City Of Dallas Seeking Non-Profits To Operate WRR

[Kent]

The City of Dallas might have gotten between $100M to $125M had they outright sold the signal around 2003...was pretty much the peak of the market.

Just a year later, Houston's commercial Classical station, KRTS, was sold to Radio One for $72.5M, and that was a deficient Class C1 signal. Today (six format changes later) the station might struggle to fetch 20% of that number.

Right after the Telecom Act of 1996 passed, Nationwide offered the city $40 million for WRR to pair with KDMX. KLUV went for $51 million the year before, which included the format and intellectual property of the station. Nationwide was willing to pay just for the stick value.

The city turned it down, at least partially because it was making a profit, albeit a relatively small one. I wonder if the city regrets turning that deal down now?

 

[TheBigA]

Arguably what spurred that move were emerging rumors that Dan Synder had seriously inquired about purchasing the 103.9/104.1 combo for his Red Zebra venture.

Snyder actually ended up buying WGMS-AM and it became WTEM. Snyder later bought WWRC at 980 AM, which was a much better signal, and moved sports talk there.

The main point here is that compromises had to be made in order to keep classical on the air. That's what happened in Cleveland, that's what happened in Boston with WCRB, and that's what happened in NYC with WQXR. Those three stations all went non-commercial, operated by public broadcasters, and on weaker signals. Ultimately that may happen with WRR.

 

[Rusty Muck]

WCLV was a definite Cleveland institution starting around 1962 from a location out on Mayfield Road at the Eastgate shopping center. Robert Conrad engaged with all the "Severance Center Hierarchy" including the ones you name. It did not hurt that many local business leaders were also on the boards or trustees of those organizations and others like Case and Western Reserve.

And Robert Conrad's still actively involved at WCLV with the Orchestra broadcasts and Weekend Radio. It's easy to not notice how many of the on-air personalities outside of Conrad are approaching KFAC levels of tenure. Jacqueline Gerber is one of their more recent additions to the airstaff as morning host and she's only been there for 21 years.

The main point here is that compromises had to be made in order to keep classical on the air. That's what happened in Cleveland, that's what happened in Boston with WCRB, and that's what happened in NYC with WQXR. Those three stations all went non-commercial, operated by public broadcasters, and on weaker signals. Ultimately that may happen with WRR.

One has to give Conrad a lot of credit, the license/asset trade involving WCLV, Salem and Clear Channel were made at the best possible time, right at the end of 2000. Radio Seaway got a great payday for that 95.5 signal that would be impossible today and it pretty much sustained them up to their non-comm conversion, even with the weaker 104.9 signal.

They struck a deal while the iron was hot, and it turned out the best possible outcome.

 

[salemjedi54]

Demographic changes in the City of Dallas proper might have changed the dynamics in the past few years.

I have long wondered this, and it has been amplified in the post George Floyd reality: How much actual support is there amongst the diverse citizens of Dallas for running a money-losing Classical Music station, which mainly serves older Whites who for the most part, live outside the city proper? Do those citizens want their city owned station to better reflect the diversity of Dallas? Face it, there are many amongst what is called either the "woke" movement or "cancel culture" that have blasted Classical music as "the soundtrack of White supremacy." Is there a future for the format given recent changes in society?

As I said earlier, Friends of WRR have to put their money where their mouth is. Not sure that will be as easy as they think.

Actually that is not true. WRR has a divergent listening audience. I have seen the demographic breakdowns.

 

[Gregg.]

Here's how WRR is different than KUHF Houston. KUHF was burdened with an $8 million price tag. Donations to the Houston station had to pay for both the day-to-day operation AND to service that big debt. WRR has been owned by the City of Dallas for decades. It only has to break even or maybe be a little ahead of its expenses to satisfy the city government.

That probably would be done better by being a non-comm and holding periodic fundraisers. Most large cities have non-comm classical stations and support them through donations. WRR and WFMT Chicago are the only two commercial classical stations in the U.S. I can think of. Although both are owned by non-profit organizations.

 

[TheBigA]

CALL TO ACTION — Deadline: July 15, 2021

CALL AND EMAIL COUNCIL MEMBERS, THE CITY MANAGER, AND THE MAYOR TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR WRR NOW
WRR is the 2nd-oldest licensed radio station in the United States and the first station licensed in the State of Texas. It has been owned by the City of Dallas since being licensed 100 years ago. It is the 5th-most-listened-to classical station in the country, bringing classical music and the arts to 250,000 to 300,000 individual listeners every week.

