I think the real issue is that a lot of people don’t like talk radio period, regardless of where they fall on the spectrum of political leanings. Haven’t seen stats so it’s just my observation. Or maybe it’s that the core audience is aging out? I don’t see a lot of Gen Z or younger millennials (or even Xers like me and most of my friends and colleagues) listening to talk radio. Podcasts, sure.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
WBOQ sale, format change coming
- Thread starter raccoonradio
- Start date
Off topic, but tax data disagrees with you. NFP Religious orgs, especially mega and Catholic churches, Megas pay a lot in total comp primarily to leaders, and are buying up real estate as endowment investments. Cathie church is sitting on a century of prime real estate and selling much of it off to offset declining North American active members (and donations) and school attendance. I don’t know of many Protestant churches that fund and carry schools tho Im sure they’re out there. I can only speak to the (limited) 501(c)(3) filings and data.
And WJMJ only does "Saint of the Day" and similar Catholic-themed segments three times an hour. There's ABC news at the top of the hour as well, but the rest of the format consists of pop, soul and some rock and country music from the '50s through today. The "faith pop" is limited to a syndicated weekend countdown show.
I miss Simon Geller, who must be rolling over in his grave.... I may have said that already but it warrants repeating.
I watched Radio Fishtown again last night....
I watched Radio Fishtown again last night....
A couple years ago I saw Radio Days at Gloucester Stage Company with Tai, Lori Grande, Chris Culkeen etc. Same place put on a play about Simon with a nice pun in the title: My Station In Life
As for talk radio, it could well have its core audience aging out and many fewer stations are doing it now. However there is talk to be found online especially with podcasts. For example, Stu's Show with Stu Shostak talking to baby boomer TV favorite celebs. Also have started listening to The Sopranos Show, a podcast about the HBO series hosted by two younger guys. When Nancy Marchand was brought up, one of them said he had never heard of "Lou Grant". The other explained it was a spinoff, apparently, of Mary Tyler Moore show.
As for talk radio, it could well have its core audience aging out and many fewer stations are doing it now. However there is talk to be found online especially with podcasts. For example, Stu's Show with Stu Shostak talking to baby boomer TV favorite celebs. Also have started listening to The Sopranos Show, a podcast about the HBO series hosted by two younger guys. When Nancy Marchand was brought up, one of them said he had never heard of "Lou Grant". The other explained it was a spinoff, apparently, of Mary Tyler Moore show.
Last edited:
Can't let it go unsaid that Lori Grande succeeded Chris Culkeen as the morning traffic reporter on WBZ-AM. Lori has a nice way about her.
High-paid leaders in any non-profit field are very common. The head of the public radio in New York City makes nearly a million a year... because that person is highly skilled in fund raising. But there is noting in the law or tax regulation that limits the salaries that non-profits can pay to their staff.
Similarly, non-profits that buy real estate and make investments are very common. The best example, in the news this week, is that Harvard is so well endowed that the income from the investments combined with prudent sale of capital could guarantee free tuition to every student forever. The dean of Harvard makes over $900,000 a year and gets all kinds of perks, such as a nice mansion to live in. All that is legal, and very normal. The head of the American Red Cross makes over $700,000 including benefits. At the ASCPA it's $750,000.
So if a minister makes a big salary, that is not wrong, illegal or prohibited. If he or she generate donations well in excess of the pay, they are worth it. Most non-Catholic Christian faiths don't require vows of poverty from the clergy.
Any non-profit that receives more in a year than it distributes or spends can't give it to shareholders, as they have none. So they "store" the funds for the future in investments.
And that is why churches invest in property of some kind: to sustain their activities during hard times. That is not only legal, it is prudent. And the same applies to non-profit groups in essentially every free democratic nation in the world.
I think the key word is "reasonable".
The IRS (which regulates tax-exempt status) allows a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit to pay reasonable salaries to officers, employees, or agents for services rendered to further the nonprofit corporation's tax-exempt purposes.
No hard and fast rules exist for compensation in a nonprofit, but the IRS can penalize both an organization and an individual for excessive pay. This expectation is embodied in the inurement clause governing nonprofit organizations.
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/can-nonprofits-pay-staff-2501893
Last edited:
And if a person who is qualified for a manager's position in the private sector could make, let's say, $900,000 a year with no problem, then it is safe to assume that a nonprofit can and should be able to pay a competitive amount for such a person.
A good example may be found in health care. There are non-profit hospitals and there are private enterprise ones. A good non-profit must pay as much for a director, heads of departments and other management positions as the for-profit ones or they will not be able to recruit the best people.
When the IRS says "reasonable" it obviously means "in line with industry or profession standards".
My mother spent about 30 years on the board of a large county public hospital system. They were given a stipend, or fee" which, if I recall how she explained it to me, was "at least 80% of the average comparable fee paid by other comparable health care organizations in the area for similar functions, obligations and responsibilities". They felt that community-minded members of the board might do the job for a bit less than private sector individuals, but they still used an index of that same private sector as the base criteria.
As a reference, during those years she got an annual stipend that would buy a moderately equipped Chevy or Toyota for work that involved 20 to 30 hours a week of document reading, conferences on the phone and physical meetings. And that was for a cash-strapped public hospital system in a county that was losing population and, except for one other hospital, hard-pressed to get qualified medical staff to go and live there.
So, getting back to radio, if we look at the public financials of EMF, their staff is rather significantly underpaid for what they do and for the size of their operation.
And the IRS sees each industry and judges accordingly. When is the last time they ruled against the salary costs of a non-profit? (Not a rhetorical question... I just can't find any example using plain old web search engines.
No, but there is wiggle room ;-) if someone decided to "weaponize" the IRS.
As long as there are comparable salaries in the private sector, there can not be any real issues.
Many might not see "reasonable"....comparing it with the private sector.
Politicians do this too.....and the response of the public is "If you want to be paid like the private sector, go work in the private sector!" LOL
And that is why we get the quality of government services that we have come to expect.
Fybush's column today at fybush.com reveals the station has new calls of WNKC--as of October 20. EMF completed the
acquisition of the station on Sep 28.
acquisition of the station on Sep 28.
Last edited:
I wonder how EMF decides on the call letters?
Whatever's available with a "K" in it, I suppose. Or an "LV" combination, but maybe those are all gone. Of course, WNKC could just be a random FCC allocation, but if that's the case, why change the call at all?
N-North Shore, K-K-Love, C-Christ, maybe? Why bother indeed in this case, as listeners will probably only remember it for the frequency and being a K-Love station. There are some heritage stations of the past (WBCN, WAAF, WODS being "parked") and present (WRKO, WBZ, WROR. WCRB, WGBH...) where the call letters do matter.
With the sale gone though, the NorthShore104.9 website and Facebook page are now gone though an unofficial older 'BOQ page is still up . *(The site seems to be a placeholder page and a WHOIS search says domain name is set to expire Nov 17)
Last edited:
- Status