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Delaware News on WHYY 91FM

F

fred flintstone

Guest
Why such a jump in Delaware News on 91FM public radio? It does not appear to be coming from the same people who the Delaware news on channel 12. Is the state funding this, as well? 91FM seems to make a point to include Delaware News, even when the stories are not that good. And they appear to be beating the local stations sometimes - especially WILM (which currently has the weakest news product ever).
 
I had noticed for about the past year that WHYY-FM was doing more Delaware news. I believe they are using their Delaware Tonight staff as I hear reports from Nancy Karebjahi (sp) and Patrick Mayers. There is also new women reporter on Delaware Tonight (do not remember her name) so she may be one of the voices you are hearing too.

Why the increase? Maybe there is a large enough Wilmington donor block with generous giving habits (there are some might wealthy people living in the Wilmington Metro Area) that might have caused this new found interest in Delaware news on Philly's 91FM. It's an inexpensive way to add Delaware news to their newscast by having their existing Delaware reporters do a sound version of a news story for the FM's use. I think it's a good idea.
 
Ironic that a station which once tried to present itself as a local version of NPR, not only has lost its claim to serious, international news coverage but is getting a run for its money in local news from the nearby NPR member station (of course, only one state lacks public radio of it's own - THIS ONE!).
Looks like 91FM has decided to reclaim the NPR and serious news mantle for Delaware.
 
Fred,

You guys up in that neck of the woods: why WHYY is suddenly big on Delaware news. As you said, Delaware is the sole state of the Union without a local public radio station. Could it mean that that will change soon-- that WHYY management got win of it and want to co-opt whoever the new upstart may be?

Another possibility is that they are taking a beating from WXPN and WRTI, perhaps, I do not know, and are trying to position themselves with more Delaware news. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't their VHF channel technically asssigned to Wilmington anyway? Granted, TV is TV and FM is FM, and WHYY is assigned to Philadelphia, but there is still something to be gained from the Delaware emphasis. The question is, what? Apart from money.

It is surprising that, given the wealth of some of its citizens, public broadcasting has never been a homegrown deal.
 
Public radio numbers are not posted for the Wilmington market (possibly because no public radio stations in the market). However, in Philadelphia, 91FM is more than a full point ahead of either WRTI or WXPN in 12+AQH shares.
If public radio numbers were listed with commercial station numbers...
WHYY-FM would rank between Q102 and Ben.
Penn is just below a two share and a tenth point ahead of Temple in that big gap between PHI and The Hawk.

The U of D has a license but they use it for student radio.
And, of course, DelDot has an AM license but they use it for their roadwork loop.
I suspect the real reason is a general public indifference. Despite a few people on this board who keep saying that Delaware NEEDS local radio - especially local radio news - like Philly NEEDS a dance station, most people couldn't care less. People in the Wilmington market mostly listen to Philly radio (and, of course, watch Philly TV). And going by the Snooze-Urinal, "only one Wilmington radio station" or "Delaware's ONLY news station," not much interesting happens in Wilmington any way. Oh, yes, some obligatory crime. Maybe a release of toxic chemicals. Maybe a prison escape. Some bored meetings. And some do-gooders who want everybody to know how much good they are doing. If WHYY-FM throws in a decent Wilmington story or two each day, they mostly have covered everything worth covering. On the local stations, the rest is fill because they have to fill the time and justify their existance. You know, if DelDOT's WAMS did continous live real-time traffic and weather, hardly anybody would listen to the so-called radio news any more.
 
>>And going by the Snooze-Urinal, "only one Wilmington radio station" or "Delaware's ONLY news station," not much interesting happens in Wilmington any way. Oh, yes, some obligatory crime. Maybe a release of toxic chemicals. Maybe a prison escape. Some bored meetings. And some do-gooders who want everybody to know how much good they are doing.>>

Fred, what you just describe sounds like the same ole same ole that I hear when I tune in to Philly TV news. The only difference is, it is in Philly not Wilmington. So maybe to you it is boring, but there are people who want to hear on radio ( in the case of WDEL, WILM in Wilmington, WDOV in Dover, or read in the papers (in the case of the Wilmington News Journal or Del State News in Dover, or view on Television in the case of Channel 12's/ Channel 64 for lower Delaware, Delaware Tonight newscast) those boring news stories that come from the first state. Most of us here in Delaware don't give a hoot about the crime blotter in the Kennsington section of Philly anymore than someone from Roosevelt Blvd in Philly cares about crime on Gov. Printz Blvd in Wilmington.

I still think that 91FM is simply trying to add an added dimension to their newscasts so when they say in their ID that they serve Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware (note Delaware is last mentioned) they actually air some Delaware news to give some crediblity to that claim. This probably helps at fund raising time when Delaware dollars spend just as well as Philly and Jersey dollars.
 
Fred, what you just describe sounds like the same ole same ole that I hear when I tune in to Philly TV news.
Click to expand...

Most people don't care about urban crime news, especially when it affects the underclass, expect to be glad they don't live in the city (any big city with bad neighborhoods) . A large portion of the population in this region (PA, NJ and DE) has moved from a city, at considerable expense and inconvenience. Urban crime stories on TV tell them they made the right choice (social psychologists call this "dissonance reduction").

Yes, the state of radio (and TV) news is pretty pathetic most anywhere. The comments I made, with local variations, also apply to KYW. Much of the reason is few broadcasters are creative or original - they just copy what someone else has done.

Re: Your earlier post. While, WHYY-FM MAY get audio from channel 12's Delaware News, I have not heard any on-air talent from TV, just one Delaware reporter. Do you KNOW the Delaware Tonight staff produces items for Morning Edition and ATC or do you assume that is the case?

I have noticed an increase in local content generally in AM and PM drive on 91FM - often accompanied by an underwriting announcement (and often pre-empting segments of Morning Edition and All Things Considered). For example, this morning, some guy from the Franklin Institute spent several minutes describing the local of different stars in the night sky - sponsored by Lockheed. However, I have not heard any underwriting announcements referencing Delaware coverage. Again, this makes me wonder if the state is using taxpayer dollars to promote Delaware news on 91FM: Does anybody have concrete information about this?
 
I've generally noticed the Delaware news stories with the TV 12 Wilmington news staff during their news breaks after NPR news on the hour and 1/2 hour before going back into programming. I haven't caught ATC or Morning Edition lately, but will have to make it a point on morning and afternoon to try to catch them to hear those news items during the Philly produced segments.

I sure hope you're wrong about the state of Delaware giving money for 91 FM to cover Delaware news on the radio. I'd think that all three Delaware news/talk stations (WDEL, WDOV, and WILM) would complain about that.
 
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