WBFO Comes Up Short

[SirRoxalot]

You obviously are clueless about the staffing and management at WNYPB. This ain't some rinky-dink volunteer station, Bub. It's run as a business, and is part of a much larger enterprise than some community-run station in Podunk. It may be not-for-profit, but that doesn't mean that some people aren't profiting handsomely from the TV/FM combo. The odds of them allowing a volunteer to man the controls are about the same as the odds of you ever admitting that you're wrong.

I know at least two people on here who are members in good standing. You're asking for information that you know very well isn't available - at least outside the building. People in WNY who listen to WBFO have a much better feel for what the audience is used to, and would like to have, than some interloper who simply logs in here to stir up fecal matter and pontificate using generalizations based on an unknown "career" in broadcasting and the fact that you drove through Buffalo a couple of times. How many people from WNY have you talked to today - or this week, for that matter? Oddly, if you're in radio in Buffalo, a lot of people talk to you about it. There's a general feeling that the changes at WBFO since WNYPB took over are not for the better. The incident that sparked this discussion is merely a symptom of management's attitude toward public service, and toward their audience.

 

[TheBigA]

I know at least two people on here who are members in good standing. You're asking for information that you know very well isn't available - at least outside the building.

I'm well aware of that. That's why I know I'm correct when I say their membership doesn't care about local news on holidays. If it mattered, they have the resources to do it. Local news on a holiday, especially one like Thanksgiving, is a waste of money. The members and management of WBFO are wise to focus their resources on services and programming that their audience wants.

The fact is that management of this station cares more about public service and is more in touch with its audience than most of the commercial stations in your town. And you know I'm right about that too.

By the way, in case you'd like to volunteer, here's a link to their volunteer sign-up page:

http://www.wned.org/contact-volunteer

Several of their current full time staffers started as volunteer board ops.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Several of their current full time staffers started as volunteer board ops.

Name ONE board op that started under the current regime. Volunteers man the phones during pledge drives, and are used for "station promotion, community outreach and fundraising activities." Maybe you should have read their website.

As usual, you have no real idea about what's going on or how it's run, but you won't let that stop you from blathering on. Your faith in management is complete. Well, it's pretty obvious that's not true for the 7% of "listeners" that other stations get to donate. I'd be willing to bet that their "listener" numbers are also inflated by using lists of people who donated when it was at UB, but haven't sent them money since. That's a completely different donor base than the station has now, and the programming is significantly different. People are obviously voting with their wallets, and that tally ain't going well for WNYPB. You can blame it on the listeners, or you can place the blame on the programming changes. Catering to Canadian listeners at the expense of local residents simply isn't working out for them on the radio side, and their faith that people will listen to audio via the Toronto cable system is simply misplaced.

 

[TheBigA]

As usual, you have no real idea about what's going on or how it's run, but you won't let that stop you from blathering on.

Look who's talking. You live there, and still you make up false claims about their membership. If you don't actually know, don't say "I'd be willing to bet." All information about a non-profit is publicly available. So you don't have to bet. It's there if you just look.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Really? Subscriber information "is there if you just look"? If you "don't actually know", you deflect. You claim to know, so let's see the link, Bud. Show us uneducated folks just where that information can be found.

 

[TheBigA]

Financial information is there if you look. and if you need more, just take a drive to their headquarters and ask for their public file.

FCC law doesn't require them to post everything online. But it's there if you ask.

 

[SirRoxalot]

IOW, you don't really know anything about subscriber numbers or information, and don't really know that "their membership doesn't care about local news on holidays" or that "Local news on a holiday, especially one like Thanksgiving, is a waste of money."

You really don't know squat about the Buffalo market. Yeah, yeah, we're like "all the other markets". Got any research to back up those statements in ANY market? Of course not, because you're pulling them out of your butt.

 

[TheBigA]

IOW, you don't really know anything about subscriber numbers or information, and don't really know that "their membership doesn't care about local news on holidays" or that "Local news on a holiday, especially one like Thanksgiving, is a waste of money."

