Bad news for non com fans out of Evansville IN

[Radiogeek500]

Non Com WUEV 91.5, owned by the University Of Evansville, which carries a Jazz Format and other specialty shows is up for sale according to the Administrators. I would expect a Religious entity ie EMF, Calvary, etc etc to acquire 91.5, thus dumping the current format in favor of whatever religious stuff the acuirer has.

It will leave a void as the only other non coms are WPSR 90.7, a High School station and WNIN 88.3, A NPR outlet. And WPSR itself may be in trouble, as the Vandebergh School District is having trouble finacially, so that could be sold as well, leaving Evansville with just one somewhat mass appeal non com and that would be WNIN.

What a bad day indeed.<P ID="signature">______________
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JOSH, Moderating the whole Radio-Info radio state of California and Indiana too!

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[mwebster]

Public Radio backwater

91.5 in the non-commercial band with a non-commercial license. It can not be anything but non-commercial And currently the University is not doing much with the station. WEUV does not even qualify for CPB funding. It is not public radio. Its 12+ AQH is barely into whole numbers.

WPSR is a student station. It is also not public radio. It's a toy for students, who would be better served by spending the time studying. Hardly anybody is listening (according to Arbitron).

WNIN is one of two true public radio stations in the area; the other is Western Kentucky public radio. Both are still doing a "tent-pole" format with NPR in morning and afternoon drive and classical music the rest of the time. (Hey, folks, look at the calendar. This isn't the 70's. Ever heard of formatting? And classical listeners don't fork over at pledge time - neither do jazz listeners for that matter.) Even so, WNIN does have an audience (they'd be tied for 9th in the fall Arbitrons). But the people who run WNIN (not to mention WEUV) mostly seem to be coasting. It sounds like it's always a bad day for public radio in Evansville.

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

Re: Public Radio backwater

> 91.5 in the non-commercial band with a non-commercial
> license. It can not be anything but non-commercial And
> currently the University is not doing much with the station.
> WEUV does not even qualify for CPB funding. It is not
> public radio. Its 12+ AQH is barely into whole numbers.

Non-commercial does not mean public radio. CPB funding is a non-sequitur here. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of non-comms that have survived for many, many years without a faintest hint of CPB funding.

And as for Arbitron numbers, if advertiser-sponsored ratings mattered to a non-comm's operation, it wouldn't be a non-comm would it? Yes, it's nice to know approximately how many people listen to your station, but what Arbitron says matters little to non-comm station operators or licensees.

> WPSR is a student station. It is also not public radio.
> It's a toy for students, who would be better served by
> spending the time studying. Hardly anybody is listening
> (according to Arbitron).

Thanks for assailing all high school and college radio personnel in America. You know what, I was GM of my college radio station, as well as holding down an air slot and having a full complement of classes. My lowest GPA while doing all that? 3.58. When the station was off-air for a move of transmitter and studio building, my GPA was 3.48.

Plus, let's examine the number of active and veteran personalities who were on-air at high school stations/college stations (or worked at radio stations at an early age). Should they have been studying???

Your stereotypes show nothing but ignorance and commercial prejudice/elitism.

> WNIN is one of two true public radio stations in the area;
> the other is Western Kentucky public radio. Both are still
> doing a "tent-pole" format with NPR in morning and afternoon
> drive and classical music the rest of the time. (Hey,
> folks, look at the calendar. This isn't the 70's. Ever
> heard of formatting? And classical listeners don't fork
> over at pledge time - neither do jazz listeners for that
> matter.)

Does it work for the community? If so, then I'm guessing classical is just fine for them.

Why are you trying to push commercial ideas on non-comms?

You must be on the NPR/CPB staff, or an unregistered lobbyist for them, because you sure are pushing this public radio thing hard. Trying to make up for budget allocations, huh?

> Even so, WNIN does have an audience (they'd be
> tied for 9th in the fall Arbitrons). But the people who run
> WNIN (not to mention WEUV) mostly seem to be coasting. It
> sounds like it's always a bad day for public radio in
> Evansville.

No, it sounds like a bad day for NON-COMMERCIAL RADIO in Evansville. Public radio seems to be doing fine.

