WBEZ Launches Major Digital Expansion; Hires New Chief Digital Officer

CHICAGO, May 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicago Public Media announced today new details in a major digital expansion effort to create an innovative and responsive audience experience and bolster the station's news and programming services.

Leading this charge is the newly created position of Chief Digital Officer, Michel Ballard. Ballard brings extensive experience in digital product development, technology and sales operations. She will oversee the station's digital expansion and advance corporate sponsorship activities.

"The explosive growth of mobile devices has significantly shifted how audiences consume media," said Chicago Public Media President and CEO Goli Sheikholeslami. "To continue to fulfill our public service mission, Chicago Public Media must introduce the technological advances that allow us to reach our listeners in new ways. Such robust digital experiences will help us to reach and attract a younger, more diverse audience."

Over the next twelve to eighteen months, WBEZ plans to build a transformative digital experience unlike anything that exists in public media today—an experience that addresses three major trends: smartphone adoption, time-shifted listening and the connected car.  

Chicago Public Media's planned digital products will allow listeners to:

• Access programming on iPhones and iPads, Android phones and tablets, desktops, mobile browsers, and through emerging technologies such as wearables (Apple Watch) and in-dash entertainment systems
• Choose between live streaming and on-demand experience
• Play, skip and scroll through content
• Quickly locate and play content through editorially curated lists, by topic or by program
• Playback and save content
• Receive recommendations and notifications based on usage behavior
• Share content easily through compelling social features
• Give in new ways and become a station member using innovative donation functions

These new, easy to navigate products will put listeners in charge of their experience and bring together in one seamless, responsive design, the variety of programming that makes public radio unique. Listeners will be able to access the WBEZ experience—local reporting, local shows and national programming—all in one place.

Prior to Chicago Public Media, new CDO Michel Ballard worked at Everyday Health, a market leader in digital health. Most recently she served as Senior Vice President, Consumer, Health & Wellness, where she led editorial, marketing and audience development across the consumer business. Ballard served in a variety of roles across product and sales, and directed the company's largest strategic partnerships with AOL and YouTube. At J.P. Morgan, she was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Technology, Media, and Telecom group, focused on media companies as well as publicly traded Internet companies.

WBEZ's digital expansion was accelerated by a $2 million grant from The Pritzker Foundation. The grant launches the funding of a $5 million strategic initiative to build this suite of new digital products and allow the station to track usage and listening behavior to improve programming and member services. Matching contributions are a key component and the grant money will be dispersed over the course of three years.

Today, Chicago Public Media attracts more than 66,000 members who support the organization. The organization completed a successful $15.6 million capital campaign in 2010, and is continuing to build its corporate sponsorship and philanthropy capabilities in order to further strengthen and diversify funding sources. Membership represents approximately half of Chicago Public Media's total revenue and is the organization's single largest source of funding.

SOURCE Chicago Public Media