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Album 88 dropping daytime music format in June for news

MRFLASHPORT

MRFLASHPORT

Dang! That was one of the few music stations actually worth listening to. Where else could you hear new music, aside from the few hits that the corporate suits promoted?
 
I am on the other side of the fence on this one. I like public broadcasting during the day. WABE does classical music during the mid-day hours. I will be happy there is a choice. Sometimes I can pick up the Warm Springs GPB station, but not often.

I understand for those that are music people, this is one less station to choose from. For me, at least this is babble that I can stomach.
 
Album 88 is an institution, it is one of the most iconic college stations in the country. The student produced music programs are unique. Why do we need more NPR feeds? If GPB wants to "tweak" something, then work with WABE to put more babble on there. Album 88 is the last bastion of real radio on the dial in this town. When it's gone, it's gone. The laughable notion of moving it to "HD Radio" (which last I checked, WRAS wasn't even transmitting in HD) or online means it will come to an end. Have you listened to some of the great programs on there like Reelin In the Years with Jeff Walker on Saturday mornings? Many alumni I know are STUNNED at this decision, and let's not even talk about the slimy, corporate style of midnight format change essentially "firing" everyone way it went down.

I will no longer supprt GPB, I just cannot do it with their destroying the institution that is Album 88. It isn't about ratings or a drop in listenership (heck, Album 88 has made the books many a time), or lack of support- the station IS what it IS because of student, alumni and advisor participation. This was some slime bucket takeover. Well guess what Georgia Public Broadcasting, you can shove your NPR where the sun doesn't shine and you will NEVER get another check from me. EVER.
 
MRFLASHPORT said:
Well guess what Georgia Public Broadcasting, you can shove your NPR where the sun doesn't shine and you will NEVER get another check from me. EVER.
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From the linked article: The 100,000-watt Georgia State University station inked a two-year, $150,000 deal with Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Maybe they compared the size of checks from "listeners like you" (to quote the public radio cliche) to $150,000.
 
While I'm saddened about the loss of Album 88 during the daytime, I don't blame either Georgia Public Broadcasting or Georgia State. This is just business. GPB needs an Atlanta affiliate, and Georgia State needs the money. That's all there is to it.
 
There are at least two people who live inside me.... one is a total optimist, one is a world class pessimist.

Maybe this arrangement is a win-win-win for everyone involved.

The university is not SELLING the station.... if they wake up a realize this arrangement is not good, they don't have to renew. Just let it be known you want your station back.

I have no observations or thoughts about the way the station has been operating, but is it possible to students and volunteers needed a wake-up call. They may need a reminder that the world is not static... maybe they needed a message that says: What you did year before last is probably not sufficient for today. Where is your "value add" that every business, every media, every civic organization has to come up with from year to year.

And there there is WABE. I don't envy the position they have been in / are in / will be in. Yes they get pressure to do do more talk. Yes they do get pressure to not let music take second place. WABE management team is for a short time "sitting in the pear tree!" If they have been wanting to change some directions but didn't want the flack from some supporters/listeners, now they can make changes... even drastic changes... and simply say: "We had no choice but to move foreward."

And maybe two years from now we will all gather here and say: Isn't this Great! Look what has changed. Or maybe we will come together and numble and grumble: I cannot believe how dumb the changes have been!

When I say maybe this is a win-win-win opprotunity.... we may never see or hear what happens. In addition to setting the stage for each player in this drama to have and excuse to DO something (something that is visible), the stage is set for some drama that we may never see. WABE can go to people who have been demanding that certain things should happen and they can say: It's time to put-up or shut-up. Are you ready to fund the change you have been asking for?

The University can go to the students and volunteers and say: We have been trying to change your mindset for some time now. Are to ready for serious talk instead of ignoring us?

And certain deep-pockets and political activists can go to GPB and talk about funding and talk about what they are going to pressure the legislature to do if all of this goes badly.

The drama is possibly so giant when you compare it to the importance of our little conversations here.
 
Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
The university is not SELLING the station.... if they wake up a realize this arrangement is not good, they don't have to renew.
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Good point. Consider that a lot of colleges HAVE been selling their radio stations lately. A quick look around the Radio Discussions board will show that the University of Buffalo sold WBFO last year to Western Public Radio. Vanderbilt University sold their station to Nashville Public Radio. Rice University sold their station to the University of Houston, owner of KUHF. Three examples from just last year. Two of the three changed formats from local music to news. IIRC, all three had challenges from student groups who used various justifications to deny the transfers. The Nashville one was just resolved last month, with the student group losing.

I was the co-founder of my college's FM station. I'm happy to say that the station is still on the air, still owned by the college, and still plays locally produced music shows. However, most of the shows are hosted by alumni, not actual students. That was the problem at the three colleges mentioned above. I don't know the level of student involvement for this station in Atlanta, but that's often a factor. My station seems safe because of all the sports programming they do for the college teams. That was not the case for some of the stations that have been sold.