 

[mwebster]

Non-public radio

>
> Non-commercial does not mean public radio.
>

I, for one, think CPB should go out of business. The government has no business using tax dollars to fund broadcast enterprises, including public radio, with their highly paid managers, elaborate new buildings on prime real estate, state of the art equipment and the for-profit businesses they run on the side (started up with left-over money). But CPB does serve to indicate which stations are real and legitimate players. For the rest, you have...

Religious stations.
Hobby stations.
Student toys.


> Yes, it's nice to know approximately how
> many people listen to your station, but what Arbitron says
> matters little to non-comm station operators or licensees.
>

If a tree falls in an empty forest, does it make a sound? If a public radio station does not have listeners, it's not doing its job. Arbitron is not just a way to sell advertisers (even when those advertisers are euphemistically called "corporate underwriters") it's audience feed-back.

>
> Thanks for assailing all high school and college radio
> personnel in America. You know what, I was GM of my college
> radio station, as well as holding down an air slot and
> having a full complement of classes. My lowest GPA while
> doing all that? 3.58. When the station was off-air for a
> move of transmitter and studio building, my GPA was 3.48.
>
> Plus, let's examine the number of active and veteran
> personalities who were on-air at high school
> stations/college stations (or worked at radio stations at an
> early age). Should they have been studying???
>

Assailing all these student stations was my intent. And yes, those people playing radio should have been studying. Recent graduates coming into the business are ill-prepared. They seek to be professional communicators without having mastered the English language (spelling, grammar, syntax). Don't take my word for it; read these boards. They lack intellectual skills and a basic background in the liberal arts, social sciences, science and math. They got college credit for broadcasting courses and internships (the easy way to get a 3.5 without taking real courses and actually studying). If all these kids want to do is play radio, they should stop wasting their parents' money and go to a broadcasting school.

>
> Does it work for the community? If so, then I'm guessing
> classical is just fine for them.
>

You're guessing. But then you think audience research is not necessary. And it is well-established that music programming does not draw pledges. Lack of music programming draws complaints. Apparently what you have at some of these smaller stations is managers operating on the squeaky wheel principle.

> Why are you trying to push commercial ideas on non-comms?

Commercial ideas? Like serve the public? Fill a need?

If the public does not listen, it's not public radio. Public radio - like all radio - exists to serve the public. Not preachers on ego trips. Not students playing at radio. Not activists who want a platform. Not hobbyists. Listeners. Only listeners.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Many School/College-Owned Stations Aren't "Student Toys" (Was: Re: Non-public radio)

One of the best noncommercial FM stations in New England is Boston's WERS-88.9, which happens to be operated entirely by students at Emerson College.

WERS' programming is top-quality, and it has the third-best noncommercial FM signal in Boston (only the two "big" public radio stations, WGBH-89.7 and WBUR-90.9, have better signals). If you live anywhere with 35 miles or so of Boston, you can easily pick them up on your FM radio.

Emerson has a school of mass communications, with courses in radio and television (it's from these students that WERS draws it's staff). Emerson's mass communications program is generally considered to be one of the five best such programs in the country. Many Emerson graduates have gone on to become very successful in the radio and/or television broadcasting industries.

While there could be some school or college FM stations that are "Student Toys", WERS isn't one of them. And there are probably quite a few that also aren't "Student Toys", but instead are the equal to WERS in terms of the quality of their on-air programming.

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

Re: Non-public radio

> If a tree falls in an empty forest, does it make a sound?
> If a public radio station does not have listeners, it's not
> doing its job. Arbitron is not just a way to sell
> advertisers (even when those advertisers are euphemistically
> called "corporate underwriters") it's audience feed-back.

For those reading this who don't know, Arbitron doesn't include non-comms in its standard package. It's a separate survey sheet available upon request, but normally only sought by non-comms themselves.

Audience feedback for a non-comm is pledges, not ratings surveys.

> They lack
> intellectual skills and a basic background in the liberal
> arts, social sciences, science and math. They got college
> credit for broadcasting courses and internships (the easy
> way to get a 3.5 without taking real courses and actually
> studying).

Is that what you think I did? I just want to see your answer before I post my college courses.

> If all these kids want to do is play radio, they
> should stop wasting their parents' money and go to a
> broadcasting school.

