FCC Grilling KUSF/KDFC LMAers

[TheBigA]

Obviously, CSM agrees with this because a look at their broadcasting classes shows just a skeleton of what used to be. And for good reason: today there are fewer broadcast-specific kinds of jobs and fewer jobs in number.

Once again, you're defining broadcasting by what it used to be 30 years ago. That era is over. Not much point training people for careers that are gone. But there are lots of new avenues for broadcasters to pursue. And a lot of better colleges than CSM. Colleges are like radio stations, in that some of them are still operating in the past. Others have adapted to the changing media environment and recognized that there's more media today than ever. As I said, there are fewer on air jobs today, but the new media departments at the major radio companies are growing and always looking for new ideas.

 

[TheBigA]

The stations would probably be better off cut off of the college and run as community not-for-profit organizations (and give the colleges relief from possible programming or management headaches)-

That option is always there, but someone has to be the adult and handle the business side of the station. Typically no one wants to do that. Everyone is so focused in on-air and playing music that no one has any knowledge of paying bills or raising money.

One exception was WFMU. At one time, the station was owned by Upsala College. About 20 years ago, the college went belly-up. The station was just another asset. But a group of people got together and bought the license. Since then, it's been running as an independent alternative rock station in the NYC area.

This could have happened at KUSF, but someone would have had to put together a business plan. Who could have done that? The reason these things tend to go to NPR stations is they have the infrastructure to run them. The problem I'm seeing is these student stations think they can protest their way into ownership. All they need to do is set up a Facebook page, and they'll be given a radio station. That's wrong. Community radio isn't about playing unknown bands and providing an ego trip for a handful of on-air people. It's about being a part of a community and attracting financial support. Most of these stations don't know how to, and worse yet don't WANT to, do that.

 

[weav]

If this forum had a "+1" option, I would have +1'd the foregoing.

KKUP has people who "run the business". KFJC mostly does. KDVS seems to even today (not having been there since '75). Not knowing too much about KUSF, it sounds like they didn't. 'FMU is in a class by itself, and my hat is ever off to that station.

The stations would probably be better off cut off of the college and run as community not-for-profit organizations (and give the colleges relief from possible programming or management headaches)-

That option is always there, but someone has to be the adult and handle the business side of the station. Typically no one wants to do that. Everyone is so focused in on-air and playing music that no one has any knowledge of paying bills or raising money.

One exception was WFMU. At one time, the station was owned by Upsala College. About 20 years ago, the college went belly-up. The station was just another asset. But a group of people got together and bought the license. Since then, it's been running as an independent alternative rock station in the NYC area.

This could have happened at KUSF, but someone would have had to put together a business plan. Who could have done that? The reason these things tend to go to NPR stations is they have the infrastructure to run them. The problem I'm seeing is these student stations think they can protest their way into ownership. All they need to do is set up a Facebook page, and they'll be given a radio station. That's wrong. Community radio isn't about playing unknown bands and providing an ego trip for a handful of on-air people. It's about being a part of a community and attracting financial support. Most of these stations don't know how to, and worse yet don't WANT to, do that.

 

[DavidKaye]

Once again, you're defining broadcasting by what it used to be 30 years ago. That era is over. Not much point training people for careers that are gone.

Huh? That's EXACTLY my point. The nuts and bolts of radio and TV broadcasting are so much simpler now that we don't need colleges to teach whatever remnants are left. As I said, any 15 year old kid deserving of being called a 15 year old kid already has as much audio equipment as many radio stations have. Heck, I have a 28 year old housemate whose bedroom is largely mixing consoles, computers, and a bed as an afterthought. He travels around in his spare time putting on DJ shows at clubs.

And announcing is almost a no-brainer that doesn't even take a semester to teach. Engineering is important, but most of it is modular and the rest relies on specialists who are largely self-taught (and always have been). Forty years ago, each station had a CE. Thirty years ago there was one CE for every 4 stations. Today, there is probably one CE for every 10 stations. The equipment is way more stable than it used to be, and repair is largely replacing modules, not replacing capacitors and soldering and re-aligning tape heads.

Others have adapted to the changing media environment and recognized that there's more media today than ever. As I said, there are fewer on air jobs today, but the new media departments at the major radio companies are growing and always looking for new ideas.

I'm still waiting for a discussion on exactly WHAT colleges need to teach for the new media that the students aren't already learning or must be learned on their own. I think most of what formerly was broadcast training has shifted to computer training. And there's plenty of that in schools today.