The 2008 financial crisis took a bite out of some college endowments. That's caused their boards to look over their assets to see what they can sell to make up the difference. As I posted in previous college station discussions, several things have changed with regards to college ownership of radio. The most obvious is the fact that students aren't as interested in radio careers as they once were. Most colleges that have sold their FM stations didn't have degree programs in broadcasting, so they had no academic reason to keep the station. But the other thing that's changed at the institutional level has been the role of the college and the community. At one time, colleges, especially land-grant institutions, sought to do community outreach. That meant lots of free programs for inner city residents. That's not as big a thing with colleges any more. They've become more of a business than they had been. So owning a radio station, especially when students don't care, alumni don't care, and other school funders don't care, expendable.
 
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Except Album 88 wasn't lacking in student involvement. It's amazing the number of alumni posting on social media that even though they weren't considered in the typical college radio demographic, they still listened to it and found the programming compelling. There were plenty of student talents that got good jobs in media because of the experience, and even recent applicants because of the existence of a powerful and prominent student radio station. Given the meaning of the station to the students and alumni, for them to have this news sprung on them as it was was a tasteless act. Certainly the university has the "right" to do it. But it would have been much better to handle it more responsibly.
 
Avid Listener said:
You left out one group of people involved -- the listeners. Those of us who really liked the music on Album 88 are SOL.
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You are right. I didn't "catalog" them but if you think about the focus I put on organizations that may have a different view of things a year or two from now (WABE, Georgia State University, GPB, etc. the implications is that once the listeners react (or fail to react) is when all these entities may rethink what looks great today.

What happens if the album music on 88.5 goes away, and vitually no phone calls or letters or other forms of measureable expression end up in the offices of the University. In the end, it is GSU that has their hand on the lever. We assume listeners have their hand on a lever, but if you were on the board or the faculty of the University and when all is said and done there is NO measurable outcry from the long time loyal listeners... will you regret taking the current action?

What if news of 88.5 is a great success and it becomes obvious 88.5 will remain news and maybe a couple of years from now is actually sold/transferred to GPB. This some other broadcaster who is not on our radar today might say: "Well, with 88.5 out of the way, I am ready to move onto that stage and do-their-thing better than they ever did it!" I'm not predicting that will happen. I have no concept of who might fill the empty space. But it is possible the "those who really like the music on Album 88" could end up the opposite of SOL. Is there an iPhone opposite of SOL?
 
Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
You are right. I didn't "catalog" them but if you think about the focus I put on organizations that may have a different view of things a year or two from now (WABE, Georgia State University, GPB, etc. the implications is that once the listeners react (or fail to react) is when all these entities may rethink what looks great today.

What happens if the album music on 88.5 goes away, and vitually no phone calls or letters or other forms of measureable expression end up in the offices of the University. In the end, it is GSU that has their hand on the lever. We assume listeners have their hand on a lever, but if you were on the board or the faculty of the University and when all is said and done there is NO measurable outcry from the long time loyal listeners... will you regret taking the current action?

What if news of 88.5 is a great success and it becomes obvious 88.5 will remain news and maybe a couple of years from now is actually sold/transferred to GPB. This some other broadcaster who is not on our radar today might say: "Well, with 88.5 out of the way, I am ready to move onto that stage and do-their-thing better than they ever did it!" I'm not predicting that will happen. I have no concept of who might fill the empty space. But it is possible the "those who really like the music on Album 88" could end up the opposite of SOL. Is there an iPhone opposite of SOL?
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I agree that the scenario you describe is possible. I would also describe the possibility as highly unlikely. I suspect that most of us who listened to Album 88 as something of our last hope on the radio will simply leave all broadcast radio behind as a source of musical entertainment. Not all, of course, but probably much more than half.
 
Avid Listener said:
You left out one group of people involved -- the listeners. Those of us who really liked the music on Album 88 are SOL.
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Which I why I say let GPB KNOW you will NOT be supporting them. Unlike commercial radio, which doesn't have to answer to listeners, only advertisers and stockholders, non-commercial radio IS dependent on both listeners and supporters/underwriters.
Last I checked, there are close to 8,000 signartures so far on the petition to not bring GPBabble to Album 88. The goal is 10,000. Reading the many comments, it seems no one is saying "yes, please bring us more GPBabble and trash Album 88"

http://www.change.org/petitions/geo...a-college-radio-station-album-88-wras-88-5-fm

GPB needs an Atlanta signal like I need another inch on my belt. WJSP puts a strong enough signal on a POS Sangean RCR-5 clock radio at my house in the guest bedroom at one of the lowest lying areas in south Smyrna near I-285. It is perfectly listenable on most car radios with a city grade signal. It's coming from a C1 signal that is on top of Pine Mountain. With WABE and WCLK running NPR, do we really need more of this incessant talk talk talk on FM?

