Denver Rocky Mountain Public Media & Community Radio for Northern Colorado explore merger

[ChaseW]

Rocky Mountain Public Media and Community Radio For Northern Colorado Explore Merger

Rocky Mountain Public Media and Community Radio For Northern Colorado have entered into a non-binding Letter of Intent to explore

radioinsight.com

 

[Mark Roberts]

Rocky Mountain Public Media and Community Radio For Northern Colorado Explore Merger

Rocky Mountain Public Media and Community Radio For Northern Colorado have entered into a non-binding Letter of Intent to explore

radioinsight.com

I figured that, at some point, CRNC (KUNC) was going to have to find a merger partner. The somewhat difficult history between Colorado Public Radio and CRNC would have been an obstacle for those two organizations to combine, even though it would seem to be a logical combination. However, there would be a few overlaps between those two organizations, especially with their AAA-formatted stations. The Colorado Sound (CRNC) has been around longer, but Indie 102.3 (CPR) has more reach. Under this proposal, many of these CRNC/CPR overlaps would remain.

CRNC and RMPBS already cooperate in some news-gathering activities.

The news release from Rocky Mountain Public Media (RMPBS, link: Rocky Mountain Public Media explores merger with KUNC and The Colorado Sound | Rocky Mountain PBS) mentions that KUNC recently secured a no-cost lease for a new facility in Fort Collins. It also states that no staff reductions would be contemplated if a merger occurred.

Aside from the overlaps between the AAA stations mentioned earlier, KUNC also operates a translator with some coverage of the Denver metropolitan area, resulting in some duplication in National Public Radio programming with CPR News.

Disclaimer: I contribute to both organizations involved in the potential merger process.

 

[TheBigA]

I figured that, at some point, CRNC (KUNC) was going to have to find a merger partner.

I often see posts from people who are critical of public radio operating budgets, and can't understand why these radio stations cost so much to run. The reason is they're not consolidated the way commercial radio is. Typically you'll have 5-6 commercial stations clustered in one building with one office staff, while it's human resources. accounting, and engineering are done at the corporate office. Meanwhile, every public radio station is individually owned and operated with no consolidated services.

With the loss of federal funding, that duplication of service can be targeted as a way to cut expenses.

 

[Mark Roberts]

I often see posts from people who are critical of public radio operating budgets, and can't understand why these radio stations cost so much to run. The reason is they're not consolidated the way commercial radio is. Typically you'll have 5-6 commercial stations clustered in one building with one office staff, while it's human resources. accounting, and engineering are done at the corporate office. Meanwhile, every public radio station is individually owned and operated with no consolidated services.

With the loss of federal funding, that duplication of service can be targeted as a way to cut expenses.

Note, however, that Rocky Mountain Public Media is saying "there are no plans to reduce staff". At the same time, they're saying, "Operational support like HR, finance, and fundraising would be shared, improving efficiency". Whether that pans out is an interesting question. It's true that there isn't any programming overlap between the two organizations.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

This has been done for ages in Alaska.

Coast Alaska does it. They own stations in Juneau and as i call them, a station services and advocacy group provide HR,traffic/billing, finance, they even share/help t other SE AK stations in news... and AK Public Broadcasting Inc which was a contract enginering firm is now part of Coast Alaska... engineers are in anchorage and most public station have them on a retainer every year

 

[Mark Roberts]

This has been done for ages in Alaska.

Coast Alaska does it. They own stations in Juneau and as i call them, a station services and advocacy group provide HR,traffic/billing, finance, they even share/help t other SE AK stations in news... and AK Public Broadcasting Inc which was a contract enginering firm is now part of Coast Alaska... engineers are in anchorage and most public station have them on a retainer every year

But this proposal could end up as an outright merger between two entities, which is different from what I think you're describing.

