Fishing For Listeners

WBUR’s new ad campaign is a rarity for public radio

In a series of new TV ads, Bostonians are featured in a montage of scenes at local places from Out of Town News to J.P. Licks. Laced throughout the spots are phrases such as “UR smarter than they think’’ and “UR taking it all in.’’

Johnny Diaz in a story at boston.com explains the “UR’’ refers to listeners of 90.9 WBUR-FM, and the ads are part of the Boston National Public Radio affiliate’s new marketing campaign aimed at differentiating itself at a time when it faces fierce competition from 89.7 FM WGBH, another NPR broadcaster. Analysts say the aggressive advertising campaign, which includes TV ads and billboards along Interstate 93 and the Massachusetts Turnpike, is a rarity for public radio.

“Another competitor going directly after the same audience they have makes it all the more important for them to go out there and market themselves,’’ said Scott Fybush, a radio industry analyst. “Public stations are becoming more savvy about their marketing.’’

Corey Lewis, WBUR’s station manager, said the campaign is designed to identify how the station augments and supplements NPR programming, but he acknowledged that it also has to do with the growing competition from WGBH. “That certainly is part of it,’’ said Lewis, who added that the print ads will launch this month.

Indeed, the two public broadcasters have been engaged in a battle — for listeners and donors — since last December when WGBH reinvented 89.7 FM to a full-time, news-talk format and began running syndicated NPR programs that WBUR carries. WGBH also launched two news-talk shows: “The Emily Rooney Show’’ and “The Callie Crossley Show.’’ In response, WBUR expanded its weekly local news magazine show, “Radio Boston,’’ to a daily program last May.

WBUR still leads in Boston public radio. In November, the station ranked 11th in Boston with a 3.9 percent share of listeners, according to Arbitron. But WGBH is expanding its share of the market: The station ranked 20th last month with a 1.1 percent share of listeners — up from 24th in October. Last month, WBUR drew a weekly audience of 455,400 listeners to its daytime programming, while WGBH attracted 258,900 listeners.

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