However, you & E9 actually live in Buffalo, and don't have access to anything more than I do. You've proven that in this thread. If you can't see it on the internet, then you can't see it. So you have no advantage living in Buffalo over me.

My information about public radio listening comes from years working in public radio. We never staffed on holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas. We spoke with programmers in other markets, and they told us the exact same thing. You can believe me or not. I don't care. I'm just trying to explain to you why this station didn't have local news on Thanksgiving morning. If they had a newscaster working that day, and the power supply went out on the console, or the computer locked up, he couldn't have fixed it. But it's possible that's why they had 15 minutes of dead air that morning. Then again, I'm not in Buffalo. This time of year, I'm very glad about that.

 

[SirRoxalot]

We're glad you're not here, too. But, unlike you, we DO have a lot of friends and acquaintances who do talk to us about radio in Buffalo. As I explained before, there's a growing feeling of disenchantment with the programming and management of WBFO by WNYPB, which would be a pretty good explanation of why WBFO isn't achieving it's 7% goal.

WBFO positions itself as an alternative to WBEN when it comes to radio news, and has moved its programming significantly toward news/talk, dropping jazz and treating blues as a red-headed step-child. If you're going to emphasize the importance of news/talk on one hand, you have to BE THERE, at least while the other guys you're competing with are. They ARE positioning themselves as competing with WBEN.

You continually overlook the fact that a multi-station TV/FM operation was apparently running unattended. What if a terrorist organization decided that Thanksgiving was the perfect time to attack the US? Or a train carrying toxic substances derailed in one of the busiest rail transportation centers in the country? And what about Canadians - who they're courting - who don't celebrate Thanksgiving in November, and were headed to the US to shop on what's now become "Gray Thursday"?

The landscape IS different here, and has changed since your alleged public radio experience. WBFO cheaped out, and it bit them in the butt. Let's see if they learn from their mistake.

 

[TheBigA]

You continually overlook the fact that a multi-station TV/FM operation was apparently running unattended. What if a terrorist organization decided that Thanksgiving was the perfect time to attack the US?

First of all, that is crazy. The US government doesn't even staff with that thought in mind. Why should a non-profit radio station? And the real question I have for you is how many commercial stations were short-staffed on Thanksgiving?

Second of all, you say "apparently running unattended." Don't you KNOW? Can't any of your sources confirm that information. Once again YOU LIVE THERE. I have better sources about my local stations than you do. From my experience, fifteen minutes of dead air tells me that there WAS someone in the building. Had it been unattended, the dead air would have gone longer, waiting for someone to drive in, find the problem, and correct it.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Sheesh. You haven't heard of "remote access"? Ain't much that can't be fixed at an automated station remotely these days if somebody is aware of it and it's a software problem. It's likely that somebody eventually got a phone call, and remoted in to fix it. Multi-million dollar facilities usually have equipment that will contact a responsible party if dead air goes on for a pre-determined time. Apparently, not at WNYPB. Want to bet on how long it would take them to act if it was the TV signal that was off? I'll bet that it would be a lot less than 15 minutes - and radio equipment is MUCH cheaper.

"Short-staffed"? How about "Un-staffed"? The group that they purport to compete with WAS staffed. The point is that it DIDN'T get taken care of in what most people would consider to be a "timely fashion" - either by on-site staff, or by remote. The fact that they weren't doing local news breaks indicates that they're not serious about competing with the commercial news/talker in town no matter what their station imaging says.

What we're getting from WNYPB is lip service, and whining that that we're not holding up our end of the deal. Reality is that they're not holding up their end of the deal, and people here are voting with their checkbooks.

 

[davideduardo]

"Short-staffed"? How about "Un-staffed"? The group that they purport to compete with WAS staffed. The point is that it DIDN'T get taken care of in what most people would consider to be a "timely fashion" - either by on-site staff, or by remote. The fact that they weren't doing local news breaks indicates that they're not serious about competing with the commercial news/talker in town no matter what their station imaging says.

