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> May 24, 2006 - Grassroots Survey

SURVEY SHOWS GRASSROOTS TV IS HIGH VALUE TO LOCAL VIEWERS

Remarkable 62% watch regularly; 91% say channel 12 adds value to cable service.

ASPEN, CO – In a recent scientific, public opinion survey conducted by Talmey-Drake Research Strategy, Inc., GrassRoots TV 12, the nation’s first community access television station celebrating its 35th anniversary, confirmed anecdotal evidence that it is the station watched and valued by locals.

“What we believed to be true actually is true,” said John Masters, executive director at GrassRoots TV.  “GrassRoots TV adds an integral value to the fabric of this community.  The demographic results showed that our best and most reliable viewers are financially stable, educated locals who are politically active and who watch what they think is important on television.  We hear from our community producers that people are watching, but until now we had no measurement to prove it. 

The survey shows that 62% of cable subscribers are watching at least once a week, and talking about the programming they watch.  These results are an important affirmation of our mission and prove that television can be relevant and valuable if the program content is created by the citizens themselves.  This survey is a big pay-off for GrassRoots TV’s strategic efforts and the efforts of thousands of local citizens who have used the channel over the last few years.  That’s both very exciting and very useful to fulfilling our future goals.”

GrassRoots TV commissioned the survey with Comcast Cable to evaluate its awareness  or perception in the market, to assess its local audience share and viewing habits, to measure programming preferences among viewers, and to determine the awareness of the production availability at Aspen’s only community access station. 

The survey also showed that 91% of viewers say GrassRoots TV adds value to their cable service which is an unusually high sense of value for a public access channel.

The demographics of GrassRoots TV viewers includes 83% locals who have had a primary residence in the valley for 6-40 years, are married professionals without children (60%), own their own home (79%), are 35-64 years old (65%), and the majority earn over $50,000 annually while a third earn $100,000.  While the survey showed that GrassRoots TV is the local’s station, it also showed that Plum TV, not a public access station but also in Aspen, has programming geared toward visitors. 

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Viewers of both channels say that GrassRoots TV provides “more informative,” “local,” “community-oriented” programming while Plum TV provides programming about “weather and
ski conditions,” along with “local recreation,” “tourism information,” and “entertainment.”  Overall,
responses to the survey showed that viewers have a good grasp of the differences in
programming between GrassRoots TV and Plum TV, and generally find greater value in GrassRoots TV.

“This is all very positive information that will help us with our grant requests,” said Masters when asked about how the survey results will be used.  “Grant-making organizations are interested in how many people are watching and if GrassRoots TV is a value to the community.  Unlike commercial television, GrassRoots TV does not make programming decisions based on viewership, so it is really heartening that the result of this survey show that people are watching and that GrassRoots TV is a real asset to the community.”  

The survey results also show, however, that viewers aren’t as aware as they could be of GrassRoots TV as a local media that everyone in the community can access.  That perception will be one of the most important results GrassRoots TV will work to change.

The GrassRoots TV mission is to strengthen the community by lowering the barriers to media access.  The survey showed that 4:10 or 41% of viewers were aware they could produce their own show, and of that percentage, only a third (30%) were very or somewhat interested in producing a program of their own once they were informed about the production capabilities of GrassRoots TV. 

Heading into the summer season, GrassRoots TV has 25 regularly scheduled programs created by local producers.  There is no cost to run a broadcast quality production on GrassRoots TV, and as an incentive for local producers, GrassRoots TV will give a 1st & Free truckers cap to anyone bringing in a tape to air.  “We’re truly free range TV.  We’re here to air what you want to show the community,” said Masters.

To use the GrassRoots TV studio in Aspen with a staff director and staff or volunteer camera operator(s), is $100 per studio hour.  The resulting half hour program will air 5 times in varied time slots on GrassRoots TV at no charge.  There is a minimal charge to guarantee a regular time slot which is included in the $100 studio fee, or field production fee of $250 for four hours.  “Making television at GrassRoots TV is easy, but evidently some viewers or would-be producers think it’s complicated or intimidating.  We’re here to help lower the barriers as much as possible with training, staff assistance and flexible air times,” said Masters.

Thanks to a new GrassRoots TV initiative, the most popular programs are to be archived into a video on demand (VOD) format in the future.  The survey results will help GrassRoots TV determine which programs to archive.  “City Council and government meetings are watched by 4:10 viewers (43%); and 19% tune in to watch Andrew Kole.  Aspen Institute lectures, government meetings, local talk shows, and other lectures are very well received and viewed by 62% of the viewers surveyed,” added Masters.  Other programs of interest to GrassRoots TV viewers include election coverage, health and wellness programs, arts and non-profit programming, civic events and vintage ski films. 

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Another objective revealed by the survey is to increase the fundraising efforts currently employed by GrassRoots TV.  Among those viewers aware of GrassRoots TV, more than a third
(36%) say they have made a financial contribution to the channel which doesn’t correspond to the figures currently held by GrassRoots TV.

 “We raise operating funds in three ways:  earned income from studio facility, equipment and staff service user fees (55%), government grants (32%) and other donations,” said Masters.  “The ‘other donations’ category is the area where we really need to focus our funding efforts.  The survey showed that many of our viewers do not know we are donor-supported, that it’s community contributions that enable us to consistently lower the financial and technological barriers to media access, so that’s a challenge,” said Masters.

Of those who report not making a financial contribution to GrassRoots TV, 3:10 (29%) say they have “never been asked” to donate.  “We have been busy the past few years building a stable and dependable service level which has resulted in increased support in time and energy from community producers and their underwriters.  This effort has resulted in strong and loyal viewership.  Now we feel confident in asking for contributions to make this success sustainable.  You can be sure, in the future, we will be asking,” concluded Masters.

The survey results are based on 303 random telephone interviews conducted in early March with cable viewers living in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley.  This scientific sample extrapolates its findings to reflect the viewing habits of all 10,000 cable subscribers in the sample area or 17,000 local viewers based on the Pitkin County assessment of 1.7 persons per household.  It does not take into consideration the additional 20,000 guest pillows in the Aspen area.

It is GrassRoots TV’s mission is to strengthen the community by reducing the restrictions and barriers to media access, and by helping all residents create locally relevant programming.  For more information about how to produce a program on GrassRoots TV or how to make a donation to the nation’s first community television station in its 35th anniversary year, call 925-8000 or email masters@grassrootstv.org. End.

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