It's The Content!

No matter the format, it's the content.
One of the stations we listened to as a kid was WLS in Chicago. One of the DJ's we admired was Dick Biondi. He seemed so cool...so outrageous and a little bit rebellious just like the music we listened to at the time. WLS was a huge success at top 40 radio and a giant in the format in the 60's.

One day I tuned in and Biondi wasn't there anymore. The rumor we heard was he was fired for telling an off color joke on the air.  That story turned out to be untrue according to the History of WLS Radio. WLS and Dick Biondi were so popular in Chicago that their marketing department had sold out all the avails and then some. According to Biondi, he went in to the General Sales Manager to complain. A fist fight broke out.  The log was so jammed with commercials he could only play six tunes and hour while the competition was playing 20. He knew there was no way he could compete. He knew the music (the content) was most important to us. Biondi was right. We kept listening even after he was gone. I think the same is true for the public radio news fan. It's the content that matters.

There were three things at work. Music that spoke to our generation. An announcer who was able to present the music in a way that enhanced the experience. On Top Of Old Pizza may seem hokey today. It was new in the early sixties. Dick Biondi's style was new and radical. Put these two key elements together and you get a true sense of community. It was a shared experience. A sense of tribe.

Good News for PBS in Orlando

The University of Central Florida and Brevard Community College (UCF and BCC) will be picking up where WMFE left off. The two educational institutions announced they will be picking up PBS programming.

WMFE notified PBS on April 1 that they were selling their TV operation to focus on public radio. The TV operation was sold to Daystar Television Network, an evangelical Christian broadcaster based in Dallas.

The Deal for NJN is Raising Questions

Some are regarding the deal by WNET to run NJN is political payback.
That's the gist of the comments reported on by  NJ.com.

"But Steve Adubato Jr.’s latest role at the center of the deal allowing WNET to manage New Jersey’s public television has raised cries of political cronyism, with some key Democrats charging the agreement is a gift to Adubato’s father — Stephen Adubato Sr., the feared and well-connected political dealer known to most as "Big Steve."


Read more: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/some_democrats_view_njn_takeov.html

It could be payback in other ways. Governor Christie compared the government funding of public broadcasting to the old Soviet Union.


 “In my view, that should have ended with the Soviet Union," he said. "It's ending here in New Jersey a little later than the fall of the wall in Berlin. But we're getting there.”


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/06/njs-christie-compares-public-broadcasting-to-soviet-union-before-announcing/#ixzz1P63rwn53

KCSM Up For Sale

San Mateo's Public TV station is up for sale according to an article in MercuryNews.com.  The San Mateo County Community College District board Wednesday night directed staff to prepare putting KCSM on the market. The station is currently running an $800,000 deficit. KCSM-FM, the Bay Area's 24 hour jazz station is not up for sale at this time.
The sale of the TV station was averted in 2010. But, state budget cuts for San Mateo Community College make the sale seem unavoidable this time.

New York Public Radio Buys NJN

New York Public Radio to Buy New Jersey Stations - WNYC

While WHYY will purchase the stations in the southern part of New Jersey.
WNYC is promising Jersey centric programming.

USF classical station well received

USF classical station well received by donors || Gulf Coast Business Review | Tampa Bay, Bradenton, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples

So much of what I've shared recently has been bad news. Well, here's something that seems to be working! During WSMR's  first fund drive, the station reached its goal of 1000 founding members and raised $117,000.