Under the category of "stuff happens" no matter how redundant a system is, there will be occasional moments when there is a failure that can not be repaired by switching studios, switching transmitters, switching antennas, etc.

Generators, even the best maintained, will occasionally just not turn on when you need them. Towers fail. Ice builds up on FM bays. Main and backup systems fail due to a more catastrophic failure. And so on.

And even a staffed station may not have someone on duty who can fix all the issues on site... and maybe logging on by remote can't fix the issue so someone has to get there by car to do an on site correction.

I've been Chief Operator at an FM with three transmitters, two different power line feeds, two towers and two FM arrays, two STLs, multiple studios, redundant rack equipment and full UPS and geny backups. And we still had a very infrequent and embarrassing failure because Mr Murphy came to call...

 

[Ed Trefzger]

What we're getting from WNYPB is lip service, and whining that that we're not holding up our end of the deal. Reality is that they're not holding up their end of the deal, and people here are voting with their checkbooks.

Year-over-year donations for WNYPB were up from $6,000,000 to $6,400,000 in the IRS Form 990 document (that was indeed easy to find.)

 

[Mark1981]

Oh my gawd. 12 pages of comments because WBFO had 15 minutes of dead air on Thanksgiving morning? GIVE ME A BREAK! You know, Rox, you might very well be a friend of mine. We’ll never know since you hide your identity. But you couldn’t be more ill-informed about some of the things I’ve read from you in this thread. Big A, even though he lives elsewhere, is more on target than anything you’re saying here. First of all, the fact is WNYPBA management gave the day off to staff members on Thanksgiving as a reward for all the extra effort they provided in covering the Snovember storm. It was not an effort to save a few extra bucks. Heck, I’ll come in next Thanksgiving to keep you from whining! Okay, WBEN was live on Thanksgiving morning when the only news of note is the Turkey Trot. Wow! I shouldn’t have to explain this. But when the commercial news leader is dark at night, WBFO’s Mike Desmond is on the streets covering breaking stories and evening events for the next morning’s broadcasts. WBEN staffing Thanksgiving morning compared to five nights a week of coverage by Desmond, I give the edge to WBFO. If something of major importance had occurred on Thanksgiving, the staff could quickly mobilize. Heck, I remember coming in one Christmas morning during a snowstorm more than a few years ago, and I was the only one in the market providing any information. I even scraped the satellite dish. I remember that WBEN wasn't staffed with an on-air announcer that particular morning. But it was Christmas. Who cared!

Regarding WBFO membership, the facts are – again, these are facts – WBFO has met its membership goals for years, dating back to UB ownership. Keep in mind, it’s not only about on-air fund raising. Listeners like me are contributing a few bucks every month. Our contributions are no longer a part of on-air fund raising goals. Other listeners respond to mail – again, not a part of on-air fundraising goals. Yes, the on-air effort fell about $15,000 short in the fall campaign. But that doesn’t mean the station is not on target to meet its overall fundraising goals. Let’s talk on June 30th if the overall goal is not met.

I really take issue with your constant harping that WBFO programming is significantly different under WNYPBA ownership. Really? Last time I checked, the programs in the money demos – morning and afternoon drives – ARE THE SAME! Weekend mornings – the AM news plus Car Talk and WWDTM ARE THE SAME! Yes, the Blues programs were shifted from afternoons to evenings. But that was the only significant change. I acknowledge that. And the rest of the programming changes made in recent years were the result of NPR, not WBFO, when the network cancelled Talk of the Nation and Tell Me More.

The bottom line is that WBFO has a greater local news presence than it ever did at UB. I know! I was there for both. We struggled with staffing shortages at UB. I pulled my hair out trying to decide what to cover. For several years at the end of the UB era, we didn’t even have a qualified engineer. We had a guy who couldn’t respond to emergencies until he completed his real job at 5pm. Today, THREE engineers are in the building during the day and ready to tackle any emergency. Plus, we have the staff to do hourly newscasts that we couldn’t do before. And the recent changes to the NPR Morning Edition clock give WBFO more of a local news presence throughout the hour.

