Stop to Start: Letting Go to Build Future Audiences in Public Media

By David Lowe and Michelle Simonsen

Public media organizations are facing a familiar challenge. Audience behavior is changing quickly, while staff capacity and resources remain limited. In moments like this, the instinct is often to do more. More platforms. More content. More experiments.

In reality, some of the most important leadership decisions right now are about what to stop doing.

That was the focus of a recent session featuring leaders from two very different public media organizations: PBS KVIE in Sacramento and Classical KING in Seattle. Both shared how stepping away from low impact work created space for deeper audience connection, stronger internal clarity, and more confident fundraising.

Letting Go as a Leadership Decision

For both organizations, change was not driven by trends or technology. It was driven by audience behavior and community need.

At PBS KVIE, the decline in local news coverage in the Sacramento region made it clear that an opportunity existed where traditional television production alone could no longer meet community needs. As President and General Manager David Lowe put it, “When we looked at what was going on in our community, we asked: what is the biggest community need?” In Sacramento, that answer was clear. “Local news is failing to serve people how they wanted it, and no one else was stepping up.”

Under Lowe’s leadership, KVIE made the difficult decision to stop producing some of its long running local television programs and instead launch Abridged, a digital newsroom designed to meet audiences where they already were. Online. On mobile devices. Through email and backed by a website. Importantly, the newsroom was not treated as a side project. “We launched a digital newsroom, and we integrated it into everything we do,” Lowe explained. “It is not a separate thing. It is who and what we do now. And some of it finds its way back to broadcast.”

At Classical KING, research from the Taking Another Listen study showed that many classical music listeners had migrated to digital spaces during the pandemic. Rather than trying to rebuild everything that had existed before, the station focused on understanding how audiences were already experiencing classical music and how to serve them more intentionally across platforms. “The audience’s behavior was our guide,” said Michelle Simonsen, Chief Engagement and Content Officer at Classical KING.

In both cases, stopping work was not about shrinking ambition. It was about protecting impact.

From More Content to Audience Development

One of the clearest shared insights from the session was this: audience development is not about creating more content. It is about extending trusted work.

At KVIE, this meant rethinking journalism itself. The digital newsroom became the foundation, with reporting flowing into short video, newsletters, community events, and even back onto broadcast through formats like the KVIE News Minute. “It is not about how we do something,” Lowe said. “It is what we do.”

At Classical KING, the shift took the form of a system called On Air and Everywhere. Weekly live read promos, something the station had always done, became the starting point for web articles, email newsletters, short videos, recurring social media series, local ensemble spotlights, and partnership highlights. “We took the humble live read promo and turned it into something we could use in multiple arenas,” Simonsen explained. “Digital became the amplifier. The multiplier of what we already do.”

Rather than creating entirely new work, the station focused on telling one strong story and meeting the audience wherever they were already engaged. “Our on air product is the trust engine,” she said. “That is what builds the relationship.”

The result was not just efficiency. It was consistency. Audiences encountered the same trusted voice and values across many places, reinforcing connection rather than fragmenting it.

What It Took Internally

Stopping established programs and changing workflows is never easy. Both leaders emphasized that clarity mattered more than persuasion.

At Classical KING, digital work has increasingly become part of how announcers think about their roles, alongside on air work and community engagement. Clearer expectations, training, and shared audience insights have helped staff better understand not just what is changing, but why. While the work continues to evolve, that growing clarity has reduced overwhelm and made it easier to focus on what matters most. “There is a grieving period,” Simonsen noted, “but there is also relief and focus. When leadership says this is not the priority, it gives people permission to stop overextending themselves.”

At KVIE, staff were asked to stop thinking about television as the primary output and instead focus on how the station could best serve community needs across formats. That shift required honesty about how people actually consume media today, and clear leadership about where the organization was headed. While not every transition was seamless, consistent communication and a shared sense of purpose helped maintain cohesion through change. As Lowe framed it with characteristic candor, “If you don’t like change, try irrelevance.”

Boards, Funders, and Confidence

Both organizations highlighted the importance of how this work was explained to boards and funders.

For KVIE, that meant positioning financial reserves not as trophies to be protected, but as investments in community service. “Reserves are not meant to be a trophy on the wall,” Lowe said. “They should be put in service to the community.” Running a planned deficit to launch Abridged required trust, and that trust was built through clear storytelling about impact rather than technology.

At Classical KING, digital was intentionally defined in simple terms for board members. “Digital is simply how people experience Classical KING everywhere other than the radio,” Simonsen explained. Once the conversation shifted from platforms to audience trust and future relevance, funding discussions became more focused and more confident.

In both cases, fundraising followed clarity. Donors responded to conviction and focus, not to experimentation for its own sake.

How We Talked About Change

Why did you change?
Audience behavior shifted and capacity was finite.

What did you stop?
Labor heavy work that looked innovative but delivered limited impact.

What replaced it?
A focused system for extending trusted work across platforms.

How did people react?
Clarity reduced overwhelm and created focus.

How did you fund it?
By reframing digital as audience trust and future relevance.

What should others do?
Stop protecting the work that no longer serves the audience.

Reimagining Without Abandoning What Works

The takeaway from this conversation is not that public media organizations need to reinvent everything they do. The work ahead is more layered than that.

For both organizations, reimagining the future began with paying close attention to signals outside their walls. For PBS KVIE, that meant recognizing a growing gap in local news coverage and asking where the station could step in to meet a real community need. For Classical KING, it meant listening closely to how and where audiences were already engaging with music, and adapting accordingly.

In both cases, progress came from holding two ideas at once: building on work that continues to earn trust, while being willing to let go of practices that no longer create the same impact. When leaders stay grounded in audience behavior, responsive to gaps in their local media landscape, and clear about priorities, public media organizations can continue to evolve with intention and remain relevant over time.

As Simonsen summed it up near the close of the session, “Stopping [low impact, high energy work] is not retreat. It is a different kind of leadership, focused on audience relevance and the future.”

About the authors

David Lowe is the President and General Manager of PBS KVIE in Sacramento and a multiple Emmy Award winner. The longest-serving president in the station’s history, he has led KVIE through major strategic transformation, including the launch of Abridged, a nonprofit digital newsroom created to address gaps in local news coverage. David brings deep experience in public media leadership, fundraising, and digital strategy, and has served in national leadership roles across the PBS system. His work focuses on community service, storytelling, and building long-term relevance and sustainability for public media organizations.

Michelle Maestas Simonsen is the Chief Engagement and Content Officer at Classical KING, the classical music public radio station serving the Pacific Northwest. She leads the station’s programming strategy, storytelling, and content leadership, shaping how Classical KING sounds on air and how that work is extended across digital platforms, audience development, and community partnerships. As a senior leader, Michelle aligns content, audience, and organizational priorities to drive relevance, growth, and long-term sustainability.

Context for the conversation

This article is based on a live session from Audience Development Summit 2026 titled Stop and Start: What to Give Up to Pursue the New, moderated by Joyce MacDonald, where public media leaders discussed how letting go of low-impact, high-energy work can create space for deeper audience connection, organizational clarity, and long-term relevance.