WNED Signs Agreement to Acquire WBFO

[Philip_Airtime]

A couple of points here. Yes, WBFO dropped the liner, "a major public service of the University at Buffalo," a few years ago in favor of the more succinct, "public radio from UB." We were always proud of our affiliation with UB. WBFO did provide more coverage of the university than any other broadcast outlet in Buffalo. I always thought it was better to present something newsworthy about UB at a time when people are listening -- during one of the local segments of Morning Edition -- rather than ghetto-izing it in a "UB Corner" show that was buried during some weekend hour. True, the monthly show with former President Bill Greiner ended with his retirement nearly ten years ago. Please know that we offered to continue that programming vehicle with his successor, who chose not to take advantage of it. That was fine. A call-in show is not everyone's cup of tea. But again, I did countless interviews with John Simpson that aired on Morning Edition during his tenure as UB President. And such interviews have continued with current president Satish Tripathi.

Now on to the issue that Rox brought up -- broadcasting UB athletics on WBFO. First of all, I'm a big fan of UB's sports. For several years, I had season tickets to the football games. So, my comments here are not to disparage the program. But the decision not to broadcast the games is not "elitist." It was in the best interest of our audience. Consider this folks. Broadcasting Bulls football and basketball games would have pre-empted some of our most popular programming -- The Blues. We would have alienated a sizeable portion of our audience. And for what? WBFO is not a sports station. It's not what we do. Sure, we do air NPR's "Only A Game," but even that is formatted to appeal to the public radio listener, covering stories ESPN Radio would never touch. There are other stations in town that thrive on sports. UB athletics were a better fit on those stations.

Now, Rox could argue (I don't presume to speak for you, my friend) that 97 Rock is a music station that drops its format to provide Bills play-by-play. That's a different animal. The UB Bulls are not the Buffalo Bills. Back in the day, you might remember that WHTT willingly gave up the Buffalo Sabres when Rigas started WNSA because they realized breaking format 82 nights a year was not good for a music-intensive oldies radio station.

Granted, UB football and basketball are now on a music station, after WECK dropped its all talk format that included a heavy dose of sports. I would argue that's hurting the Breeze. Listeners who want music are going somewhere else. WECK's numbers as a news talker and now with the music continue in the 0.5 range 12+, so you have to wonder what impact these games are having. On the other hand, the UB athletics brand gives WECK some stature, especially if the men's basketball team has a successful season. And it generates revenue for Dick Greene as UB, I'm sure, buys the time on WECK rather than WECK paying a rights fee.

Finally, I think it's better for UB athletics to be on a commercial station because it allows the department to fully showcase its sponsors with full-fledged commercials. They wouldn't be able to do that on WBFO. The station closely adheres to FCC underwriting guidelines -- sponsorship name and a recognized slogan, address, phone number, website address and a brief description of the service or product -- no call to action or flowery language. Certainly, no jingles. That could have turned off some potential sponsors. So, the Bulls are better off where they are on WECK. And WBFO was better off in concentrating on its core programming.

 

[Bob1370]

People who lament the passing of WBFO's tenure under UB's wing have to remember that universities in general, other than those who offer a communications degree as a major feature of their academic offerings, find operating a radio and/or TV station more of a burden than an asset. It costs money and demands technical, programming and managerial expertise that colleges which don't teach media have to outsource. UB is divesting its station for that reason. The U of R found WRUR to be an even more significant distraction since it has no communications major to offer and thus had no broadcast pros on its faculty...so it sought out the pros at WXXI for a partner. More recently Hobart and William Smith Colleges spun off active management of WEOS to the WXXI organization for the same reason. Cornell sold off commercially licensed WHCU AM/FM years ago because it outlived its purpose as an educational tool, even though it was a profit maker. (And Cornell never operated a station for students at any time--letting the students themselves build their own profit-making commercial FM and running it under their own corporate identity.)