If you think college radio is "playing radio" then you're more of an elitist than I thought.

> > Does it work for the community? If so, then I'm guessing
> > classical is just fine for them.
> >
>
> You're guessing. But then you think audience research is
> not necessary.

I never said audience research isn't necessary. I said Arbitron ratings reliance isn't necessary.

> And it is well-established that music
> programming does not draw pledges.

SOME music programming does not draw pledges. Some music programming does. Our non-comm oldies format has increased its listeners and pledges three-fold over the past two years. The weekday alternative format does even better.

> Lack of music
> programming draws complaints. Apparently what you have at
> some of these smaller stations is managers operating on the
> squeaky wheel principle.

Or operating according to what the community, and station licensees. wish to present.

> > Why are you trying to push commercial ideas on non-comms?
>
> Commercial ideas? Like serve the public? Fill a need?

Most commercial stations do serve the public and fill a need; NPR is a need, as is an outlet for college students to read poetry, and play music by bands that are not commercially available. As well as play R&B oldies, and doo-wop, and standards, and classical.

> If the public does not listen, it's not public radio.

Public radio is something different, I explained that. But if you're going to define these terms of art incorrectly, you're going to get called out.

> Public radio - like all radio - exists to serve the public.

Correct. All radio exists to serve the public...and all radio does serve the public, even if small portions of it at a time.

> Not preachers on ego trips. Not students playing at radio.
> Not activists who want a platform. Not hobbyists.
> Listeners. Only listeners.

I see. What if listeners want to hear preachers? Or students? (You know, most college radio is geared toward students on campus, don't you? Don't you???)

 

[Robert Bass]

Re: Non-public radio

Without attempting to downplay the notion that some non-commercial stations at high schools and colleges could be viewed as “toys”, there are some exceptions. KEOM-FM 88.5 in Mesquite, Texas is a 24 / 7 full service station owned and operated by the Mesquite Schools. Mesquite is about 15 minuets East of Dallas, Texas. KEOM’s signal strength is a directional, 61,000 watts. The station can be heard roughly 80 to 90 miles in any direction, except towards the West.

KEOM’s primary demographics are parents / adults. The station has a mix of locally produced and syndicated programming designed to educate and entertain listeners. Twice hourly, an announcement highlighting an upcoming community event is provided. There is also a three minute Community Bulletin Board program featuring a bundle of these announcements, airing three times a day. The station also provides Dallas area traffic information via Metro Networks, and Texas news coverage via The Texas State News Network. Musically, KEOM features Top 40 hits from the 1970’s.

KEOM serves as a hands-on, learning laboratory for high school students. The station offers two, state certified radio courses. In the Radio I course, students learn the basics of radio such as production skills, news writing, on air studio operations and FCC regulations. There is an advanced Radio II course where students have an opportunity to further develop their audio production, programming management, live reporting and technical engineering skills. Both courses contain classroom assignments and homework, and the students earn state credit towards graduation.

Students interested in taking the radio courses must pass a detailed audition process to be accepted. Recommendations from instructors, grades, behavior, attendance records and reading / speech skills are all a part of the audition process. Each student is informed beforehand that, if accepted, they will be representing the station, the school district and the city. They are also advised Radio classes are not “blow off” courses, and as such they should be taken seriously. They are expected to follow the same rules and regulations required of them at their other campus.

Although KEOM is owned by a public school district, the operational funding does not rely on pledge drives or underwriting. Instead, funding is subsidized from leased space on the 514 foot communications tower. The tower is jointly owned by the city of Mesquite and the school district. The city’s police / fire dispatch radio service is on the tower, and there is even donated space provided for a city wide HAM repeater operation. Tenants on the tower have included low power TV stations, cell phone and paging services.

KEOM is a uniquely exceptional non-comm station that has earned praise from both Radio Professionals and listeners alike. Listeners enjoy hearing the students when they are on the air, and a number of them have said other stations should follow KEOM’s example. KEOM’s slogan is “Your Community Leader” and the station is truly a community service station for the city of Mesquite. KEOM is by no means a “toy”.

