatest possible
audience is expected to be one of the challenges that developers must overcome in the
next five years.
Essentially, competition is fierce in the mobile-app space because there are so many products
— many of them similar — vying for consumers’ attention. Thus, any app offering an unrivaled
set of features immediately gains an advantage because customers don’t have to spend time
comparing it to other similar products. It’s an easy decision to download it.
The question then becomes whether a large number of consumers will learn of the app exists.
Consider this paragraph from the IBISWorld analysis of the mobile-app industry (emphasis
added):
App developers also compete over visibility. In the crowded environment of smartphone
app development, a product's visibility is almost as important as its functionality.
Developers who are unable to expend large amounts on advertising are usually unable
to rise above the fold and capture enough consumer attention to profit from their
products. This naturally favors larger firms who can rely on brand recognition and
bigger advertising budgets to help distinguish their apps.
ShortCut will benefit from the financial backing of the PMP and the high-recognition brands
contributing content to it. NPR and PBS, for example, are household names with recognizable
branding.
Thus, given the unique features ShortCut offers and the financial and marketing support the
PMP and its members offer, the app has great potential for success.
Marketing plan
Target audience
We have a two-tiered audience we are seeking to reach with ShortCut. The first group is more
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important, because this group is adding new members to the public media audience.
1. Smartphone owning 25-49 year-old professionals who live in urban and suburban
areas, especially those will longer than average commutes.
According to census data, the average commute nationwide is 25 minutes. The longest
commutes in the U.S. are in the following metropolitan areas
● New York (35 minutes)
● Washington (33 minutes)
● Chicago (31 minutes)
● Atlanta (30 minutes)
● Riverside-San Bernadino (30 minutes)
● Stockton, Calif. (30 minutes)
● Baltimore (30 minutes)
Some other cities that didn’t make the list for longest commutes, but are also cities with long
commutes and large populations of young professionals are:
● Minneapolis
● Seattle
● Dallas
● Boston
● Denver
● Boston
● Austin
2. Smartphone owning professionals who already listen to or watch public media in
traditional broadcasts formats.
The goal here is not to detract from the times they already listen or watch public media content.
Rather, the goal is to introduce them to new programs and new ways to consume public media
content. We are turning existing users into super-users. With ShortCut, they can access content
during interstices of their day public media content is usually not available to them (waiting in
line for coffee, going on a walk, etc).
Basic information for promotional materials
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App Name: ShortCut (Style guide: one word, uppercase S, uppercase C)
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Tagline: Commute Intelligently
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One sentence descriptor: ShortCut is an audio and video business news app for
commuters from public media providers.
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Selling points: ShortCut allows you to enter your commute specifications and provides
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you with personalized content from trusted sources so you arrive at your destination
better informed.
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Problem solving sentence: According to a white paper from mobile strategies
company Apppli, an estimated 60 percent of downloads come directly from users who
discover apps through app stores. To do this, our app description needs to include as
many keywords to make this app. For example: “ShortCut: Business News for
Commuters From Public Media.”
Marketing tactics
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Priority cities: We have identified a dozen cities where there are high concentrations of
our target audience and a culture that is supportive and accepting of public media to
focus efforts. The cities we selected have strong public media member radio and
television station. These stations can be asked to serve as ambassadors for the app.
Messaging and materials can be provided to them to disseminate information about the
app. Stations are incentivized to do this, because their local content is included in the
app. Additionally, programs heavily featured in the app (Marketplace, Planet Money,
PBS NewsHour, etc). are also incentivized to promote the app to their users. Outreach
to public media providers will include a video, app information, download information and
images for the local stations to include on their social and web platforms.
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Outreach to non-public media tech, business and professional lifestyle
publications/sites: The target audience for ShortCut are already avid news and
information consumers, so outreach to them should occur in traditional and digital-only
media spaces. At the same time outreach to public media providers occurs, outreach to
non-public media providers will occur. Both nationwide and city-specific publications will
be targeted. Sites like Mashable, GigaOm and Fast Company, in additional to business
desks at metro dailies will be targeted.
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Word of mouth and burst marketing: Taxi hailing app Uber, which appeals to a similar
market of smartphone-connected professionals in major metropolitan markets, says,
“Word of mouth is absolutely our biggest source of growth. Uber is the type of
experience that people want to tell their friends about.”
Like Uber, ShortCut is an experience that fits seamlessly into the daily life of a commuter.
Apppli’s white paper recommends employing “burst marketing” to end up on most downloaded
lists: “To skyrocket your app to the top of your category, the app store ranking algorithm dictates
that you need to attract as many downloads in the shortest period of time possible.
The time straight before launching your app is the most critical for your success, as waiting until
your app is on the market can cost you money in missed sales.” Coordinating the outreach and
release dates is essential to employ this burst strategy.
