Cincinnati Public Radio's New Digs ($$$$$)

[yeoldeschool]

In a time where many public radio stations are struggling just to remain on-air, it's astonishing seeing all this money being spent on one city's public radio facility.

To think that all Fever needed to keep warm was a bottle of brandy and Jennifer Marlowe's foot...

 

[radiofan2023]

They raised money from a combination of public and private donations to make it happen:

Building Connections - The Campaign for Cincinnati Public Radio’s New Home

Building Connections The Campaign for Cincinnati Public Radio’s New Home This is why we made the decision to build. Together, we’ve built a radio community that’s been going strong for more than 64 years. Now, we are building a permanent home for 90.9 WGUC, 91.7 WVXU and 88.5 WM

cinradio.org

 

[TheBigA]

In a time where many public radio stations are struggling just to remain on-air, it's astonishing seeing all this money being spent on one city's public radio facility.

The work on this predates the recent recission of CPB funding. According to this, government funding makes up 5% of the station's revenue.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2025/07/18/cincinnati-public-radio-ceo-funding-cuts-pose-devastating-impacts/85271601007/

As I often say, public broadcasters do not take a vow of poverty. The quality of their facility benefits all who listen and donate.

 

[yeoldeschool]

They raised money from a combination of public and private donations to make it happen:

Understood but not every listener is as well-heeled. The ones struggling to financially survive will probably regret letting go of their "this would otherwise be grocery money"-tier donations if they knew they were going into designer on air signs nobody will actually hear on the air. Their memories of this will also affect their willingness to donate again in the future.

The quality of their facility benefits all who listen and donate.

Again. The listeners won't hear the huge custom waveform wall sculpture or the luxury furniture unless it falls down or squeaks while someone's mic is open.

I don't mean to pick on this station in particular, but there's a difference between taking a vow of poverty as you put it, having a modern and comfortable working environment, and going so far as to spend donations that partly consist of poorer listeners' hard-earned financial sacrifices on lots of unnecessary extravagances. The public stations that are simultaneously going broke may be entirely coincidental timing-wise, but their fate still casts a harsher light on this kind of spending.

 

[radiofan2023]

Understood but not every listener is as well-heeled. The ones struggling to financially survive will probably regret letting go of their "this would otherwise be grocery money"-tier donations if they knew they were going into designer on air signs nobody will actually hear on the air. Their memories of this will also affect their willingness to donate again in the future.


Again. The listeners won't hear the huge custom waveform wall sculpture or the luxury furniture unless it falls down or squeaks while someone's mic is open.

I don't mean to pick on this station in particular, but there's a difference between taking a vow of poverty as you put it, having a modern and comfortable working environment, and going so far as to spend donations that partly consist of hard-earned financial sacrifices on lots of unnecessary extravagances. The public stations that are simultaneously going broke may be entirely coincidental timing-wise, but their fate still casts a harsher light on this kind of spending.

There's no way for anyone to know whether or not their donation went to an on-air sign, a piece of furniture, a patch cable, etc. unless they specified what their donation was to be used for. And some of the donations were made before the rescission happened. Also, EVERYONE in the community gets to use the community space(s) that are part of this remodel, whether or not they donated, the same as with the KQED headquarters remodel and other public radio/tv station remodels that have happened recently. What does a "vow of poverty" have to do with anything? They're not crying poor, they're rightfully saying that they budgeted for a certain amount that they believed they would be getting, now they're not getting it due to the rescission, and their budget has a hole in it that has to be made up somehow.

 

[TheBigA]

The public stations that are simultaneously going broke may be entirely coincidental timing-wise, but their fate still casts a harsher light on this kind of spending.

Once again, the budget for this building pre-dates the recent rescission. So yes it's coincidental. They wouldn't have built it if they had any indication of impending financial problems. Just as Entercom would not have bought CBS Radio if it knew we'd have a pandemic.

The operation of a non-profit is very different from a for-profit. In this case, they must spend all of their revenue on the operation. They have no stockholders or investors who get a share of the money. It wouldn't surprise me if the artwork in the building was donated, not purchased.

BTW I'm not aware of stations that are "going broke." Most are simply adjusting their operating budgets for the loss of CPB funding. In most cases, it's less than 10% of their budget.

 

[ted chittenden]

In a time where many public radio stations are struggling just to remain on-air, it's astonishing seeing all this money being spent on one city's public radio facility.

To think that all Fever needed to keep warm was a bottle of brandy and Jennifer Marlowe's foot...

A couple of thoughts:

1) While I haven't heard this lately, my hometown station, KJZZ, during their pledge drives used to make it clear that it didn't want listeners to pay money to them that they'd otherwise use to pay the rent or buy food for the kids. The analogy they used then was to give them the money you'd use to buy snacks or coffee from the breakroon at work.

2) (and this is true in so many other areas as well), Because each of the CPB stations (+satellites in some cases) is owned by different owners, how much assistance the station will need and how it would use those funds for what amount of time will vary from station to station. I don't believe that, should it turn out that, Cincinnati Public Radio wrongfully spent the money available to it automatically means that KJZZ in Arizona is engaging in the same behavior.