 

[TheBigA]

The nuts and bolts of radio and TV broadcasting are so much simpler now that we don't need colleges to teach whatever remnants are left.

You taking what I'm saying out of context. Read the whole paragraph before you comment. I'm saying that if colleges are teaching editing audio tape with razor blades, they should shut those departments down. They aren't teaching anything useful. If they're teaching people how to be DJs, they're wasting their time. Shut those schools down. But what the broadcasting industry needs is people who know how to bring the industry into the 21st century. That means new media. The public has demonstrated that it is still interested in what radio does, just not in the way it does it. So that has to change, and colleges need to be responsive to that change.

I'm still waiting for a discussion on exactly WHAT colleges need to teach for the new media that the students aren't already learning or must be learned on their own. I think most of what formerly was broadcast training has shifted to computer training. And there's plenty of that in schools today.

I've already done that. You missed it. And it's not computer training. It's about content and being responsive to audiences. Re-read all my posts on this subject, and you'll see exactly what colleges need to teach. And by the way, there actually are colleges that are teaching this right now. But not in San Mateo.

 

[TheBigA]

KKUP has people who "run the business". KFJC mostly does. KDVS seems to even today (not having been there since '75).

KKUP is a community licensee. They HAVE to know how to run the business. They have no fallbacks if they can't raise the money. But the two other stations are owned by universities, and they don't have to, because the college or university takes care of that for them. There's a real innocence to college radio. And that innocense makes you vulnerable.

Just last week, the University of Buffalo (part of the SUNY system) sold its radio station, WBFO, to the local NPR/PBS group. WBFO was an NPR station. It had fundraisers and corporate developement people on staff. But they were still a drain on the college finances because they didn't bring in as much as it cost to run the station. So when they were offered cash money for the license, they took it.

The issue here isn't maintaining a certain program format. The FCC has consistently ruled that protecting or maintaining a format isn't their concern. The students at Rice University thought they could challenge the sale on that basis. Students at Vanderbilt are considering the same. That's not important. What's important is if there's a local community group that has the money available to buy and run the station. And typically the answer is no.

 

[klewis]

this post beautifully sums up many of the challenges faced in the effort to save KUSF. i reached out to ken f. /WFMU in january and have been in close touch since. WFMU is not only hosting the KUSF in Exile stream, but providing advice to shape a bizplan like the one you mention. faculty at USF and other experts are also closely involved in strategic planning.

the heart of the matter is that the NCE license is protected by the FCC to provide local public value for SF -- not as a fundraising channel for USC or to support their plan to amass licenses to avoid royalty fees for their prospective online music delivery system. i'd be very interested in hearing more of your thoughts if you'd like to DM me.

as many have mentioned its not a matter of format. KDFC wasn't as profitable as a Classic Rock station, but it was top 8th in the market and doing well. its call letters have now been transfered to a station in Angwin, Ca. USC/CPRN/PRC have already applied to change the SF 90.3 FM call letters to KOSC, so this has little to do with KDFC vs. KUSF. NCE radio licenses are a scare public resouce. the left of the dial is being eroded. this year it's KUSF, WRVU, KTRU, and BSR, so far. the FCC protections in obtaining a license are not competitively evaluated in transfers. so ... saving KUSF involves smart planning as you mention below, tons of FCC legal work, and creating a viable alternative for USF. we are working closely with CBI and NFCB stations to help others get ahead of this stuff, before it's too late for them as you mention. it is a formidable challenge, all around, but also important.

The stations would probably be better off cut off of the college and run as community not-for-profit organizations (and give the colleges relief from possible programming or management headaches)-

That option is always there, but someone has to be the adult and handle the business side of the station. Typically no one wants to do that. Everyone is so focused in on-air and playing music that no one has any knowledge of paying bills or raising money.

One exception was WFMU. At one time, the station was owned by Upsala College. About 20 years ago, the college went belly-up. The station was just another asset. But a group of people got together and bought the license. Since then, it's been running as an independent alternative rock station in the NYC area.

This could have happened at KUSF, but someone would have had to put together a business plan. Who could have done that? The reason these things tend to go to NPR stations is they have the infrastructure to run them. The problem I'm seeing is these student stations think they can protest their way into ownership. All they need to do is set up a Facebook page, and they'll be given a radio station. That's wrong. Community radio isn't about playing unknown bands and providing an ego trip for a handful of on-air people. It's about being a part of a community and attracting financial support. Most of these stations don't know how to, and worse yet don't WANT to, do that.

