Farmweek, the popular, weekly television program produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service, celebrated its 20th anniversary on Mississippi Educational Television in October, 1997. A spin-off of the television program, Farmweek on PRM (Public Radio in Mississippi) celebrated its first anniversary on the air in September, 1997.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how a state extension service is successfully using the medium of public radio on a weekly basis to achieve two goals: to tap into a new audience with the story of Mississippi's number one industry, agriculture, and with the role Extension and research plays in it; and secondly, to cross-promote the already successful Farmweek telecast on Mississippi ETV each Thursday evening.

Situation

Public Radio in Mississippi (PRM) consists of a network of 8 FM radio transmitters strategically located to provide state-wide coverage. In its local features that are broadcast during National Public Radio's Morning Edition, PRM tries to address issues of local interest. Although agriculture is the number one industry in Mississippi, and the backbone of the state's economy, PRM did not have any local features dedicated to this topic. For this reason, and to increase its local presence during the broadcast of NPR's Morning Edition, PRM was interested in adding a new weekly feature, a feature that came to be known as Farmweek on PRM.

Ag Communications Enters the Picture

Programming officials at Public Radio in Mississippi (PRM) approached the Office of Agricultural Communications (OAC) in the summer of 1996 with the opportunity to produce a weekly feature focusing on the state's number one industry - agriculture. OAC immediately recognized two golden opportunities that the PRM affiliation would provide: first, another excellent vehicle for Mississippi State University specialists and scientists to use in presenting useful information and advice, as well as another excellent vehicle to tell what private citizens have accomplished in agriculture; second, an excellent means to cross-promote the already-successful Farmweek telecast on Mississippi ETV each Thursday evening, and to put this highly informative broadcast before a new audience, one that may not ordinarily choose to tune-in to the television program.

Farmweek on PRM Becomes Reality

On September 5, 1996, Public Radio in Mississippi (PRM) began airing a 4 minute version of Farmweek each Thursday morning at 7:06 a.m. and 8:06 a.m. during local availabilities in Morning Edition. Each week's radio segment on PRM is devoted to the feature story that will be airing statewide that night at 7:00 p.m. on the television version of Farmweek. The feature-type material easily lends itself to presentation through the medium of radio in an interesting fashion. At the time, private citizens are explaining what they have accomplished, and Mississippi State specialists are able to present helpful advice and information directly to a state-wide audience. The announcer tag at the end of each week's radio segment alerts the PRM audience to the fact they can tune-in to Farmweek on ETV that same day at 7:00 p.m. to actually see the subject matter and find out even more.

Impact - the PRM Perspective

After one year of broadcasting Farmweek on PRM during Morning Edition, PRM executives remain positive about their decision to add the weekly feature segment. PRM's Kevin Farrell says, "The good thing about Farmweek is that it is not just a listing of prices and statistics. The segment takes agricultural related issues and presents them in a way that is of interest to a broader audience." Farrell says PRM listeners seem to appreciate the stories and the way they are well-produced. "Personally I appreciate the way Leighton Spann and Artis Ford (Farmweek co-anchors and Farmweek on PRM producers) take time to make sure that the story "works" on radio," says Farrell. "It's not just a TV story without the pictures." Since the Farmweek / PRM affiliation is so recent, no conclusive, random sample survey has been conducted yet to determine the impact and effectiveness of the state-wide radio features. The fall 1996 Arbitron ratings for the Jackson, Mississippi, metro area (representing the area covered by only one of the 8 FM transmitters making-up the PRM network) indicated that the average listeners per quarter hour were 3100. This represents the 8:00 - 8:15 a.m. quarter hour (when a Farmweek on PRM feature is broadcast). This represents listeners 12 years old and up. Public Radio in Mississippi says that during an average week, more than 100,000 listeners tune to PRM across the state of Mississippi.

Impact - the OAC Perspective

Informal research by the Office of Agricultural Communications indicates the radio feature segment on PRM is definitely hitting an audience that does not normally watch Farmweek on television, and therefore does not normally hear about agriculture and the work underway in the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University. For OAC, it appears that both opportunities outlined above are being realized, and that the PRM affiliation is an excellent cross-promotion opportunity for the television broadcast Mississippi State University. While the radio production may not result appreciable, long-term gains in the television program's estimated regular viewership of 198,681 adults, it should definitely increase awareness and understandingof agriculture in Mississippi and the work of the University.

For OAC, Farmweek on PRM is indeed a new idea that'sworking, without the addition of new personnel or equipment.The basis of the radio production is the audio track from the Farmweek field Betacam SP videotapes. The only cost involved is additional man-hours for the actual radio production, and the cost of transporting the tape each week from Mississippi State University to PRM studios in Jackson. The actual run-time on the Farmweek on PRM feature is generally 3 minutes 15 seconds to 3 minutes 20 seconds. The intro and tag for each week's feature, which are read by PRM announcers, take-up the remainder of the 4 minutes of air time. The radio feature is produced on Betacam SP videotape, with the audio mixed-down to channel 1, and the videotape is then shipped to Jackson. PRM personnel transfer the audio from the videotape to Digital Audio Tape (DAT).

Conclusion

In Mississippi, Farmweek is easily recognized as the name of a television program providing accurate and timely information about the state's number one industry, agriculture. That's because Farmweek has aired weekly in prime time on the Mississippi Educational Television Network since 1977.

After only one year, Farmweek on PRM is becoming recognized as the name of a radio program that takes one area of agriculture in Mississippi each week and presents a story that is of interest to a broad general audience. By almost any standard it would be safe to call this production by the Office of Agricultural Communications at Mississippi State University a success story. For the producer of the radio feature segment, the Mississippi State University Extension Service, Farmweek on PRM is a new vehicle for specialists, county agents and research scientists to use in presenting practical information through the actual experiences of private citizens. In addition, the radio feature is turning out to be an excellent cross-promotion of Extension's popular Farmweek television program.

For Public Radio in Mississippi, which airs Farmweek on PRM, the weekly feature segment has successfully accomplished 2 goals in its short time on the air. Farmweek on PRM has increased the network's local presence during Morning Edition while providing quality coverage of Mississippi's top industry, agriculture. In addition, the segment has been the source of many positive comments for the programming aired by Public Radio in Mississippi.

The affiliation between Public Radio in Mississippi and the Office of Agricultural Communications is a partnership that is working, not only to the benefit of each party but to the benefit of the Extension Service and agriculture in Mississippi. This model is one other states may want to consider implementing, particularly where there is a regular television program already in place to provide the basis for radio feature material.

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