Prairie Public is heavily dependent on the support of their members.  They are what keep the station going.  34% of the radio’s total funding comes from membership fees.  Since membership support is so vital, they want to make sure that their members are satisfied with the product they are being provided.  They hold surveys of their audience for their input on which radio shows they prefer, and which shows they dislike.  The content of their broadcasts is directly affected by the results of these surveys.  If listeners really like one type of story, they may play another story of the same genre.

The daily routine for Prairie Public varies, but a typical schedule looks a little bit like this.  From 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. they run Local and International news.  From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. they play music. The type of music you hear will vary depending on where you’re located because one station plays Jazz while another plays Classical.  From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. they run an Interview with various people including authors, musicians, or political figures.  After the interview they run a short segment called Dakota Date Book.  This is a type of “this day in history” show that talks about important evens in North Dakota on this day many years ago.  From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. they run the news again and run their All Things Considered show.  From 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. they re-run the interview they did earlier in the day.  Finally, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. they play music.

A typical local story for Prairie Public could be about the floods, where as an international story could be about presidential elections or national events.  This allows the radio station to appeal to multiple audiences, and also allows them to work towards their mission statement of keeping the community involved.  By providing a numerous amount of topics, multiple demographics of people can listen to the same station and still get all of the information they are looking for.