 

[klewis]

yes. the fact they are shopping a south bay station is no secret:
"South Bay and Peninsula: It is heartbreaking to us that we will not immediately have a signal that serves the Peninsula and the South Bay. We are already looking to buy a station in this region and the great news is that the University of Southern California has offered to buy a station if we can find one. We have hired two brokers to contact stations and ask if the owners are willing to sell. We wish we could give you a timeline but we are not in control of when a station will come on the market. We have reports from some listeners in the South bay who have been able to pick up 89.9, but the coverage there is spotty."
http://www.kdfc.com/pages/9009106.php

But wasn't the reason why KFOG bought 97.7 San Jose was that 104.5 FM is on Mount Sutro and any signal from Mount Sutro cannot reach San Jose and Morgan Hill well but the XTMR can San Bruno Mountains can reach San Jose better so KDFC/USC or KUSC inc does not have to buy the "third station". Or if they have to but the third station it would mean dismantling another LPFM station that currently owed by a college or religious group in San Jose and it will face the same contraversies as the KUSF issue

 

[klewis]

Here's the basic reality that "savekusf" seem to have ignored: USF sold the station. They don't want to own it. So if, for some reason, the FCC does the unthinkable and reverses the sale, then the University will seek to sell it again. There is no law or requirement that will force them to own a station they don't want, and return it to the students. Challenging the new owners isn't going to bring back the old station. That decision has been made.

this is one reason to create a viable alternative for SF & USF prior to the FCC decision.

 

[klewis]

But wait KDFC who is owned by KUSC has to get the money from corporate donors and hardcore fans of classical who can send money to KDFC and KUSC and other non-profit stations and LPFM's to the same thing. KUSF failed because not many donors were willing to send money to KUSF.

USF didn't allow KUSF to do much fundraising.

 

[klewis]

Has USF/CPRN answered the FCC's Letter of Inquiry yet? Anyone seen the reply?

The reply posted August 1. Reply is due 8/11.

 

[TheBigA]

the heart of the matter is that the NCE license is protected by the FCC to provide local public value for SF -- not as a fundraising channel for USC or to support their plan to amass licenses to avoid royalty fees for their prospective online music delivery system.

This is kind of a twisted comment. I don't think the FCC would agree with your characterization of their role, not do I think USC would agree with what you said about them. There are lots of NCE licenses with distant owners. The state of NJ just sold its NCE radio and TV system to out of state owners. So the FCC doesn't require local ownership of NCE licenses.

 

[DavidKaye]

USF didn't allow KUSF to do much fundraising.

Once again, the KUSF management clearly saw that USF wanted to get rid of KUSF. It wasn't any surprise, except possibly the timing, but the handwriting was on the wall for years. KUSF management should have started years earlier to develop a non-profit funded it, and then made an offer to buy KUSF. But they didn't. They dropped the ball.

 

[DavidKaye]

the heart of the matter is that the NCE license is protected by the FCC to provide local public value for SF -- not as a fundraising channel for USC or to support their plan to amass licenses to avoid royalty fees for their prospective online music delivery system. i'd be very interested in hearing more of your thoughts if you'd like to DM me.

What makes you think the current programming on KUSF does not provide local public value for SF? People listen to it. They have local DJs; they broadcast the SF Opera; they broadcast the SF Symphony. That's more than the commercial KDFC ever did. Hell, I'd say the new KDFC is doing a damned good job at serving the San Francisco community even if they're operating a station in Angwin...maybe the discussion should be about the Angwin station and *its* lack of service to its local community.

 

[WarwickRadioFan]

Has USF/CPRN answered the FCC's Letter of Inquiry yet? Anyone seen the reply?

The reply posted August 1. Reply is due 8/11.

Is the answer from USF or CPRN posted on the net anywhere? Link? Thanks.

 

[weav]

KKUP has people who "run the business". KFJC mostly does. KDVS seems to even today (not having been there since '75).

KKUP is a community licensee. They HAVE to know how to run the business. They have no fallbacks if they can't raise the money. But the two other stations are owned by universities, and they don't have to, because the college or university takes care of that for them. There's a real innocence to college radio. And that innocense makes you vulnerable.

And this is actually the point I was getting at, albeit poorly organized. KKUP's financial back is to the wall at all times, so they have to face that aspect of existence and prevail over it constantly. The stations that have survived are pretty much in that position.

KFJC, I can say from my time in management there, gets shelter, electricity and water from the college/district and approximately diddly-squat else. All the rest is due to their own fundraising. There's a fair bit of respect they get for that from the administration.

