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HuffPost story: More stations joining NPR

It all comes down to a simple question: Who will pay?

These college stations were wonderful as long as the universities had the cash. After the stock market crash, their endowments dried up, and they needed a quick cash fix. So they sold their stations.

Colleges are getting out of the broadcasting business. So who will pick up the tab?
 
TheBigA said:
It all comes down to a simple question: Who will pay?

These college stations were wonderful as long as the universities had the cash. After the stock market crash, their endowments dried up, and they needed a quick cash fix. So they sold their stations.

Colleges are getting out of the broadcasting business. So who will pick up the tab?
Click to expand...

I think a lot of the focus of school run stations will shift to Internet broadcasting. It's already started in some places, but it'll get even bigger in the next few years. No expensive equipment needed beyond some computers and a basic studio. No transmitter, no tower, and most of all, no FCC.
 
To be clear, the article is talking about college, educational or student radio stations. These have mostly not qualified as public radio stations under CPB's definition (and have not qualified for CPB funding). Many public radio stations started out as student-run radio stations.

When public radio started going in the 70s and FM licenses became a more attractive resource, many colleges and universities took their FM station away from the students and turned them into professionally-run public radio stations. Students often got an LPFM license instead, which could cover the campus and adjoining "town" areas with a student population. In some notable cases (i.e., WXPN), students had gotten the station in trouble with the FCC and the university had to take over or lose the license. In other cases, like the one mentioned in the article, the school decided it could not afford the college station and wanted to switch the station to being a public radio station with CPB funding, listener-donors and paying sponsor-underwriters to pay for the operation.

She does mention Pacifica, which does qualify as public radio.

And the article talks about Public Radio Capital, which has provided funding for these conversions from college radio to public radio.

Did you folks bother to read the article before posting?
 
Don C said:
No expensive equipment needed beyond some computers and a basic studio. No transmitter, no tower, and most of all, no FCC.
Click to expand...

And no audience. When KUSF moved from on air to online, they discovered they had two listeners.
 
TheBigA said:
And no audience. When KUSF moved from on air to online, they discovered they had two listeners.
Click to expand...

I'd be willing to bet they didn't have many more than that in the first place.

Aren't school run stations for practice mostly? In that case, not having listeners really doesn't matter. Sure, it's nice to have people listening, but if the station's purpose is to teach students, listeners are an afterthought.
 
Student radio is an extra-curricular activity

Don C said:
I'd be willing to bet they didn't have many more than that in the first place.

Aren't school run stations for practice mostly? In that case, not having listeners really doesn't matter. Sure, it's nice to have people listening, but if the station's purpose is to teach students, listeners are an afterthought.
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No, not really. While student newspapers are a training ground (although usually independent of the journalism school), student radio stations for the most part are not.

Student radio stations are mostly an extra-curricular activity. Most students who do shows are not planning a career in broadcasting and these stations have little or no connection with the school of communications (or whatever it's called at a particular school). Yes, some broadcasting majors do start out at student radio stations but they are usually in the minority and that is not the station's purpose. They are mostly hobby stations where students play music they like. And not that many other students listen to these stations.
 
Re: Student radio is an extra-curricular activity

MattParker said:
They are mostly hobby stations where students play music they like. And not that many other students listen to these stations.
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That's what we found. My student station was constantly fighting with the school cafeteria to get played during meals. The students wanted to hear professional stations. Our audience were mainly high school kids and townies. Of the 100 or so students who were there when I was there, only five went on to work in the business. I've come to believe it's better for students to work at professionally run stations, at least if they want to learn something.
 
It is true that there are too many college owned stations that employ student talent that are nothing but hobby stations. However, it is incorrect to paint with a broad brush. Schools that have Broadcast or Communications majors programs often have professionally modeled formats as part of the pedagogy to help teach students that nobody's going to hire them to entertain themselves. In many cases the students run the show, but the infrastructure for reality based, experiential learning is there, and is important. Having a big enough FM facility that gets out into the surrounding non-college communities is of value as it helps students understand the responsibility of running a real radio station. Those that do it are well rewarded with far more listeners then they would currently get in the "wild west" of internet radio, where there are soooo many stations, with wildly varying degrees of quality, that finding the one or two a person might actually want to listen to takes more time then it's worth.

The key point is that well-run college radio stations are an asset to the college and the surrounding communities. They also have the added value of localism, as opposed to more piped in "off-the-bird" (insert your dirty or insulting word here).
 
johnbasalla said:
The key point is that well-run college radio stations are an asset to the college and the surrounding communities. They also have the added value of localism, as opposed to more piped in "off-the-bird" (insert your dirty or insulting word here).
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, none of that means anything to the suits who run colleges and universities anymore. They no longer care about the area outside school grounds. That's what happens when the "me" generation grows up.
 
