Exploring a United Vision for WUTC NPR and WTCI PBS
Industry: Non-profit
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Tactic: Audience Listening
Results:
Validated Support for Collaboration
Actionable Insights for Next Steps
Increased Trust and Alignment
Background:
Chattanooga’s public media landscape includes two long-standing community anchors: WUTC NPR and WTCI PBS. While both serve distinct yet overlapping audiences, leaders from the stations began exploring a closer partnership that could amplify their individual strengths and unlock new opportunities for storytelling, community outreach, and operational efficiency. To move forward, they needed a clear understanding of how their audiences, stakeholders, and staff would perceive and respond to deeper collaboration.
The Challenge:
The stations needed more than just an internal conversation. They needed a shared understanding of how the broader community felt about potential alignment. With concerns about identity, mission, and value delivery, it was essential to gather insights on:
Audience perceptions and media habits
Stakeholder expectations and hopes for collaboration
Operational risks and opportunities
How to shape a partnership rooted in public interest and trust
The Solution:
Bridge Innovate led a comprehensive audience listening and insight initiative, using design thinking and community engagement practices. The approach included:
A Community-Wide Survey: More than 440 community members shared their media habits, content preferences, and perceptions of public media. Distinct profiles emerged. WUTC NPR listeners skewed younger and digitally engaged. WTCI PBS viewers tended to be older and preferred traditional broadcast formats, though some also used streaming platforms.
Listening Sessions with 47 Stakeholders: Participants included staff, community leaders, and nonprofit partners. Sessions explored expectations, perceived benefits, operational concerns, and ideas for collaboration. Themes included excitement about local storytelling, a strong desire for student engagement, and shared concerns about brand identity and resource alignment.
Insight Synthesis: The team identified actionable opportunities in areas such as co-created content, multimedia storytelling, community partnerships, and shared infrastructure. The report also outlined key considerations around governance clarity, fundraising logistics, and protecting each station’s unique voice.
WUTC and WTCI staff collaborated on a join listening session facilitated by Bridge Innovate at the Bridge Studio
The Result:
The engagement surfaced clear patterns of support, concern, and direction:
Validated Support for Collaboration: Community members expressed strong support for partnership opportunities that elevate local storytelling, community events, and educational access, as long as transparency and accountability are prioritized.
Actionable Insights for Next Steps: A detailed summary report outlined audience segmentation, collaboration themes, and risk mitigation strategies. This gave leadership a solid foundation for decision-making and communication.
Increased Trust and Alignment: By including diverse voices in the process, the project fostered trust and helped staff and community members feel invested in what comes next.
WUTC NPR and WTCI PBS now have the insights they need to explore a community-aligned partnership. With a clear view of audience needs and internal opportunities, both organizations are poised to shape a collaboration that strengthens public media’s role in Chattanooga. Bridge Innovate is proud to support this important step forward.
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