WNPR's Neighbor Sold

WCCC...WNPR's next door neighbor...is being sold to a Christian Broadcaster. You could see WCCC from the newsroom. WCCC's Brat Fest will be missed.

Word was Connecticut Public Broadcasting wanted to buy WCCC, but was unable to pull off the deal.

EMF Broadcasting will be acquiring the station to add it to its Christian AC “K-Love” network. K-Love has over 440 stations and translators nationwide. The audience is estimated to be about 12 million. The primary format focus is Contemporary Christian Music. This represents a new format for the Hartford Market. There is a LPFM (Mom and Pop) serving parts of the market. WCCC will provide full coverage.

Read more at: http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/89584/wccc-fm-hartford-to-be-sold/

Alabama Public Radio Civil Rights Documentary Wins Award

Three Things

First...Congratulations to Alabama Public Radio for its achievement. Their documentary about the "Children's Crusade" in Birmingham in 1963 is considered among New York Festivals' World's Best Radio Programs.

Second...the civil war is not over for some in the South. Check out the comments. It still takes courage to report on something that happened over 50 years ago.  http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/alabama_public_radio_wins_inte.html

Third...if you want to hear  "Civil Rights Radio", click on the link.

GPB Up and Running in Atlanta

Public Media News/Talk Middays

Georgia Public Broadcasting began broadcasting in Atlanta today. Rickey Bevington sent this email last night.

Dear Friends:

Please join me in marking an important day in the history of our great city of Atlanta.

Until 5 o’clock this morning, Atlanta was the only Top 10 media market in the U.S. without a midday public radio news/talk service. Starting today, Georgia Public Broadcasting is now filling this vital market gap on 88.5 FM.

This comes thanks to a new partnership between GPB and Georgia State University. With this collaboration, Atlantans gain access to a rich variety of information programs during the work day while GSU students gain hands-on career experience working in a major television, radio, digital and educational organization. GSU students will also be programming one of GPB’s HD television stations and will continue to program 88.5 FM between the hours of 7 p.m. and 5 a.m.  

Also starting today, I became the statewide local host during NPR’s All Things Considered program from 4 to 7 p.m., airing in Atlanta on 88.5 FM and across GPB’s additional 18 radio stations across Georgia. I hope you’ll join me each evening in your car, office or home to enjoy stories from across Georgia produced by our award-winning news team.

Sincerely,

Rickey    

Rickey BevingtonSenior Anchor/Correspondent
260 14th Street N.W.
Atlanta, GA 30318
Ph: 404-685-2694e-mail: rbevington@GPB.org
website: www.gpb.org

GPB Protest

Not Shocked

About 50 college radio stations are joining in a protest against a deal that is allowing Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB)  to air their programming during the day on WRAS in Atlanta. The protest is not surprising. Similar protests have been staged in other instances where Public Radio programming was allowed on college stations or when a larger public radio entity buys a college station.

Fighting for Air Time

The deal allows college DJ's to run their own programming between 7p and 5a. DJ's displaced by the deal can be heard on-line. The deal also allows GPB to reach the Atlanta market for the first time. Students will be allowed learning opportunities with GPB as part of the agreement.

The original start date was June Second. It is now June 29th.

http://hub.onlineathens.com/local-news/2014-06-26/college-stations-protest-georgia-public-radio-deal

WRVU Now Part of Nashville Public Radio.

Vanderbilt Station Sold for $3.35 Million

In a move that will satisfy classical music fans and the NPR news audience, Nashville Public Radio cemented the deal to buy WRVU. The deal was three years in the making. Approval came in March from the FCC, but was delayed until Vanderbilt Student Communications received the $3.35 million purchase price.

Not Everybody is Happy

College radio advocates have been trying to play defense, though not with much success. Fans of WRVU hired attorneys and petitioned the FCC.

Jennifer Waits, who founded the website “Radio Survivor,” says it’s really a matter of convincing schools they shouldn’t sell.

“It’s still good to stand up for what you believe in,” she says. “People can change their mind.”
Waits and others are now focusing attention on Atlanta, where just this month, Georgia Public Broadcasting announced a deal to partially take over a powerful signal owned by Georgia State.

The Cost Can Be too High

There was also resistance when the station owned by Rice University was sold to Houston Public Media for $9 million. There was a bold prediction, at the time, that the purchase of KRTU would result in a doubling of listener sensitive in for Houston Public Media. In 2013, Houston Public Media ended up laying off its classical music staff at the end of 2013 instead.

Change Can Be Contentuious

A change to the schedule at Wisconsin Public Broadcasting 

Coverage in the Isthmus reminded of some of press and comments we always got after making changes at the stations I worked for. A thick skin is required, and it is best not to take the comments that result from press coverage personally despite the fact that listeners take the changes to their station very personally.  Most notable were comments likening us to the Philistines. One caller wanted to know who made the birdbrained decision to change the programming. Another asked  who the weisenheimer was, and another combined the two calling me a  birdbrained weizenheimer. My personal favorite described the changes as having torn the fabric of public broadcasting (very descriptive).

http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=42715

The Isthmus focused their article on the abruptness of the change and the fiscal reasons. WPR published FAQ's about the change on their website. Fiscal concerns played a big part in the decision, but aren't the only reasons for the change.  I noticed no comments to the article in the Isthmus. That doesn't mean nobody is upset. In fact, if there are no complaints, problems with audience loyalty run much deeper than the hour or two that are affected. 

Hang in there.

VPT May Face Sanctions

The Daily Journal of Vermont and the Associated Press are reporting that Vermont Public Television (VPT) may be facing sanctions.
(Corporation for Public Broadcasting review recommends sanctions for Vermont Public Television)The sanctions may be imposed because VPT did not follow open meeting rules required by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

A complaint was filed in December. An internal investigation found that "VPT's board of directors properly closed the meetings but violated federal requirements by failing to notify the public that private meetings had been held."

The recommendation of sanctions comes from the office of the inspector general for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. VPT has asked the office to reconsider the sanctions. a final decision should come within 180 days.