Conversely, Syracuse U. retains WAER and programs a lot of local content because it's an important teaching tool of the Newhouse School of Communications. Same applies at Ohio State University, where the WOSU stations are more closely integrated into the curriculum. That seems to be the difference

 

[SirRoxalot]

You might want to check your sources a little more carefully. Albany's "six" stations include two college stations (RPI & SUNY Albany), an FM translator, and stations from Bennington, VT, and Westfield, MA that are designed to serve those markets, not Albany. So, Albany really has WAMC and its translator to support, along with Classical WMHT.

My facts came from NPR. Those six stations are NPR stations, not simply non-commercial stations. The issue in that post was the number of stations that depend on listener contributions. You don't have to be an NPR station to depend on listener contributions.

The point is that only two stations an a translator are actually Albany stations, and one is the primary source of programming for a multi-state network. Bennington, Westfied, and even RPI have their own communities to support them.

 

[TheBigA]

The point is that only two stations an a translator are actually Albany stations, and one is the primary source of programming for a multi-state network.

So what? You make my point that WNED is justified in seeking funding from Toronto.

 

[Element9]

Ohhhhh Canada / we crave your funding pledge / Our balance sheet / is really on the edge

Canada. Savior of Buffalo, whether it's the Bills, Sabres or WNED. Hey, if the money's there, try to grab it. It's true, if Toronto and the Niagara Peninsula were part of the Buffalo market, it would be a top 15 market. But it isn't. Keep in mind, at least for the purpose of this discussion, WNED's cash grab from Canada is precarious. It appears to be a reasonable strategy at this point, but things change, sometimes on a dime, or Canadian dollar.

Last I heard from a Canadian member of WNED, his contribution was not tax deductible under Canadian tax laws. For the longest time, I thought Canadian donors could write off their donation to WNED through some sort of Canadian shell non-profit corp. He advised me otherwise. He also noted that he wasn't sure he'd renew his $120 (Canadian) annual gift.

I suspect Toronto isn't the bulls eye for WNYPB pledges for WBFO, since the WBFO signal doesn't get into the city. It's more likely to be the Niagara Peninsula, with Hamilton, St. Catherines, Fort Erie and Niagara Falls (cha-ching, casino money!) close to the center of the target. Canadian contributions are icing on the cake. Without the cake, there's no icing. WNYPB might want to proceed cautiously with any plans for CanCon news and cultural on WBFO. If WNYPB thinks penetration on Rogers cable is the solution to penetrating the Toronto market, they may be surprised to find that listeners consume news-talk formats differently than Classical music formats.

We can only hope we don't have to endure the mincing voice of the guy that's been on Ch 17 the last week, hectoring viewers of the News Hour to send in their pledge. So bad it's almost comical. But not quite. Click. Off.

 

[TheBigA]

Canada. Savior of Buffalo, whether it's the Bills, Sabres or WNED. Hey, if the money's there, try to grab it. It's true, if Toronto and the Niagara Peninsula were part of the Buffalo market, it would be a top 15 market.

Once again, nothing wrong with it. Don't blame the station for trying to replace declining local dollars. Americans don't support their cultural institutions the way other countries do. Too bad. And Canadians love American culture. I used to go to the Montreal Jazz Festival every year. Mostly American performers, getting good money, because American clubs don't pay as well.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Look, we're a border community. We know better than you that influence flows in both directions on the Peace Bridge, Rainbow Bridge, and Lewiston-Queenston Bridge. We also know that Buffalo ain't Toronto, and doesn't want to be Toronto, and that's exactly what Don Boswell was talking about with his "Toronto News Bureau".

Cultural exchange is one thing. Catering to Toronto is something else, especially when it's unlikely to be effective. What most of us who live here are saying is that WBFO needs to focus on Buffalo first. Radio, as a medium, is much more local than TV, particularly when the only access to the programming is via Internet or cable. The OTA signal is still the one that counts. Mr. Boswell may wish to keep that in mind.

As far as the idea that "Canadians love American culture", you might need to talk to a few Canadians about that. They are rightfully proud of their own culture, and resent being force-fed so much American content. NPR talk shows - particularly those with major political content - aren't likely to draw that well against the CBC and BBC. The Blues shows on WBFO are much more attractive to a Canadian audience than most talk shows.

