Supernova Award Category

Data to Decisions

The Problem

NPR is responsible for the programs put on and member partners pay dues that cover their fees. It’s like an a la carte program where they sign up for Morning Edition and other programs and are billed for access. That counts as revenue when building the budget and for the past 15 years, Reggie and his team would spend two months each year collecting, synthesizing, and analyzing budget data from member stations—and that was before allowing for any changes.

The problem was that member stations would change the Excel templates sent to them for collecting budget data.  This resulted in hundreds of budgets to compile and roll up, only to find some formulas were wrong or somebody didn’t stay within the format sent. Double checking the data to feed over 30 different spreadsheets had become the biggest part of the budgeting process.

The Solution

NPR implemented Host Analytics in 2010. Replacing easily corruptible Excel spreadsheets with web-based access to the Host Analytics cloud platform and standard templates took priority. Next, Newsome and his team uploaded actuals from the general ledger system to build an archive of operational data.

Today, the system is almost fully automated. Each night, Host Analytics pulls new information from NPR’s accounting system.

The results

What had become a two-month process of collecting, massaging, and finally publishing a budget in Excel is now updated continuously. Freeing up Newsome’s time this way helps NPR reclaim just over $161,000 a year. Other benefits include:

• Rolling forecasts. Because Host Analytics connects directly to NPR’s Microsoft FRX accounting system, there’s no additional work needed to populate the 18-month forecast Newsome and his team keep live at all times, and which includes actuals added with each monthly close.

• Management self-service. Host Analytics is also connected to NPR’s installation of Crystal Reports, giving managers self-service access to detailed reports about the state of the business.

There’s no more monitoring what each department is inputting because they have full control and they can actually see and understand, on a monthly basis, what they’re contributing to the organization.

Finally, having faster access to more data has contributed to how NPR connects with audiences. Morning programming rose 26 percent in 2016 while afternoon programming was up 43 percent over the same period; both figures sharply outperformed the commercial radio average over the same period.

Metrics

In the past, tracking the annual budget and the rolling forecasts (vital to operations) required poring over spreadsheets. However, with a nearly $200 million annual budget that encompasses 10 cost centers and 14 departments, that wasn't good enough.

Newsome and his team had to deal with formula errors and human errors, and had templates to manage and other challenges, including exchanging data with different departments and different people. Consequently, processes such as budgeting dragged on for months, and reporting often trailed the current state of financials for the organization.

To deal with these issues, NPR migrated to a cloud-based financial reporting system from Host Analytics.

• The Host Analytics financial reporting platform has been a net positive for NPR. It has helped the organization reclaim hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost productivity
• NPR has reduced its annual budgeting process by 50 percent and is able to deliver up-to-date 18 month forecasts
• Better visibility and smarter decisions have contributed to a 26 percent gain in ratings for morning programming, as well as a 43 percent gain in afternoon programming.

The Technology

Host Analytics Enterprise Performance Platform for Planning, Budgeting, and Reporting

Disruptive Factor

"We were initially a bit skeptical about using the cloud for financial analytics," Newsome says, "but it became apparent that it offered some major advantages, including better and faster access to critical data."

The cloud-based approach has made it easier to access data from any device in any place and at any time. It also has helped NPR ensure that it is currently using the most recent features available—all within a highly secure environment.

Upgrades occur regularly, and there's no need to shut down systems. In the past, NPR had to shut down a mainframe for a few hours and then have people log back in. The cloud has provided NPR far greater speed and flexibly.

Shining Moment

The challenges and success with Host Analytics was recently featured in Baseline Magazine in an article titled, NPR Adopts Advance Financial Analytics. The article can be found here: http://www.baselinemag.com/analytics-big-data/npr-adopts-advanced-financial-analytics.html