Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Merf/a/December 2004 Free Riders, Givers, and Heavy Users: Predicting Listener Support for Public Radio

The economy of public radio in the United States has been changing from dependence upon government tax dollars to self-sufficiency based on audience service. In the largest recontact study ever conducted for public radio, 30,834 public radio listeners who kept Arbitron diaries in 18 major markets were interviewed. By linking questionnaire responses to Arbitron diary data, the study determined the predictors of which listeners become givers and which givers contribute at different levels. Giving is driven by reliance upon public radio as measured by listening behavior, along with the realization that public radio has become personally important to the listener. Consistent with economic theory, giving to public radio appears to be driven by impure altruism. In the last two decades, the economy of public radio in the United States has been changing from dependence upon government tax dollars towards self-sufficiency based on audience service. According to audited financial data compiled by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, tax-based support for public radio dropped from 72 % of income in 1980 to 33 % in 2001. Federal tax dollars passed through CPB dropped from 30 % to 14 % of public radio's income, while state tax dollars expended by universities dropped from 23 % to 12%. In the same period, listener contributions increased from 10 to 32 % of public radio's income, while underwriting increased from 8 to 19%. In 2001, listener support reached approximately $200 million, double the 1991 amount when adjusted for inflation (Thomas, 2003). Some academic critics have expressed their discontent with the evolution of public radio towards a self-sufficient medium. McChesney (1995) predicted that "there will be no more government-subsidized broadcasting in the United States by the end of the [199O's]. I believe this is unfortunate and that it is very much in our interest to be expanding through any number of measures the nonprofit an