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RADIO PA.

J

jayedwards

Guest
how does WITF--Harrisburg operate Radio Pa. news network? (non-profit/ for profit????)
 
For Profit Subsidiaries

They also own Empire Radio in New York.

Many public radio stations operate for profit subsidiaries. Off the top of my head:
Minnesota Public Radio has a catalog business plus American Public Media.
WHYY Philadelphia rents its production and studio facilities to commercial broadcasters.
NPR rents satellite capability to commercial broadcasters.
Chicago's PBS station owns a commercial classical radio station.

Non-profit organizations are not allowed to pay dividends to shareholders. They are allowed to use "surplus" funds to pay high salaries to managers and give raises and bonuses to staff, to buy state of the art equipment, to build fancy facilities and buildings on prime real estate and to invest on for-profit enterprises. At the same time, they are allowed to go on the air and say how much they need your pledges.
 
SO ---- $$$$ given in pledge drives ----could end up as surplus funds? How can they get away with this? plus--- those 10 second underwriting messages sure sound like spots to me!
 
Now you are getting the picture.
Underwriting announcements are spots - with a few limitations on copy. Public radio "development" (sales) people go to companies with Power Point presentations showing Arbitron data on public radio's audience and the effectiveness of other underwriting programs. Most of public radio's money comes from corporate underwriting (some of it funneled through industry foundations).
Public radio gets more money than it needs and can't spend it fast enough.
They get away with it because (1) It's legal. (2) People keep pledging. (3) Fans of public radio don't want to hear anything bad about public radio.

Now, in principle, a statewide news service for radio is a good idea. National news gets coverage. Local news gets some coverage, although usually the coverage is poor. News from state capitals gets ignored - and state government affects people's lives (and spends their money) more than the other levels of government. But Radio PA is a p___ poor operation. Public radio usually has a classy on-air product (regardless of any other short-comings). You'd think they have a better product with Radio PA.
 
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