 

[Mark Roberts]

BizWest, based in Fort Collins, broke the story yesterday, along with a substantial amount of background, including information about CNRC's recent financial condition:

KUNC, Rocky Mountain Public Media eye merger – BizWest

Greeley-based public radio station KUNC 91.5 FM is contemplating a merger with Rocky Mountain Public Media. The potential merger comes as the Fort Collins-based Bohemian Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by billionaire philanthropist Pat Stryker, will provide a new space for KUNC and...

bizwest.com

(begin quote)
-- Community Radio for Northern Colorado recorded positive net income of $1.57 million in fiscal year 2021, according to Form 990s filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Former president and CEO Neil Best retired in April 2021, with Terwelp taking the helm.

But the intervening years have been financially challenging, with a string of losses: $35,668 in 2022, $1.1 million in 2023 and $357,170 in 2024, for a total three-year loss of $1.49 million.

The organization’s latest 990 filing, for fiscal year 2024, showed revenue of $5.57 million and expenses of $5.93 million. The organization reported assets of $9.65 million and liabilities of $2.13 million.

“I think we’ve felt very discouraged as a staff over the past few years,” a staff member told BizWest. “We haven’t had strong leadership or a strong board. That’s really impacting staff morale. There’s a lot of decisions that have led us down this path where this merger is happening. There’s a lot of sentiment where the leadership has not been great.”
(end quote)

The BizWest story also goes into some detail about KUNC's existing relationship with RMPBS as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. Colorado Public Radio also participates in that alliance, which provides reports on Colorado state government to alliance members. That alliance was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Some of the suspicions regarding remote control from Denver that came up when Colorado Public Radio tried to buy KUNC more than two decades ago seem to be present with Rocky Mountain Public Media as well:

(begin quote)
-- “There’s the feeling that we’re losing independence, and the concern of moving out of Northern Colorado as well,” a source said.

Beyond that, independence has been a selling point for KUNC and the Colorado Sound over the years, a source said.

“People in Northern Colorado are just passionate about the fact that we’re independent, that we haven’t been bought up by a larger media company, that we continue to thrive and win awards and do fantastic coverage,” the source said. “They feel like it’s a friend, and if we get absorbed by a large company, I think there’s going to be a lot of rebellion when it comes to members.”
(end quote)

The BizWest article also says that, while staffers have been told that no jobs would be lost in any merger, business operations are likely to move to Denver.

The article generally leaves the impression that a merger is more likely than not.

(edit: minor edit to lead sentence so that it didn't keep saying "including")

 

[ted chittenden]

I often see posts from people who are critical of public radio operating budgets, and can't understand why these radio stations cost so much to run. The reason is they're not consolidated the way commercial radio is. Typically you'll have 5-6 commercial stations clustered in one building with one office staff, while it's human resources. accounting, and engineering are done at the corporate office. Meanwhile, every public radio station is individually owned and operated with no consolidated services.

With the loss of federal funding, that duplication of service can be targeted as a way to cut expenses.

What you're seeing in Colorado now sounds a lot like what happened in Iowa about, roughly, a decade ago although the reasons were different. It used to be that the public radio stations in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, IA, were run independently of each other. Then (and I'm going by memory on this), both services hired a marketing firm to see how they could grow in an era of dwindling donations. The result was a merger of all of the Iowa radio stations (save KWIT in Sioux City) into one entity called Iowa Public radio. And, with the combined resources of the organizations involved, that entity has added public radio services to parts of Iowa (Otummwa, Dubuque, Spencer) that didn't have service before. And I believe (again I'm open to being corrected) that when the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids stations combined their operations, all of the business and HR operations for the new entity moved to Des Moines.

 

[ted chittenden]

BizWest, based in Fort Collins, broke the story yesterday, along with a substantial amount of background, including information about CNRC's recent financial condition:

KUNC, Rocky Mountain Public Media eye merger – BizWest

Greeley-based public radio station KUNC 91.5 FM is contemplating a merger with Rocky Mountain Public Media. The potential merger comes as the Fort Collins-based Bohemian Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by billionaire philanthropist Pat Stryker, will provide a new space for KUNC and...

bizwest.com

(begin quote)
-- Community Radio for Northern Colorado recorded positive net income of $1.57 million in fiscal year 2021, according to Form 990s filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Former president and CEO Neil Best retired in April 2021, with Terwelp taking the helm.

But the intervening years have been financially challenging, with a string of losses: $35,668 in 2022, $1.1 million in 2023 and $357,170 in 2024, for a total three-year loss of $1.49 million.