 

[TheBigA]

Cultural exchange is one thing. Catering to Toronto is something else, especially when it's unlikely to be effective.

Nine said they get 40% of their membership money from Canada. I don't know if that's true. But if it is, how can you say what they do is "ineffective"

I have no reason to believe they'll be "catering to Toronto," since others have pointed out WBFO's signal isn't strong there. I give them credit for knowing. But as I've said, if Buffalonians want more focus on them, they need to step up with their membership dollars. If not, the programming will reflect the community that chooses to support them. They're not going to get the federal government coming in and making programming requirements of a station. Just look at the track record at other former college radio stations.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Nine said they get 40% of their membership money from Canada. I don't know if that's true. But if it is, how can you say what they do is "ineffective"

40% of whose underwriting? Certainly WBFO's. And you're not trying to compare radio - which is primarily consumed OTA, with TV, which is primarily consumed via cable, are you?

I have no reason to believe they'll be "catering to Toronto," since others have pointed out WBFO's signal isn't strong there. I give them credit for knowing.

You obviously don't know who you're talking about.

But as I've said, if Buffalonians want more focus on them, they need to step up with their membership dollars. If not, the programming will reflect the community that chooses to support them. They're not going to get the federal government coming in and making programming requirements of a station. Just look at the track record at other former college radio stations.

Who said anything about the Feds coming in and making programming requirements? Obviously, the programming should lean toward the audience that supports the station. In that case, the numbers say that the Blues are a no-brainer, WBFO should remain largely as it is, any Toronto news bureau should serve WNED TV, and the people on WNED-AM should be worried. I'm pretty sure that's not what Boswell has in mind.

 

[TheBigA]

40% of whose underwriting? Certainly WBFO's. And you're not trying to compare radio - which is primarily consumed OTA, with TV, which is primarily consumed via cable, are you?

Read Reply #71 in this thread: http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=194990.msg1811597#msg1811597

Who said anything about the Feds coming in and making programming requirements?

Once again, read Reply #71. He talks about petitions to deny. He's dreaming.

My theory, of course as an outsider, is that WNYPB will find a way to keep the AM, just because of it's signal to the north.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Sorry. That should have read certainly NOT WBFO's. No where near 40% of WBFO's money comes from Canada.

Once again, the point is that there is likely to be very little support from Toronto for WBFO since there's virtually no OTA signal there, and their presence on cable means very little to any potential audience. Yet Boswell is talking about taking WBFO "to the next level, especially with NPR" and "making a Canadian news bureau, and we’ve already talked to NPR about splitting a person who would work on regional arts and cultural stories to turn them into national productions.”

Does Boswell really think that there's an American audience for Canadian culture beyond the border cities who are already well aware of what Toronto has to offer? Imagine an NPR affiliate in Alabama hearing about a cultural happening in Toronto. Heck, I can't even imagine much interest from an NPR affiliate in NYC, let alone LA. About the only thing that might light a fire would be a discussion of the Canadian health care system, and you don't need a Toronto bureau for that. Whether there should be interest or not is another story, but I think you're going to have a damn hard time selling it in the U.S. Moreover, why not just import it from the CBC, just as they do with content from the BBC?

The answer is simple. Target WBFO at Buffalo and the Niagara Peninsula with programming that centers on shared concerns, and shared interests like the Blues. I'd add Jazz, but Toronto already has better Jazz programming than WBFO, so what's the point? Instead of giving up WNED-AM, reach out to the underserved ethnic communities and extract some dollars from audiences that will never contribute to public broadcasting as it's currently presented.

 

[TheBigA]

Does Boswell really think that there's an American audience for Canadian culture beyond the border cities who are already well aware of what Toronto has to offer? Imagine an NPR affiliate in Alabama hearing about a cultural happening in Toronto.

Have you listened to NPR? They'll spend ten minutes on the cultural offerings of the Punjab or Kenya. Toronto would be a step up.

I think a lot of people would be interested. It's what forms the basis for The Travel Channel.

But once again, I really am not reading anywhere that they will be "catering to Toronto."

