And the Survey Says.....

The data from the first 360 North audience research has been tabulated. This was the initial, baseline telephone survey. With the help of Hays Research Group we will be gathering audience information, both quantitative and qualitative over the next months. There will be periodic phone research and focus groups conducted throughout the state.

This first field research was scheduled to coincide with the beginning of the 360 North service, on January 8-9, 2008. The information was gathered a month after the launch and just two weeks after the beginning of the advertising campaign. There were several questions ranging in topic from name recognition to specific programming interests. 350 Alaskans were queried across the state. The following were some of the questions to which hard numbers could be affixed.

When asked if they had heard of the new television channel 360 North...
•17.1 percent said YES.

Asked if they had heard of the television program named Gavel to Gavel Alaska...
•48.6 percent said YES.

And, when asked if someone in their household had watched Gavel to Gavel Alaska...
•26.0 percent said YES.

This information gives us a basis on which to build and measure how our outreach and advertising initiatives are working. It also shows the strong name recognition associated with the many years of Gavel to Gavel Alaska production at KTOO. Coupled with the new households we have added to those who can receive 360 North over the past week, it will be very interesting to watch the 17.1 percent recognition figure grow throughout the spring. And, it will help us make decisions for the future as we go through the many programming-related answers from this survey and those surveys and focus group findings in the coming months.