The organization’s latest 990 filing, for fiscal year 2024, showed revenue of $5.57 million and expenses of $5.93 million. The organization reported assets of $9.65 million and liabilities of $2.13 million.

“I think we’ve felt very discouraged as a staff over the past few years,” a staff member told BizWest. “We haven’t had strong leadership or a strong board. That’s really impacting staff morale. There’s a lot of decisions that have led us down this path where this merger is happening. There’s a lot of sentiment where the leadership has not been great.”
(end quote)

The BizWest story also goes into some detail about KUNC's existing relationship with RMPBS as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. Colorado Public Radio also participates in that alliance, which provides reports on Colorado state government to alliance members. That alliance was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Some of the suspicions regarding remote control from Denver that came up when Colorado Public Radio tried to buy KUNC more than two decades ago seem to be present with Rocky Mountain Public Media as well:

(begin quote)
-- “There’s the feeling that we’re losing independence, and the concern of moving out of Northern Colorado as well,” a source said.

Beyond that, independence has been a selling point for KUNC and the Colorado Sound over the years, a source said.

“People in Northern Colorado are just passionate about the fact that we’re independent, that we haven’t been bought up by a larger media company, that we continue to thrive and win awards and do fantastic coverage,” the source said. “They feel like it’s a friend, and if we get absorbed by a large company, I think there’s going to be a lot of rebellion when it comes to members.”
(end quote)

The BizWest article also says that, while staffers have been told that no jobs would be lost in any merger, business operations are likely to move to Denver.

The article generally leaves the impression that a merger is more likely than not.

(edit: minor edit to lead sentence so that it didn't keep saying "including")

There are seven additional public radio services in Colorado covering smaller populations (with a couple running full-power simulcasters). These include the stations in Carbondale, Aspen, Crested Butte, Telluride, Alamosa, Cortez, and Durango. With the possible exception of the Durango station (which is owned by the southern Ute Indian tribe and serves the populated area of Farmington, NM, as well), I would not be surprised if all of these services were not merged into Colorado Public Radio in the not-too-distant future.

 

[Mark Roberts]

What you're seeing in Colorado now sounds a lot like what happened in Iowa about, roughly, a decade ago although the reasons were different. It used to be that the public radio stations in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, IA, were run independently of each other. Then (and I'm going by memory on this), both services hired a marketing firm to see how they could grow in an era of dwindling donations. The result was a merger of all of the Iowa radio stations (save KWIT in Sioux City) into one entity called Iowa Public radio. And, with the combined resources of the organizations involved, that entity has added public radio services to parts of Iowa (Otummwa, Dubuque, Spencer) that didn't have service before. And I believe (again I'm open to being corrected) that when the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids stations combined their operations, all of the business and HR operations for the new entity moved to Des Moines.

I'll try to be brief, since this isn't an Iowa thread.

The universities that had radio stations and were governed by the Board of Regents faced significant budget cuts in 2004. Iowa State University stopped providing financial support to WOI altogether. The University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa were in the midst of management changes at the same time. A new president of the Board of Regents wanted to take a broader look at the structure of public radio in Iowa, to make it more collaborative, and hired a consultant. The consultant recommended creation of the statewide network, and expansion of it into underserved areas, especially western Iowa. The stations were gathered together as Iowa Public Radio at the start of 2006. The universities retained the licenses, and program origination was from all three campuses:
Ames (Iowa State, news); Iowa City (University of Iowa, classical); and Cedar Falls (UNI, AAA "Studio One"). Some back office functions moved to Des Moines. Master control was in Ames. The ownership of the stations wasn't transferred to Iowa Public Radio until 2022.

The Ottumwa stations came about because, in a well-timed move, the Wapello County Board of Supervisors lobbied...hard...for stations to serve that county, including Ottumwa. Iowa State applied for open channels (may have gotten them in an auction) and got them. They basically cover the county but not much more...for example, they're kind of noisy in Centerville, where I visit one or two times a year. I believe more functions are moving to Des Moines now.