You can visit KEOM’s website at www.keom.fm

Robert Bass
Mesquite, Texas

1989 Mesquite Schools graduate
Former KEOM student DJ (1986 – 1989)
KEOM Employee (1990 – Present)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are strictly my own

> Assailing all these student stations was my intent. And
> yes, those people playing radio should have been studying.
> Recent graduates coming into the business are ill-prepared.
> They seek to be professional communicators without having
> mastered the English language (spelling, grammar, syntax).
> Don't take my word for it; read these boards. They lack
> intellectual skills and a basic background in the liberal
> arts, social sciences, science and math. They got college
> credit for broadcasting courses and internships (the easy
> way to get a 3.5 without taking real courses and actually
> studying). If all these kids want to do is play radio, they
> should stop wasting their parents' money and go to a
> broadcasting school.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by RobertBass on 02/11/06 10:10 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

UPDATE: WUEV NOT FOR SALE

From All Access Net News, Friday 10 Feb 2006:

"No Sale At WUEV/Evansville

As reported yesterday, The UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE has turned down an offer from a potential buyer for its noncommercial WUEV/EVANSVILLE after students and communty members mobilized to fight a potential sale.

UE President STEPHEN JENNINGS told the EVANSVILLE COURIER PRESS that he was "pleased to see the level of interest in WUEV expressed by students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and the general community" but will be looking to have them show that support by donating to the station, which officials say spends ten times its $15,000. annual revenues in expenses. JENNINGS added that a "Friends of WUEV" fundraising operation will be formed."

**Please forgive me for not including the Courier Press link, but it requires a registration, and as much as I love all things Evansville, I'm not going to read its newspaper regularly.

 

[skipspence]

Re: UPDATE: WUEV NOT FOR SALE

Doc Jennings is giving this one last chance... I think an aggressive underwriting department can cover the 135k that comes out of the general budget and that means students tuition... They should have looked at that years ago... Most college FM's do not pay students to work, they just give them a grade or experience.... The pork is being trimed and for good reason... I know for a fact that 850k was the verbal offer from an out of town non-profit group...
I am glad to see it stay, but we better support it....

From the last one to say "This is WEVC/Evansville" and the first to have said; "This is WUEV/Evansville" at midnight on January 1st, 1977....

"Skipper T."


> From All Access Net News, Friday 10 Feb 2006:
>
> "No Sale At WUEV/Evansville
>
> As reported yesterday, The UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE has
> turned down an offer from a potential buyer for its
> noncommercial WUEV/EVANSVILLE after students and communty
> members mobilized to fight a potential sale.
>
> UE President STEPHEN JENNINGS told the EVANSVILLE COURIER
> PRESS that he was "pleased to see the level of interest in
> WUEV expressed by students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents
> and the general community" but will be looking to have them
> show that support by donating to the station, which
> officials say spends ten times its $15,000. annual revenues
> in expenses. JENNINGS added that a "Friends of WUEV"
> fundraising operation will be formed."
>
> **Please forgive me for not including the Courier Press
> link, but it requires a registration, and as much as I love
> all things Evansville, I'm not going to read its newspaper
> regularly.
>

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

Re: UPDATE: WUEV NOT FOR SALE

> Doc Jennings is giving this one last chance... I think an
> aggressive underwriting department can cover the 135k that
> comes out of the general budget and that means students
> tuition... They should have looked at that years ago... Most
> college FM's do not pay students to work, they just give
> them a grade or experience.... The pork is being trimed and
> for good reason... I know for a fact that 850k was the
> verbal offer from an out of town non-profit group...
> I am glad to see it stay, but we better support it....
>
> From the last one to say "This is WEVC/Evansville" and the
> first to have said; "This is WUEV/Evansville" at midnight on
> January 1st, 1977....
>
> "Skipper T."

Now that's what I like to see: historic radio personnel supporting old haunts. Reminds me of...well...me!

Actually, if they're smart the station's operations should be separate from the college, and the college should be paying for electricity, security, and license fees. Operations should be self-sufficient, either as a student activity or as a stand-alone operation relying on outside contributors. If the college is operating it, but not making efficient use of it as a marketing tool, they're wasting tuition or endowment money.

In a place like Evansville (n.b. I've never been there, though that school recruited me like there was no tomorrow, and I almost said yes), there's bound to be a significant benefactor or corpration who's willing to foot a relatively cheap bill or a substantial portion of it, and have the students raise the rest.

