Audio Recording

Utah State University Extension encourages faculty to build and maintain relationships with the local media. One of the most successful relationships USU Extension has built is the Saturday morning KSL Greenhouse Show. It is the most listened to program in the Salt Lake City market in its broadcast time, with an estimated 50,000 listeners. It has been broadcast for over 40 years and hosts have varied through this time. It remains successful and current through careful tracking of horticulture questions received through USU Extension offices and in online social media forums. Many USU Extension faculty also regularly contribute content and interviews on topics including water conservation, turf care, fruit production, ornamental plants, using local food in season, food safety, sustainability, and plant problem management. To more effectively reach listeners the show uses social media to communicate with a combination of topical images, short videos and Extension authored fact sheets. The program has over 5,400 followers on social media. Additionally, information provided by social media companies shows that those that like or follow the show pages are between the ages of 40-65, with 60-70% of these being female. Free podcasts of the show are also available and are currently being more heavily promoted. Podcasts garner several hundred to a few thousand listens per week. A continued goal is to increase listenership and exposure to a younger demographic through more targeted use of social media.