The entire purpose of college radio is to train new potential broadcasters and teach the art of radio.

Oh, I forgot- that's all radio is now. Satellite fed translators of pointless dribble, vaccuous slogans and the music that is what the corporations have selected as "this weeks' hit".

This should be a lesson to all of you at Album 88 about how the modern radio business is run these days. Your talent, your skills are worthless and the corporate tools have decided that creativity and music are not important. Bring on the endless babble and political pundits with their endless point-counterpoint drivel. That is what radio has become, and even today's non-comms are not immune from this aural sewage filling up the airwaves.

My hope is that GSU will realize what an epic FAIL this is and back out and return the station to it's students, volunteers and advisors and allow it to continue to live on as the icon it is. But I am not holding my breath either. I have been introduced to so many great artists like Dent May, The Beautiful South, Elvis Costello, and so many more that rarely if at all get airplay on corporate radio. I've enjoyed the great shows and listening to students develop their skills, and will really miss Jeff Walkers' Reelin In the Years.

Oh well, guess they just want us music fans to go to the Internet. Until the telecom cartels lock that down...
 
I think I'd be far more willing to support this transition is 88.5 was going to air local news, with a staff of local reporters covering local events and happenings.
 
why do we need more news/talk? don't we have enough jib-jab between "News Now 95.5/750" and "sometimes news 106.7" not to mention WGST, WCFO, and all the other chatterboxes lining the dial?

Doug Richards summed it up well. I will say no more.

http://liveapartmentfire.com/2014/05/12/wras-matters/
 
MRFLASHPORT said:
why do we need more news/talk? don't we have enough jib-jab between "News Now 95.5/750" and "sometimes news 106.7" not to mention WGST, WCFO, and all the other chatterboxes lining the dial?
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I get your point of view!!! You have a unique appetite for music. There must be 70 or so radio stations on the dial in the Atlanta area of which maybe 65 are playing music. And you want that ONE UNIQUELY DIFFERENT music that 88.5 presents and is reported to be going away.

There are other people who have a unique appetite for news. And you are able to come up with a list of maybe five stations that are in the news, the infomercial, the talk business and you want to cry and katterwahl that the people with five stations are being selfish crybabies, infringing on the the needs of the people with maybe 65 stations.

The sad things is that even if 88.5 becomes part of the GPB system, and 88.5 becomes the deliverer of "news" of some kind, I have a feeling that a lot of people who today are sporting big gleaming smiles are in a few months going to be pretty glum as the come here and post: "But THAT is not what I had in mind when I jumped-with-joy that 88.5 was going to become a news station and do what WABE won't and doesn't do." There will be the faint chant all across Atlanta: "We Want a REAL NPR News Station!!!"
 
I took a look at the petition, and it's not worded well at all. It's asking GSU to "reconsider" it's deal with GPB. It's too late for that.

What you really want is for GPB to retain some element of the programming.
 
FYI the way WRAS is set up, it's not intended to teach anything. It's a student activity. No instructional activity takes place there now.
 
Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
I get your point of view!!! You have a unique appetite for music. There must be 70 or so radio stations on the dial in the Atlanta area of which maybe 65 are playing music. And you want that ONE UNIQUELY DIFFERENT music that 88.5 presents and is reported to be going away.

There are other people who have a unique appetite for news. And you are able to come up with a list of maybe five stations that are in the news, the infomercial, the talk business and you want to cry and katterwahl that the people with five stations are being selfish crybabies, infringing on the the needs of the people with maybe 65 stations.

The sad things is that even if 88.5 becomes part of the GPB system, and 88.5 becomes the deliverer of "news" of some kind, I have a feeling that a lot of people who today are sporting big gleaming smiles are in a few months going to be pretty glum as the come here and post: "But THAT is not what I had in mind when I jumped-with-joy that 88.5 was going to become a news station and do what WABE won't and doesn't do." There will be the faint chant all across Atlanta: "We Want a REAL NPR News Station!!!"
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But is the new 88.5 going to offer something unique, new, and different that isn't already available elsewhere? Or is it just going to plug into a national satellite feed with more of the same available on other stations, albeit with a different voice reading the same stories?

To use my favorite analogy, restaurants, "Album 88" was the only vegan restaurant in town (unique music). Yes, there are 65 places serving variations of the same hamburgers and fries (standard, tight-playlist music), but Album 88 was the one and only outlet for vegan food. Now there were a few places serving fish & chips (news) instead of burgers and fries. Is the new PBS news outlet on 88.5 going to something unique and different (sushi), or is it just going to be more batter fried cod and french fries like the other fish & chips places?

And I'm not trying to make a point. I genuinely want to know just how unique and different the news operation on 88.5 is going to be? Will it serve new listeners who otherwise have no option for what they want, or is it just going to subdivide the existing audience for radio news?
 
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