Can be true, but doesn't have to be. If the station, through its broadcasts and a positively growing reputation, attract students to the school, then "the suits" will take notice.
 
I was glad for the opportunity a campus station gave me. I learned enough to get a job as a student employee at the university's public radio station. I know several others from about the same time who went on to very successful careers in broadcasting. And then there were all the people who were not television-radio majors who came down to have a good time. They were the majority. Some were engineering types who enjoyed keeping the equipment working. Some were radio "enthusiasts" who got a chance to see what it's like on the inside (but with no career aspirations in broadcasting). Some were music enthusiasts who wanted to share their music, or have access to a bigger music collection than they could afford on their own. In no way was the broadcasting faculty involved then and, I understand, they are not involved now. Those of us on the campus station did have an advantage in being able to use station facilities to do projects for class, but that's it.

The Huffington Post is really late with this. Student radio stations have been taken over and made into public radio stations since the 50s, and some of those are now among the top public radio stations. There's nothing new here. It was easy for student radio stations to get their hands on a full power Class A, B or C non-commercial license back in the day. As FM broadcasting, including the non-commercial band, took off, students got bumped to carrier current or LPFM. Now, with the non-commercial band crowded, it looks like they will often end up online. Bandwidth is scarce.

And few student-run or campus stations offer anything to serve the "town," their orientation is completely "gown."
 
MattParker said:
And few student-run or campus stations offer anything to serve the "town," their orientation is completely "gown."
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I was at a school where all the FM channels were already gone, so the students applied for and got an AM license. I think that's an interesting possibility. It could challenge the myth that young people won't listen to AM even if it plays what they want. Or maybe not.
 
AM College radio is an interesting idea. It could give them a much bigger signal. However, if I were a College President, I would never let go of my FM. Thanks, in part, to bandwith issues, it should be highly prized. Proof of the value is that in markets of notable size, there's a number of groups who really would like to have an FM radio station. So, with tongue-in-cheek, they may talk about how broadcasting is going to the internet ... and the FM facility has less value ... yadda, yadda, yadda. AIN'T FOOLIN' ME!
 
johnbasalla said:
AM College radio is an interesting idea. It could give them a much bigger signal. However, if I were a College President, I would never let go of my FM. Thanks, in part, to bandwith issues, it should be highly prized. Proof of the value is that in markets of notable size, there's a number of groups who really would like to have an FM radio station. So, with tongue-in-cheek, they may talk about how broadcasting is going to the internet ... and the FM facility has less value ... yadda, yadda, yadda. AIN'T FOOLIN' ME!
Click to expand...

The idea is not that the university would give up an FM license but would take it away from students. And use it as a public radio station or even a second public radio station. More public broadcasters are operating duopolies with one station continuing to carry classical music or jazz along with some NPR news and the second station adopting a news and information format.

Given that today's college students have one or more computers plus smartphones and most schools have campus wide local area networks plus WiFi access, audio streaming might make sense for campus broadcasting. Streaming would have the additional advantage of on-demand listening, podcasts and multiple audio streams. And students wouldn't get the school in trouble with the FCC.
 
Almost all public radio stations are streamed (university-owned or not). Most student radio stations are streamed, as well.

John, I get the feeling you're talking about another topic. The issue is whether a university allows an FM station to continue as a student-operated campus station or turns it into a professionally-run public radio station.

Nobody is saying anything about "letting go" of an FM station. It's about how the college decides to use it. Public radio stations bring in money (usually enough to cover most, if not all, operating stations). Public radio stations increase the visibility of the parent institution.

Campus radio stations cost money, although some schools pay for them with mandatory student fees. And they have few listeners, even in the campus community. Beyond serving as an extra-curricular activity, they are a poor use of bandwidth.

And no matter what the signal, no station has value unless you have an audience or unless you sell it. Public radio stations generate revenue because they have listeners who pledge and listeners whom sponsors will pay to reach.
 
MattParker said:
Campus radio stations cost money, although some schools pay for them with mandatory student fees. And they have few listeners, even in the campus community. Beyond serving as an extra-curricular activity, they are a poor use of bandwidth.
Click to expand...

If this isn't perfect real world preparation for a career in public radio, I don't know what is.
 
If a college radio station is nothing but a block programmed play-pen, then I'm in agreement that those stations are a poor use of bandwith. Those student run radio stations that are working hard to provide a service that attracts listeners are a different story. I have seen/heard both, and the ones that are succeeding are definitely worthy.
 
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