Another college station sold

[amfmxm]

Sorry I'm so late to this thread, though as the sale of college-licensed radio stations will no doubt be continuing for some time, I'll wager that the discussion will continue for some time.

Within my half-century radio career I've worked for two major universities, one private and one public, and saw some distinct differences and many similarities.

In the case of the private university the radio property happened to be a commercial FM which launched the careers of many prominent broadcasters. The station's arrangement with the university required the part-time paid employment of several dozen students at all times, and during my years there we always had students working in all aspects of the operation except sales. Many students were air talents, and some were outstanding. In fact, several of these people continue to be very high profile radio and/or TV network talent. Yes, you would recognize the names, immediately!

The FM was its own department under the authority of the provost (top academic officer) and independent of the school's Communications Department, though the two had forged a solid working relationship. Ultimately, though, that independence hastened the sale of the station when I made the critical error of turning it into a market leader. We simply generated too much cash flow, so it became way too valuable. So when they needed some bucks, they cashed in. Yes, the station had demonstrable value in developing marketable skills for hundreds of students who went onto successful media careers. It just didn't matter. Money talks and bullshit walks.

The big public university, on the othe hand, has three FM sticks--two public broadcasting stations (+ a VHF PBS TV channel) and one student-operated student-oriented station. The public stations operate like most NPR/APM outfits do--and The U considers them part of "Outreach"--just like the county Extension Agents. Public service. The student station is operated as part of Student Affairs, and so is independent of both the public stations and the Communications Department. But nearly all staffers are Comm majors, and--again--it has helped launch hundreds of successful media careers over the past 50 or 60 years.

And, in most circles, preparing students for successful careers is considered a legitimate goal of higher education. Isn't it?

 

[TheBigA]

And, in most circles, preparing students for successful careers is considered a legitimate goal of higher education. Isn't it?

Exactly, but there's no requirement for a college to own a facility in order to provide training in an industry. In all of the cases where colleges sold their radio stations, arrangements were made where the students could continue to work at the station, even though it's now owned by another entity.

The main problem with the three main stations we've been discussing in this thread is that they were not preparing students for careers in broadcasting, and had actually become populated by lots of non-students.

 

[aaronread]

And, in most circles, preparing students for successful careers is considered a legitimate goal of higher education. Isn't it?

Actually, not necessarily. At some colleges, especially Community Colleges, preparing for a career is indeed the entire point. Many state schools tend to value job placement after graduation, too, and research universities may or may not take it very seriously as well - depends a lot on the particular college and particular discipline. However, at a lot of liberal arts colleges, a statement like that at a faculty meeting will get you tarred and feathered; the professed point of a liberal arts college is to "expand students' minds" (if I may paraphrase) and the nitty-gritty of "preparing for a career" is considered anathema to that.

And let's not forget: preparing students for a career assumes there are careers to be had after graduation. In radio broadcasting, that's been a chancy proposition at best for over twenty years, and it's been a cruel joke for the last five or ten. There are precious few jobs in radio, and the number seems to be perpetually shrinking every year. But then again, colleges have been doing that in many disciplines for years and communications is no different.