[This is a summary of Opening Remarks from the BizLab Summit] WBUR BizLab’s mission is to identify and test ideas for new revenue in public radio. WBUR strongly believes that all of us in public media and nonprofit journalism need to remain vibrant and financially strong, so that we can continue to serve our mission […]
BizLab stations across the country spent 2019 testing news ideas for revenue at their stations and in their communities. At the BizLab Summit, each station gave a six-minute overview of their project. Download their slides (PDF) Watch WDET, Vermont Public Radio, and WLRN’s panel discussion, followed by their lightning presentations Watch Louisville Public Media, WAMU, […]
For all media organizations, striking the balance between the desire to diversify revenue streams and the need to maintain high standards of editorial integrity is an urgent concern. In this panel, we will discuss how three of BizLab stations successfully navigated a sustained collaboration between editorial and business-oriented teams at their organizations. Panel Video Moderator: […]
The biggest barriers to innovation are often an organization’s culture and leadership alignment. To address this head-on, the second half of the BizLab Summit focused on what it takes to implement new funding models at your station. Tamsen Webster, a 20-year brand and message strategist and former TEDx Executive Producer, will be the keynote speaker, […]
The stage where most innovation projects fail is not at the beginning or middle, but at the end, when the project’s findings are integrated into the main operations of an organization. No matter how promising the experiment results are, changing priorities to accommodate a new idea or product takes agility and strong leadership. In this […]
There are more technologies than ever that are specifically designed to make the donation and engagement process more streamlined for listeners. In this panel, three stations that have effectively integrated text messaging tools into their existing donor strategies will discuss best practices in different contexts. Moderator: Joan DiMicco, Executive Director, BizLab, WBUR Panelists: Tina Pamintuan, […]
On December 10, 2019, over 100 individuals from media organizations, including many NPR stations, convened for a day of learning. The Summit was a fast-paced day of lightning talks and panel discussions, with invited speakers and station innovators sharing their stations’ new paths to sustainability. We shared best practices, tools, tips, and real life examples […]
Now is the time to try out new revenue ideas WBUR launched BizLab because of a desire to ensure public radio stays financially strong, vibrant, and relevant to our audiences. BizLab is dedicated to evaluating new membership and revenue sources, identifying new markets for content, and developing new partnerships with business, education and tech communities. Since […]
BizLab is very excited to announce the 6 stations we will be working with this year on testing new revenue streams: WAMU, WDET, Capital Public Radio, Louisville Public Media, WLRN, and Vermont Public Radio. We are kicking off work this month with WAMU and LPM, and will ramp up with the other 4 throughout […]
We are pleased to announce today that BizLab has received $250,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in support of our previously announced collaboration with public media stations to design and conduct revenue experiments for public radio in the digital age. This brings the total investment in the initiative to $1 million […]