Updated March 1, 2003

A C O R N
Acquisition, Conversion, Organizational Readiness, and do it Now

Even the mighty oak was once a tiny acorn.

Project ACORN is the working title for a variety of strategies aimed at expanding public radio service. Project ACORN is the result of urging by Member Stations to focus aggressively and thoughtfully to expand public radio services in the years ahead. ACORN stands for Acquisition, Conversion, Organizational Readiness, and do it Now, initially identified key components for successful future growth.

These strategies include active pursuit of supplemental audio stream capacity within the HD Radio system, securing new spectrum in future regulatory activities, in adding new public radio stations across the nation, in expanding public radio services to new delivery platforms, and in implementing innovative engineering practices to best serve individual markets with traditional AM and FM signals.

The materials on this site are the result of the efforts of many contributors in the months following AReps I meeting held in May of 2002. Throughout the fall of 2002 NPR staff met with regional partners and additional public radio stakeholders to define the work ahead. For further information contact ACORN Project Manager Mike Starling (mstarling@npr.org), VP for Engineering & Operations at NPR.