Today was the deadline for the above "call to action." So what happens next? Another Call To Action:

CALL TO ACTION — Deadline: July 29, 2021
CALL AND EMAIL COUNCIL MEMBERS, THE CITY MANAGER, AND THE MAYOR TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR WRR NOW
WRR is the 2nd-oldest licensed radio station in the United States and the first station licensed in the State of Texas. It has been owned by the City of Dallas since being licensed 100 years ago. It is the 5th-most-listened-to classical station in the country, bringing classical music and the arts to 250,000 to 300,000 individual listeners every week.

In August, the Dallas City Council will be asked to vote on bids from outside managers for the control of WRR. The Friends Board of Directors strongly feels the bid process is rushed and flawed. It does not give potential bidders enough time or information to prepare bids that sufficiently protect the station. If no one bids, we are concerned the City will move to sell the station. Even if a bidder wins the contract, the station is exposed to a serious risk of long-term harm and, ultimately, a sale.

OUTSIDE MANAGEMENT IS EXACTLY HOW HOUSTON LOST ITS CLASSICAL MUSIC STATION COMPLETELY. THE BID PROCESS HAS BEEN FAST-TRACKED WHILE THE CITY COUNCIL IS IN A RECESS, AND IT IS HAPPENING WITHOUT INPUT FROM THOSE AFFECTED MOST—ARTS ORGANIZATIONS AND LISTENERS.
The Office of Arts and Culture issued a statement on July 2. To read the response from the executive committee of the Friends of WRR, click HERE. To read the full position of the Friends of WRR Board of Directors, click HERE.

WRR IS CITY-OWNED AND CANNOT ADVOCATE FOR ITSELF, SO IT’S UP TO US:
Call and email your District Council Member today, and ask them to
1) STOP THIS BID PROCESS
2) VOTE “NO” TO OUTSIDE MANAGEMENT

These folks don't seem to understand the situation. The only call to action that might make a difference is for them to raise $12 million and offer to buy the station from the city. Otherwise, the city is going to do what it has to do to stop the losses.

 

[TheBishop]

"legal restrictions on the government employees of WRR to comply with ethics regulations"

So the Government's laws hurt itself?

Yep, to an extent. Because WRR employees are city employees, they are not allowed to do paid endorsements or accept talent fees because of a "conflict of interest" with city regulations. These payments are considered "gifts," which violates the city's ethics protocols. In turn, WRR has to turn down A LOT of advertising dollars from clients interested in paid endorsements for air staff. Meanwhile, WRR has filtered MILLIONS of dollars from its capital reserves to help the city's budget shortfalls through the past 15 years. This link has a lot of good info: https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...OWRR+Response+to+OAC+Post+on+July+2-Final.pdf

 

[tested]

At this point, the only thing that has surprised me about this attempt to change WRR is the lack of coverage of the issue by local journalistic entities. The Dallas Morning News ran one story on it, but none of the TV stations have done anything on it. The Friends of WRR are not doing a very good job of generating the kind of attention to this issue that's gotten it stopped in the past. Maybe that will change when this issue comes to the council, but so far I'm really surprised at how quiet it has been.

It is also noteworthy that this entire process started because of an unsolicited suggestion request to take over management of the station by the Dallas Symphony Association last year. It seems likely that they will submit an RFP to run the station. I'm not entirely sure how well that would work or what programming changes it would mean for the station, but it definitely appears that the Friends of WRR are not happy about it.

 

[TheBigA]

Here's an article with quotes from KERA, the Dallas Symphony, and Friends of WRR:

Keeping It Classic: Texas’ 1st Radio Station Is In Need Of New Management | Art&Seek

The City of Dallas needs help managing its classical radio station, WRR 101.1 FM, and has opened up the submission process for applications. This story was reported and edited independently of KERA and originally published by Texas Public Radio's Jack Morgan. A WRR station wagon in mid-1950s...

artandseek.org

It sounds like it will be between KERA and the Symphony. The Friends want to delay the decision.

 

[b-turner]

Nice article except the writer seems to confuse WRR AM with WRR FM. WRR AM wound up at 1310 before eventually being sold. WRR FM is not 100 years old but the City running a radio station does span 100 years.

 

[Ryan Williams]

It sounds like it will be between KERA and the Symphony. The Friends want to delay the decision.

If you can't win, the best option is to maintain the status quo by stalling.

 

[TheBigA]

If you can't win, the best option is to maintain the status quo by stalling.

It sounds like the city has already decided that's not an option. A decision is going to be made.