It's not rocket science running a college station effectively--though it is more difficult than, say, English.

 

[skipspence]

Re: UPDATE: WUEV NOT FOR SALE

>Johnny.... I saw some Consortium Ratings on WUEV back about twelve to eighteen months ago, when they were accidently listed on R&R's ratings page for Evansville... They were quickly replaced by the commercial rating figures...But, in that 'boo-boo' I was impressed with WUEV's showing as I remember either sixth or number eight 12+ in the four county metro... Impressive.... You're so right... There are many big money corporate types who had their Bachelors or Masters from UE (a Top 100 Academic Institution)... So the money is there, the audience is there and they've done nothing with it to take the burden off the students pockets and the general funding budget of the University...

 

[Ai4i]

Re: Many School/College-Owned Stations Aren't "Student Toys" (Was: Re: Non-public radio)

ARBs really should include all stations in their reports.
It just makes sense.<P ID="signature">______________
Proud 2 B a pioneering satellite radio subs¢riber
Ai4i is always on the trailing edge of technology
______________</P>

 

[zoey]

Re: Many School/College-Owned Stations Aren't "Student Toys" (Was: Re: Non-public radio)

Ratings for non-commercial stations are available at


LINK REMOVED BY MODERATOR.

R&R HAS THEIR OWN ARRANGEMENT WITH ARBITRON; RADIO-INFO.COM DOES NOT.
POSTING LINK HAS POTENTIAL TO CAUSE LEGAL TROUBLES.

THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING

--Les<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Les on 03/17/06 11:54 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Re: Many School/College-Owned Stations Aren't "Student Toys" (Was: Re: Non-public radio)

Thanks for the info, Geoff!

I was able to find out that Emerson College's WERS-88.9 in Boston (a station I cited earlier in this thread as not being a "student toy") actually was the third most popular noncommercial radio station in Boston, behind only NPR affiliates WGBH-89.7 (mostly clasical and jazz with "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered") and WBUR-90.9 (a 24-hour NPR news/information format).

In fact, WERS had about half the audience of WGBH.

 

[jal]

School/College-Owned Stations and Public Radio

Atlanta has more student run stations than public radio (3 to 1) and a variety station. One of those student run stations, WRAS 88.5 (Georgia State University) is a 100 kw blowtorch. The variety station, WRFG 89.3 (Radio Free Georgia), is also a 100kw blowtorch, but is on a really small tower, so the signal does not go very far.

The public radio station, Atlanta City Schools owned WABE 90.1 is just shy at 96 kW. It is a "tent-pole" station like WNIN, with heavy reliance on classical music. This has caused a consortium to be formed to lobby for more talk programming on WABE. WABE has responded with internet-only music and news streams, with promises to put them on their HD radio signal. Otherwise, there appears to be no change to WABE's main programming anytime soon.

Atlanta could use a second public radio station. WRAS 88.5 and Georgia Tech's WREK 91.1 could merge (both schools are University System of Georgia Schools), and allow Georgia Public Broadcasting (statewide network, GPB Radio is not heard in Atlanta) to take over one of those stations (preferably WRAS), program it somewhat seperately from the network (like GPB does in Athens, Augusta, and Savannah) as a news/talker, and allow WABE to go all-classical (with some local talk).

The only reason some stations still play classical music is because there is no commercial classical music station in that town. (Atlanta's last commercial classical station was WGKA-AM 1190 in 1997). It is true that NPR/PRI/American Public Media programming brings in the dollars, not the classics. But as long as there is a demand for classical music on public radio, they will play it.

As for student run stations, they are valuable teaching tools. But if there is a transmitter involved, it will be expensive to operate. I am a student at Kennesaw State University in suburban Atlanta, and our school (with 20,000 students) is in the process of starting a student-run station. It will involve both wire-line antenna around campus, as well as an internet audio stream. The cost of having a transmitter, as well as dealing with FCC issues, was cited for not going OTA into the community. Students participate in extra-curricular activities all of the time (sororities/fraternities, civic clubs, professional clubs, etc.), and it does not bring down someones GPA.

As long as dial space is crowded, and money is tight, all of these problems and balances will be a reality.