KDVS seems to be in the same position, though some of its management were, at least at one time, paid by ASUCD.

Those who take their sandbox for granted are, as you point out, innocent and vulnerable. They need to take stock of what they get from and give to their respective institutions and make sure those have an incentive to keep them around rather than sell them off.

 

[TheBigA]

Those who take their sandbox for granted are, as you point out, innocent and vulnerable. They need to take stock of what they get from and give to their respective institutions and make sure those have an incentive to keep them around rather than sell them off.

Exactly. In just about every case, at USF, Rice, and even Vanderbilt, the relationship between the station and the college had been strained for one reason or another. The college quickly disposed of their headache. The mistake the staff at the stations make is thinking their power base is in the listeners. It isn't. It's in the holder of the license. One that person is PO'd, you're gone. And there's really nothing the listeners can do, regardless of what they're told. No number of Facebook friends or names on a petition will change the fact that the licensee sold the station, and the new owners are allowed to change the programming. Them's be the rules, as difficult as they are to grasp.

 

[Goldilocks94941]

More interesting thread here lately here than elsewhere on these. Raises a couple issues that I think need to be looked at more overtly.

- Regarding college-level traning for the radio industry: Years ago, many of us got our start "on the air" at stations that needed bodies, willing to work cheap, to "fill airtime." To keep the engine running, as if the radio station were a steam locomotive needing to get uphill to the next city on time.

Changing technologies, and staffing rules, have pretty much minimized that entree for getting into the industry. Which may have been the role the little college and stations like KUSF thought there were filling. But, the nice thing how is that we don't have to train people to focus so much on how to be a human piece of machinery, in order to properly meet the demands of a program log. New media, and new avenues for broadcasters, should mean the energy goes into producing content, and getting that content out in as many useful ways as you can. Content that actually resonates enough with a targeted audience to get them to go out of their way to download you, or link to your stream.

- The technical training of recent years is really being replaced by the kind of training you need to be part of an IT department. But not many of those engineering types are also good at the creative side. That's why I tell people who ask me about how to prepare to "get into broadcasting" that the best education is a liberal arts one, with journalism training in broadcast-style writing and covering spot news, too. Having something to say, and the education to put things into context, is what I see as the need for educationg today's media personnel. And then don't just propose an idea for a "show," but have enough of a business plan to know how to sustain and promote it too.

 

[Goldilocks94941]

Don't know if it's just me, but if I post something longer than a "tweet" the cursor in the posting window goes crazy and makes it hard to continue writing. If the rest of you who want to write more than two paragraphs also have this problem, perhaps we should ask Radio-Info to fix it. I do hope it's not a passive-aggressive way to get us to shut up.

One more point in this tread. Have you noticed how so many of the college stations run by Roman Catholic universities have been sold in the last few years? I've been wondering if the hard line Vatican thinking of the past few decades is part of this. Or perhaps the Jusuit powers-that-be at USF realize that their order wll still need to cough up some hefty dollars to settle lawsuits over molestation cases by some of their priests, and the cover ups the heirarchy has engaged in even to this day. I'm guessing they need the cash, and couldn't ever say this is why. Or that Benedict's minions really want to turn Catholcism into something that more closely resembles a tightly run instutution, like the Mormons or Souther Baptists since the arch conversatives took control. A little 'ol college rock station, with a few misplaces hours in Chinese, is the last thing they probably want to have to deal with, unless perhaps they'd have preferred to turn it into another outlet for Radio Maria!

KDFC is too important of a station, especially for San Frnacisco, to be shunted off to low power FM. Sorry, KUSF, but it's time to head south to the Peninsula, or to KALX, to get an airshift at one of the other college rock stations in the area.

 

[TheBigA]

- The technical training of recent years is really being replaced by the kind of training you need to be part of an IT department. But not many of those engineering types are also good at the creative side. That's why I tell people who ask me about how to prepare to "get into broadcasting" that the best education is a liberal arts one, with journalism training in broadcast-style writing and covering spot news, too.

Some has to explain to the IT people what's needed. The IT people know how to build web sites, but they have no idea what content on it will interest people. That's where broadcasters come in. So I believe broadcasters need to know the IT language along with their other content and audience knowledge. In other words, a basic colege student needs to know more than they used to. They need to know what everyone else does in order to be an effective Ops Manager. And they really need a graduate level statistics background to understand Arbitron. Radio has become way more complicated than time & temp. A lot of older professionals haven't kept up, and they're now on the beach.