 

[SirRoxalot]

Once again, your lack of local knowledge - in this case WNED-TV's content - renders your opinion valueless. There's a reason that 40% of WNED-TV's money reportedly comes from Canada. It's called catering to a Canadian audience in general, and Toronto specifically. Obviously, based on his statements in the Buffalo News article, Don Boswell thinks that he can use the same approach for WBFO. That demonstrates his lack of knowledge about the difference between TV and radio.

 

[Element9]

Earlier in this thread, I wrote (quote) "It's been reported that 40% of the funding for WNED-TV-AM-FM operations comes from Canadian sources." According to a former associate of WNED AM-FM-TV to whom I spoke, my earlier statement is incorrect. I'll properly own up to my mistake and only offer that the "40%" figure was derived from my recollections of a WNED-TV pledge drive about one year ago.

It may be that I heard incorrectly and misunderstood the context in which the figure was offered. It's also possible that the WNED-TV rep was specifically referring to pledges and memberships associated with that particular week's membership drive, rather than the overall funding funding for WNED-TV. It's also possible that I quite correctly heard the WNED-TV on-air representative offer an incorrect figure. But enough of that dance.

To clarify, a former WNED associate informed me that WNED-AM-FM-TV does not, as a whole, receive 40% of it's funding from Canadian members. Canadian residents make up approximately 50% of WNED-TV's membership. The banner on this page supports the "50%" figure. WNYPB owns three properties, WNED-TV channel 17, WNED-AM 970 (news and NPR) and WNED-FM 94.5 (Classical). Membership levels vary for each station.

As to the reference regarding "dreaming" of letters of Petition to Deny. Three people to whom I regularly speak attended a public forum presented by WNYPB and WBFO held October 4th in the WNED-TV studio. WBFO and WNYPB management were present to listen to the comments of WBFO and WNED-AM listeners and members. Approximately two dozen listeners/members offered spoke. Many commented on behalf of the weekend Blues programming, and a significant number of comments were aimed (favorably) at news programs, public service programs and talk shows. I was not present at the forum and it's likely one BigA was absent as well.

During the forum, at least two WBFO listeners (one who identified himself as a UB professor) stated their opposition to the sale of WBFO. They told representatives of WNYPB and WBFO they would write letters to the FCC expressing their opposition. (During the forum, WNYPB's Don Boswell noted that he had initiated talks regarding the sale of, and finding a buyer for, WNED-AM.) Now, two people submitting Petitions to Deny isn't going to stop the transfer of WBFO to WNYPB. Twenty letters might delay the transfer for a few weeks. Two hundred letters might bring the FCC to investigate further. But the likelihood of the FCC quashing the sale is slim.

The Western New York Blues Society is said to be promoting a letter writing campaign in opposition to the sale of WBFO. Campaigns such as these are admirable, but rarely move the FCC which, except in very rare occasions, has no interest in format squabbles. In many cases, the letters from groups are passionate but poorly composed. In some cases, the letters contain a confrontational if not threatening tone. In other cases, the letters are "form" letters signed by groups or individuals. They're easy to discern. Form-type letters occasionally show up in a newspaper's Letters To The Editor page. There have been occasions when a letter from a highly respected member of the community or politician motivates the FCC to conduct at least a cursory investigation of a proposed sale, if nothing more than to assuage the complaining party or group.

All this aside, there are WBFO members who feel that they have a stake in WBFO and for years stepped up with their pledge dollars. Now, they're not pleased with WNYPB's plans once ownership is transferred and have made their opposition known. Will anything come of it? The WBFO and WNED public files should make for some interesting reading.

 

[TheBigA]

Canadian residents make up approximately 50% of WNED-TV's membership.

That's amazing. Obviously carried by the cable company in Toronto. I doubt radio is that high. But it demonstrates the willingness of Canadians to support American public TV. Too bad Americans as a whole don't share their enthusiasm.

I find it interesting how many US cable channels, like HGTV and Bravo, also carry programs from the same Canadian production companies listed in WNED's brochure, regardless of their geographical location.