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Promotional materials
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Website: We have built a responsive website that serves as the app’s landing page. The
website serves a the main point of contact for organic search. The app explains through
video, graphics and text what the app is, how to use it and how to download it.
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Promotional video demonstrating use-cases: This promotional video shows how the
app seamlessly fits into the daily lifestyle of our target audience.
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Environment/outdoor ads: Billboards, bus station, commuter rail and subway ads will
be purchased in high volume morning and evening commute routes. Advertisements will
include short, simple messaging that includes download information.
Financial projections
Before discussing how to monetize ShortCut, it’s important to note the revenue model of public
media. More than half of all funds are generated through support from member stations. Just a
fifth comes from corporate sponsorships.
For this app, we have not included an option for users to donate. However, the opportunity for
“in-app pledge drives” could be an option for future monetization. If this option were to be
implemented, decisions would need to be made if users donate to the providers, the programs
themselves or to their local NPR or PBS station.
With that in mind, we didn’t want to jeopardize the image of public media when thinking about
ShortCut. We could have used a third-party ad network such as AdMob through Google, but we
would have sacrificed control over what was shown to our users. There would be banner ads
with messages from organizations not vetted by public media.
Using the CPM rates provided to us by National Public Media, we can project the revenue
ShortCut will bring in based on the number of monthly users. Included in this plan is a dynamic
spreadsheet that shows the revenue for every level of user adoption.
Following are three levels of likely user adoption, based on the following conservative
assumptions:
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Users will use ShortCut an average of five days a month
Users will listen for an average 20 minutes per day the app is in use
The app will serve three, 10-second sponsorship messages per 15 minutes of content
Case 1: ShortCut amasses 100 active users
● $600 revenue/annually
Case 2: ShortCut amasses 1,000 active users
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$6,000 revenue/annually
Case 2: ShortCut amasses 5,000 active users
● $30,000 revenue/annually
These are conservative user numbers and based on the assumption there will be limited-to-no
budget for promotion and advertising.
The easiest way to grow revenue is to increase the number of minutes existing users listen,
rather than to increase the number of users. Encouraging people to use the app on their
evening commutes or while running errands will double or triple the number of minutes each
user listens.
For the app to generate $1 million/annually, ShortCut would need 100,000 users listening an
average of five days a month for 33 minutes a day.
For comparison, the NPR news apps has nearly 1 million unique users per month. It is unlikely a
specialized app such as ShortCut will gather as large a following, but there is the possibility to
grow the usership base substantially, as evidenced by other public media apps.
ShortCut is not yet hooked in to the NPM network. However, the app has a door open to interact
with that advertising network.
Here’s the spreadsheet we’ve used to make these financial projections. It provides different
scenarios based on number of yearly users, eCPMs and number of impressions.
Another perspective to take when projecting revenue is to consider raising sponsorship rates.
Currently, ShortCut has programs from the APM, PBS, PRI and NPR. We looked at these
organizations’ most recent annual reports and learned that they made the following in
sponsorship and underwriting revenue:
● APM: $25.1 million
● NPR: $43.9 million
● PBS: $158.7 million
● PRI: $1.3 million
Given ShortCut would deliver a young and educated audience with above-average incomes, it’s
reasonable to think NPM could raise its rates by 1 percent. The result would be an additional
$2.29 million in yearly revenue.
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APPENDIX II: PROGRAM LIST
This is a wish list of all the programs and podcasts across public media we’d like to eventually
integrate into ShortCut.
Podcasts
General business news
Business Story of the Day
● NPR
● About five minutes
● Published once a weekday at about 9:30 a.m.
● Picks one feature business story from programs like All Things Considered and Morning
Edition. The one I listened to focused on the increasing prominence of American craft
beers as highlighted by a Belgian company’s purchase of Kansas City’s Boulevard b
Marketplace
● APM
● About 30 minutes
● Published once a weekday between 1-3:30 p.m.
● “American Public Media's Marketplace is public radio's daily magazine on business and
economics news for the rest of us. Each day, host Kai Ryssdal and guests bring you the
best in business news from wallet to Wall Street. The Marketplace podcast is updated
Monday through Friday.” (link)
Marketplace Morning Report
● APM
● 5-7 minutes
● Published once a weekday very early: between 4:30-6:30 a.m.
● Short breakdown of the day’s business stories, ranging from holiday shipping to
legislation to the coal industry
Money Talking
● WYNC
● About 10 minutes
● Published Fridays
● “New Yorkers crave informed and intelligent business and economic news. WNYC’s
Money Talking brings you just that with lively conversations that go beyond the
headlines and the jargon to explore the most important business stories of the week.
Every Friday join Jeff Greenfield as he hosts regular WNYC contributors Joe Nocera
(The New York Times) and Rana Foroohar (Time). Context, conversation and insight.