I posted some time back about how the IPR stations are grouped together in a central zone and an eastern zone. Should still be in the Iowa forum.

As for western Iowa: KWIT is owned by Western Iowa Technical College and isn't governed by the state Board of Regents. It came on the air in 1978, if I recall correctly, and continues to air a mixed news-classical program. (I interviewed there in 1979. I didn't get the job. Probably a good thing since they laid off all their news staff in 1982.) KIWR in Council Bluffs is owned by Iowa Western Community College, and is student-oriented. NPR programming in the southwestern corner of Iowa comes either from Omaha or Maryville, Missouri (Northwest Missouri State University). IPR basically covers the eastern two-thirds of Iowa, so the original objective for better coverage of western Iowa has only been partially fulfilled. The IPR station farther west is KNSC in Carroll.

The Colorado situation is different in several aspects. There was no statewide body attempting to create a coordinated network, for one thing. KUNC successfully fought off an acquisition attempt by CPR about 25 years ago. That attempt left a negative legacy that would make it very difficult for CPR to overcome. (CPR does have a station in Fort Collins for its classical service, and a translator for Indie 102.3). There are multiple community-based stations (KGNU in Boulder is the biggest; it's not going anywhere; there's another in Fort Collins). Any networking that happens is going to require collaboration and agreement among the different nonprofit entities. It's a less structured situation than the formation of Iowa Public Radio.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Here's the thread from a couple of years that will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about Iowa Public Radio: Iowa - Iowa Public Radio

Colorado Public Radio appears to use a similar zoning approach: a central zone based in Denver, a western zone based in Grand Junction, and a southern zone based in Colorado Springs. As with Iowa, this is mostly limited to top-of-hour IDs.

There are seven additional public radio services in Colorado covering smaller populations (with a couple running full-power simulcasters). These include the stations in Carbondale, Aspen, Crested Butte, Telluride, Alamosa, Cortez, and Durango. With the possible exception of the Durango station (which is owned by the southern Ute Indian tribe and serves the populated area of Farmington, NM, as well), I would not be surprised if all of these services were not merged into Colorado Public Radio in the not-too-distant future.

KSUT has just started a series about its history, commemorating its 50th anniversary: KSUT, the early years: Launching as a tribal radio station in 1976, live from a 10x14 room

KSUT is no longer owned by the tribe, though it runs a second, Native-oriented service: About KSUT

In some instances, CPR has non-NPR services in the mountain communities that Ted mentioned in the paragraph that I've quoted, as well as in the northern Front Range that KUNC serves.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

But this proposal could end up as an outright merger between two entities, which is different from what I think you're describing.

Youre right. Its the way public media is headed.. WSBE TV and RIPR merged in RI

 

[Mark Roberts]

In an opinion piece in the online Colorado Sun promoting the benefits of a merger, the CEOs of Rocky Mountain Public Media (RMPBS, KUVO, etc.) and Community Radio for Northern Colorado (KUNC, The Colorado Sound) revealed that the merger is going forward. This isn't surprising. The boards of both organizations are expected to approve the merger this summer. FCC approval of ownership transfers is also required, and is anticipated to be complete by the end of the year.

It's also not surprising that the CEOs are downplaying any changes in news coverage or programming. Instead, they say:

What will change is our ability to do more and do it with strategic changes behind the scenes.

By aligning operations, not newsrooms, the combined organization can reduce duplication, operate more efficiently and reinvest resources into journalism, music programming and community engagement, while maintaining editorial autonomy and distinct local brands. Greater collaboration across teams, from reporting to sponsorships to events, will allow for broader reach and deeper impact than any one organization can achieve alone.
[end quote]

Interesting enough, though I am a member of both organizations, I've received no communications to indicate that a merger was moving past exploratory discussions. This opinion piece is the first indication that a merger's going to happen. I have noted that recent fundraising appeals from both organizations tend to arrive the same day and are very similar. Though, to be fair, there are only so many ways you can ask for money.

Link: Opinion: Colorado’s public media is building something stronger together

(edit to fix formatting...and to admit that I kind of buried the lede; I should have more clearly indicated that merger talks had moved past initial discussions and now a merger is very likely to happen)