All this aside, there are WBFO members who feel that they have a stake in WBFO and for years stepped up with their pledge dollars. Now, they're not pleased with WNYPB's plans once ownership is transferred and have made their opposition known. Will anything come of it? The WBFO and WNED public files should make for some interesting reading.

One of the problems with public broadcasting is that members feel an ownership in their station. That's a wonderful thing, and stations do a lot to encourage that. Then the station is sold, and the owners feel cheated. Not much one can say about that. Other than to point out that membership is temporary, and renewable. It will be their choice to continue after the sale. I haven't studied the finances of WBFO, and what percentage of their budget came from members. I'm sure the WNYPB folks have, and it'll be up to them if they want to retain older members, or let them go. In all of the other cases of college radio sales this past year, the new owners have completely changed the format.

 

[aaronread]

Toronto and Buffalo are linked in many ways. There's a reason why the Bills have been playing games in Toronto the last few years, and why people have been whispering that...heresy be damned...the Bills should just move to the bigger market up north.

Is it really any surprise that the media outlets have found ways to serve (and be supported by) both cities as well?

 

[Bob1370]

Just as the Bills have met with a tepid reception in southern Ontario and reportedly won't extend their agreement to play a "home" game each year in the Rogers Centre when it runs out, WNED probably will struggle to find radio listenership in the GTA. They don't have a signal that'll do the job, with the possible exception of the Class C blowtorch 94.5 FM. If they really are going to dump 970 rather than trying to improve it, and rely on their two FMs to do the job, they need to decide what programming each of those signals should carry. 88.5 is a directional Class B that's good enough to cover the Buffalo metro but not get the job done well across the border. 94.5 is stronger, a grandfathered Class C signal with a higher antenna and a 100+ kW ERP signal that might do better over a wider area. It's not an easy choice to make.

 

[SirRoxalot]

First of all, the GTA has over 5-million people - about five times the number of people in the Buffalo/Niagara metro. If you throw in Hamilton, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, and the rest of the "Golden Horseshoe", you're looking at about 6.5-million people. Buffalo is their primary source of PBS TV programming. It's not surprising to me that WNED-TV get's half their funding from the other side of the border. That would indicate that Americans have plenty of enthusiasm for public broadcasting. More per capita, in fact, than their Canadian neighbors.

The mistake here is that TV and radio are not consumed in the same way. Maybe - and I do mean maybe - 750,000 people in Canada can get WBFO. The rest would have to get it off cable or the Internet. People simply don't consume radio that way in great numbers.

Don't confuse WBFO with a typical "college station". This is neither student owned, nor student run. In fact, students have little or no direct impact on, or role, at WBFO. It's a charter member of NPR, and runs a lot of NPR content. Even more in the last couple of years, when they displaced some poorly-received local jazz programming with more news/talk content.

Changes in WBFO's programming are likely to be driven by WNYPB's contractual agreements on content now being run on WNED-AM. As the contracts for programming on WBFO and WNED-AM run out, decisions will have to be made on renewals. I expect that simulcasting will be the order of the day, especially if the intent is to sell off WNED-AM. The other change will be addition of WNED-AM local news content to WBFO. There will be subtraction from WBFO's staff because WNED-AM's staff works cheaper, and is already on the payroll hosting many of the same shows as are aired on WBFO.

WBFO actually has a younger audience than WNED-AM, which is one of the things that made it attractive to WNYPB. If WNYPB is smart, they'll build with an eye to expanding into younger demographics, which doesn't mean more NPR, it means more programming like the Blues on the weekend and their "On the Border" series, which got a lot of attention with very little investment.

Boswell thinks that the big money is in Canada because that's what worked for TV. He thinks that WBFO being on Rogers Cable is a ticket to riches in Toronto. Well, radio ain't TV. He'll either learn that lesson from others, or learn it the hard way from listeners on both sides of the border.

 

[heydaybegone]

Well, radio ain't TV.

I just thought it was worth repeating.

HDBG

 

[GeorgeKramer]

WBFO has some veteran journalists, including Rich Kellman (formerly of WGRZ TV) doing some really good work on the radio lately. Thorough and in-depth reporting. Gotta love it!