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That’s WNYC's Money Talking.” (link)
PBS NewsHour
● PBS
● The full-length program is one hour. You can also download individual segments that are
about 10 minutes each.
● The full-length program is published at 3 p.m. The individual segments are published
between 3-5 p.m.
● This is a general news program, but some segments are business-related. Would be
worth checking whether segments have meta tags and whether the PBS API allows for
selecting stories based on tags.
Niche business topic
Planet Money (focuses on money and economics)
● NPR
● About 30 minutes
● Some of the stories appear on All Things Considered, Morning Edition and This
American Life
● Published twice a week: Usually on a Thursday and Saturday, but that varies a bit
● Features economics stories told in a relatable format. It’s “fun” money news, if that
makes sense
Marketplace Money (focuses on money)
● APM
● About 50 minutes
● Published once a week on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday
● “Host Kai Ryssdal looks at major national and international stories that impact the
average listener's wallet. It's ‘the money show for the rest of us.’” (link)
From Scratch (focuses on entrepreneurship)
● NPR
● About 50 minutes
● Published once a week, usually on Fridays but sometimes on Thursdays and
Wednesdays.
● “From Scratch reviews the entrepreneurial life with leading pioneers from the business
world, the social sector, entertainment, and the arts. From Scratch personalizes the lives
of entrepreneurs by providing listeners with a candid, first-hand view of the launching
process” (link)
Marketplace Conversations from the Corner Office (focuses on business executives)
● APM
● About five minutes
● Published inconsistently, but never more than twice a month. Sometimes, zero times
a month.
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“Marketplace goes one-on-one with leaders of the world's great companies to talk about
what drives them, what their passions are, how they look at the world and how they put it
all together to add up to success.” (link)
Marketplace Whiteboard (focuses on finance)
● APM
● One to three minutes
● Video podcast
● Published inconsistently. There were none between October 2012 and March 2013.
Since then, there has been roughly one a month.
● “Marketplace Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch makes complicated financial concepts easy to
understand in this entertaining, informative series.” (link)
Work with Marty Nemko (focuses on the workplace)
● KALW in San Francisco
● About one hour
● Published Mondays
● “Take your work life to the next level” (link)
Marketplace Tech Report (focuses on technology)
● APM
● About seven minutes
● Published weekdays very early in the morning
● “Each weekday, newsmakers, visionaries and creators about what's happening in the
fast-paced world of technology and what it means in our daily lives.” (link)
Location-specific business news
Business Beat (mid-Missouri)
● KBIA in Columbia, Mo.
● About eight minutes
● Published roughly once a week, though there is variation
● Business stories important to mid-Missouri
Business Update with Marc Lacter (Southern California)
● KPCC in Southern California
● About five minutes
● Published Tuesdays at about 6 a.m.
● “Once a week, business analyst Mark Lacter joins KPCC for a look at economic issues
in Southern California” (link)
The Business Beat (central New England)
● WICN in Worcester, Mass.
● About 30 minutes
● Published Sundays
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“An in-depth interview show that highlights the world of Central New England's business
and economic-development leaders. Learn about their successes and failures as well as
their hopes and dreams. The Business Beat is hosted by Steve D'Agostino and is heard
on WICN Public Radio, New England's Jazz” (link)
Location specific AND niche business topic news
AM 580’s Closing Market Report (agriculture news, specific to Midwest)
● WILL in Urbana, Ill.
● About 30 minutes
● Published once a weekday at about 2 p.m.
● Gives updates on commodity prices and weather across the Midwest. Also has general
news stories on agriculture
AM 580’s Commodity Week (agriculture news, specific to Midwest)
● WILL in Urbana, Ill.
● About 30 minutes
● Published Friday afternoons (exact time varies)
● “A Weekly Review of Farm and Agriculture Markets in the Midwest” (link)
Mid-Morning Market Report (agriculture news, specific to Midwest)
● WILL in Urbana, Ill.
● About 10 minutes
● Published weekdays
● “Mid-Morning Agriculture Prices and Market Analysis” (link)
Money Talks (personal finance, specific to Mississippi)
● WMPN in Jackson, Miss.
● About one hour
● Published Tuesdays
● “Money Talks focuses on personal finance as it applies to Mississippians. In any given
week, we’ll talk about anything from preparing your taxes to saving for college or
investing in the stock market.” (link)
Out To Lunch (specific to New Orleans)
● WWNO in New Orleans
● About 25 minutes
● Published Thursdays
● About entrepreneurship in New Orleans (link)
On-air programs
General business news
Marketplace
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APM
About 30 minutes
Airs every weekday. The airtime varies by station, but it generally airs at about 6:30
p.m. Here’s the list of local airtimes.