I understand, Rox. You don’t like WNYPBA management. You know people who don’t like WNYPBA management. Maybe you know someone inside who has his or her gripes. You all are entitled to your opinion. I won't argue with you about that. But from my point of view, things are great. We’re now with an institution whose mission is broadcasting, not educating young people. Our new news director, Brian Meyer, is setting a high bar. Frankly, I find his whole thread kind of insulting. Yes, we weren’t staffed during the few morning hours on a holiday when the reality is we’re doing so much more every other day, weekends included. It disappoints me that you fail to see that. But I do know that real WBFO listeners do!

So, how about a show of hands. Can we put this thread to rest?

 

[TheBigA]

"Short-staffed"? How about "Un-staffed"?

So now you've gone from saying "apparently running unattended" to "unstaffed?" To what do you attribute this change of language? Actual facts?

And what does their station imaging say that makes you think they're "competing" with a station that's primarily a conservative talker?

 

[SirRoxalot]

What, "A", you either didn't read, or didn't understand Mark's post? I think that it's pretty definitive, and I'm willing to let the thread end on that. We may have differences of opinion, but he's authoritative in this case. So, blather on if you must, but I'm out of this particular discussion.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Mark1981 presents a noble defense of WBFO. I Agree with many of the points made, and feel that one of those points in particular supports the contention of some posters here.

WBFO deserves to be commended for “being there,” on the street reporting at night when WBEN is not. There is great value in “being there.” However, that same value can be lost entirely when a news-talk station is “not there.”

For the sake of discussion rather than argument, and having no intent to inflame, it’s my opinion that “not being there” for a day (or a day part) devalues the local news product and the purpose of news personnel, which is to gather news, even on a slow news day such as a holiday.

To that end, Thanksgiving Day may have had one major event, that being the annual Turkey Trot in which 14 thousand runners participated. In this regard, the race seemed to be most newsworthy and have importance on a number of levels, especially because the organizer of the race died only days earlier and many runners honored and paid tribute to him.

As to the period of silence on Thanksgiving morning, a call to WNYPB revealed that it was a result of “human error” and no one was in the building at the time. Having worked in news-talk radio and written automation code for music stations, I can understand how one misplaced command or omission can create problems.

WNYPB’s IRS-990 does in fact reveal a year-to year increase in donations to WNYPB, from $6 million to $6.4 million, but the report, at least to my examination by way of Guidestar, does not reveal where the increases come from; that is, from U.S. donors, Canadian donors, and to which station those donations are credited, WNED-FM, WNED-TV or WBFO.

Despite the occasionally rancor, I believe this has been quite a compelling and entertaining thread.

 

[TheBigA]

it’s my opinion that “not being there” for a day (or a day part) devalues the local news product and the purpose of news personnel, which is to gather news, even on a slow news day such as a holiday.

Maybe. If a tree falls in an empty forest, who assesses the loss? The tree still fell, but no one noticed. That's the case here.

My view is allowing people to take a holiday doesn't change the value of the news product one bit.

 

[dand5780]

I had to see what I have been missing, so I tuned in for 15 minutes this morning during the 7 o'clock hour.

Those on the air sound like they are falling asleep or dying. I heard one piece of news I actually cared about, reported by Cheryl Hagen who used to be on WJYE. She sounded like she didn't want to be there.

There was weather, which just about every station has in the morning.

There was a 5-7 minute sob story of a kid that had breathing problems and has always been in the hospital. The "news," if you could call it that, was buried somewhere in there stating they can now make a device to help. Now the kid can come home for Christmas and they all live happily ever after. It's a nice story, but it was just that, a story.

I don't think many will hear the tree fall, even if it isn't a holiday. At least those looking for news.

 

[jim8230]

That story about the kid you are referring to was on NPR's Morning Edition. It was not a local story. Perhaps the public radio sound just isn't your thing.