“American Public Media's Marketplace is public radio's daily magazine on business and
economics news for the rest of us. Each day, host Kai Ryssdal and guests bring you the
best in business news from wallet to Wall Street. The Marketplace podcast is updated
Monday through Friday” (link)
Marketplace Morning Report
● APM
● 5-7 minutes
● Airs every weekday. The airtime varies by station, but it always airs at either 5:51,
6:51, 7:51 or 8:51 a.m. Here’s the list of local airtimes.
● Short breakdown of the day’s business stories, ranging from holiday shipping to
legislation to the coal industry
Money Talking
● WYNC
● About 10 minutes
● Airs Fridays at 5:50 and 7:50 a.m. (here’s the schedule)
● “New Yorkers crave informed and intelligent business and economic news. WNYC???s
Money Talking brings you just that with lively conversations that go beyond the
headlines and the jargon to explore the most important business stories of the week.
Every Friday join Jeff Greenfield as he hosts regular WNYC contributors Joe Nocera
(The New York Times) and Rana Foroohar (Time). Context, conversation and insight.
That???s WNYC's Money Talking.” (link)
Niche business topic
Marketplace Money (focuses on money)
● APM
● About 50 minutes
● Airs once a week. It usually airs on Saturdays or Sundays, though that varies by
market. The airtime varies widely by market. Here’s a list of local airtimes.
● “Host Kai Ryssdal looks at major national and international stories that impact the
average listener's wallet. It's ‘the money show for the rest of us.’” (link)
Work with Marty Nemko (focuses on the workplace)
● KALW in San Francisco
● About one hour
● Airs Sundays at 11 a.m. (schedule)
● “Take your work life to the next level” (link)
Marketplace Tech Report (focuses on technology)
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APM
About seven minutes
Airs weekdays. The exact time varies significantly by station (schedule)
“Each weekday, newsmakers, visionaries and creators about what's happening in the
fast-paced world of technology and what it means in our daily lives.” (link)
Location-specific business news
Business Beat (mid-Missouri)
● KBIA in Columbia, Mo.
● About eight minutes
● Airs Wednesdays at 5:20 p.m. and Thursdays at 8:21 a.m.
● Business stories important to mid-Missouri
Business Update with Marc Lacter (Southern California)
● KPCC in in Southern California
● About five minutes
● Airs Tuesday mornings (Lacter recently died, so will need to check whether the show
continues)
● “Once a week, business analyst Mark Lacter joins KPCC for a look at economic issues
in Southern California” (link)
The Business Beat (central New England)
● WICN in Worcester, Mass.
● About 30 minutes
● Airs Sundays at 10 p.m. (schedule)
● “An in-depth interview show that highlights the world of Central New England's business
and economic-development leaders. Learn about their successes and failures as well as
their hopes and dreams. The Business Beat is hosted by Steve D'Agostino and is heard
on WICN Public Radio, New England's Jazz” (link)
Location specific AND niche business topic news
Opening Market Report (agriculture news, specific to Midwest)
● WILL in Urbana, Ill.
● About 10 minutes
● Airs weekdays at 9:05 a.m.
● “Mid-Morning Agriculture Prices and Market Analysis” (link)
Mid-Morning Market Report (agriculture news, specific to Midwest)
● WILL in Urbana, Ill.
● About 10 minutes
● Airs weekdays at 10:05 a.m.
● “Mid-Morning Agriculture Prices and Market Analysis” (link)
Mid Day Market Report (agriculture news, specific to Midwest)
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WILL in Urbana, Ill.
About 10 minutes
Airs weekdays at 12:45 p.m.
“Mid-Morning Agriculture Prices and Market Analysis” (link)
Closing Market Report (agriculture news, specific to Midwest)
● WILL in Urbana, Ill.
● About 30 minutes
● Airs weekdays at 3:05 p.m.
● Gives updates on commodity prices and weather across the Midwest. Also has general
news stories on agriculture (link)
AM 580’s Commodity Week (agriculture news, specific to Midwest)
● WILL in Urbana, Ill.
● About 30 minutes
● Airs Saturdays at 6 a.m.
● “A Weekly Review of Farm and Agriculture Markets in the Midwest” (link)
Money Talks (personal finance, specific to Mississippi)
● WMPN in Jackson, Miss.
● About one hour
● Airs Tuesdays at 9 a.m.
● “Money Talks focuses on personal finance as it applies to Mississippians. In any given
week, we’ll talk about anything from preparing your taxes to saving for college or
investing in the stock market.” (link)
Out To Lunch (specific to New Orleans)
● WWNO in New Orleans
● About 25 minutes
● Airs Thursdays at 1 p.m. and Fridays at 6:30 p.m. (schedule)
● About entrepreneurship in New Orleans (link)
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APPENDIX III: VIDEO OF APP IN USE
http://youtu.be/3_Xvs5tOdNE
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