WUGA shut down

[Bengalsfan]

I would hate for them to turn off the radio station. Wonder if they would be interested in an outside person to come in and run it?

http://onlineathens.com/stories/030110/bre_569386006.shtml

 

[Witchlover]

WUGA is public, not-for-profit. Somebody would either have to work up a fantastic endowment program or go wall-to-wall with fund drives. Frankly, I think a lot of the better-run public stations would do well if they went to a for-profit mode of operation. WUGA may be one of them for all I know, but I have to listen to it to get an idea if it is one of them.

This is a political spitting match between the Universities and the Legislature as much as it is a budget crisis. The former have always been pretty much assured of getting much of what they ask for; the latter have always begrudged them that. No one wants to be against higher education -- at least not in an election year -- but there are those who resent the influence the Universities wield in state politics.

I predict a draw: A few jobs will be lost by way of attrition and some programs will be cut, but not as many as the Universities claim. Tuitions will rise, but not by the nearly forty percent figure I have heard bandied about down here. The marquis programs and the sexy research projects will somehow emerge from the process relatively unscathed, though. Hopefully neither side will bleed so much that the wounds cannot be healed.

Is WUGA a luxury that can be cut? Frankly, yes, it probably is. Will it be cut? Frankly, I doubt it. WUGA is a little too public to be messed with IMO. 2¢ (And if you'll wait, I'll bring you your change.) (Or you can contribute it to the station if you like.)

 

[ricksegers]

UGA also owns a teevee station licensed to Toccoa(sp). It is pretty much of a disaster. I wonder what will become of it.

 

[Witchlover]

WNEG is being operated as a commercial station by the University, so it probably won't see much fallout, at least I do not see it specifically mention in anything dealing with budget cuts. But as they say in the biz, stay tuned for further developments.

WNEG's link: http://www.wneg32.tv/

 

[artsutton]

WNEG is being operated as a commercial station by the University, so it probably won't see much fallout, at least I do not see it specifically mention in anything dealing with budget cuts. But as they say in the biz, stay tuned for further developments.

WNEG's link: http://www.wneg32.tv/

Editorial Comments:

A big part of it is the economy. However, the worst mistakes are made in good times, not bad. Part of this is the result of the past ten years or more of weak political leadership at the state level with the mandra of no new spending, cutting taxes, etc, while the burden was shifted over to local governments. Check and see how many of the big dogs at UGA take big pay cuts. When your local school board starts laying off teachers, see how many adminstrative posts are eliminated. We have high schools in our state with a lower student body now than 30 years ago when we had one principal and an assistant. Now there are four and five principals making $100,000 plus even in the smallest and poorest counties.

Our government officials have yet to understand the "new normal"

Buying the Toccoa TV station will go down in the history books as one of the most stupid decisions the UGA foundation ever made. Every broadcaster in the state thought it.

If people want public radio and public TV let the public pay for it in donations. Besides, I don't want any of my state tax dollars being taken away from the Fish in Georgia program! Lord forbid!

Speaking of taxes, don't get me started on property tax assessments. For years when there seemed no end to real estate appreciation, the county tax offices couldn't send the increase property tax assessments often enough. Now we have real estate values as much as half in many places and they claim it's a complicated issue. Complicated my butt. They don't have the strength to cut the assessments and take the medicine. We have few leaders left.

 

[Bengalsfan]

Well, the University bought WNEG for about a mil and a half. How much could they get for the station if the sold it now? I know it's only been a couple of years, but I would rather sell the TV station instead of pulling the plug on WUGA. I don't understand that purchase, either. What would UGA want with a TV station? Was this just a feather in Mike Adams' cap or something?

 

[Witchlover]

Editorial Comments:

A big part of it is the economy. However, the worst mistakes are made in good times, not bad. Part of this is the result of the past ten years or more of weak political leadership at the state level with the mandra of no new spending, cutting taxes, etc, while the burden was shifted over to local governments. Check and see how many of the big dogs at UGA take big pay cuts. When your local school board starts laying off teachers, see how many adminstrative posts are eliminated. We have high schools in our state with a lower student body now than 30 years ago when we had one principal and an assistant. Now there are four and five principals making $100,000 plus even in the smallest and poorest counties.

Our government officials have yet to understand the "new normal"

Buying the Toccoa TV station will go down in the history books as one of the most stupid decisions the UGA foundation ever made. Every broadcaster in the state thought it.

If people want public radio and public TV let the public pay for it in donations. Besides, I don't want any of my state tax dollars being taken away from the Fish in Georgia program! Lord forbid!

Speaking of taxes, don't get me started on property tax assessments. For years when there seemed no end to real estate appreciation, the county tax offices couldn't send the increase property tax assessments often enough. Now we have real estate values as much as half in many places and they claim it's a complicated issue. Complicated my butt. They don't have the strength to cut the assessments and take the medicine. We have few leaders left.

Re: WNEG: I was quite surprised when the acquisition was announced. I cannot claim either great industry experience or great business acumen, but my intuition told me something was not quite right about that. My thinking is, if this station has such great potential, a consortium of local investors would have acquired it early on. Why would the UGA Foundation invest in what is widely thought to be a bad investment? I have a thought on this, but I am not sure quite how to state it without sounding, well, stupid. I think I'll wait a couple days and see what others have to say. Help me out here, someone?

Re: Leadership: If someone shows any hint of leadership in this state, his friends talk him out of it fast! Why rock the boat? Why make unnecessary changes? No one wants to take point on the changes needed to deal with the present situation, just as no one wanted to look toward today ten years ago, see what might happen and prepare for it. The balloon was always going to rise; there was no possibility that it would go only so high, deflate and fall to the ground.

Re: Taxes: It's probably good you did not go there, Mr. Sutton.

Re: Education: Schools no longer teach; schools prepare students for required standardized testing. Schools no longer prepare children for productive adulthood; schools warehouse kids for twelve years in exchange for government funding.

Re: Big-Dog Pay Cuts: You and I will double-date with international super-models before that happens. Don't know about you, Mr. Sutton, but I cannot wait!

Re: Public Radio & TV: If audience support constituted the majority of support, many of the stations would go dark. Perhaps this is what should happen.

Re: Fish in Georgia: Hey! No cutting essential services! Some things are just too important to the public well-being, y'know!

 

[jal41]

WUGA is owned by the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission (a state agency seperate from the University System of Georgia) as the GPB Radio flagship. It is run as a joint venture of the GPTC and UGA. (The GPB radio stations in Carrollton, Rome, Demorest, and Macon are also run in partnership with local colleges, but with GPB running things).

Most likely...WUGA would not be shut down...but would relay GPB Radio programming from Atlanta 24/7, like most of the GPB network. All WUGA specific programming, however, would be lost.

The state budget cuts also affect the GPTC as well. However...most of their funding comes from outside sources. My understanding is that Governor Purdue's orders also affect the GPTC as well.

 

[Witchlover]

Well, the University bought WNEG for about a mil and a half. How much could they get for the station if the sold it now? I know it's only been a couple of years, but I would rather sell the TV station instead of pulling the plug on WUGA. I don't understand that purchase, either. What would UGA want with a TV station? Was this just a feather in Mike Adams' cap or something?

The two stations are operated by different entities: WUGA is operated by GEORGIA PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION and is taxpayer supported. WNEG is operated by UGARF MEDIA HOLDINGS, LLC, (University of Georgia Foundation), a privately financed entity. As to whether the station would sell, conventional wisdom seems to say selling would be difficult. The State Legislature can close down the staewide network on a voice vote if they choose, but requiring a private entity to sell its property would be quite difficult, if not impossible

 

[Bengalsfan]

The two stations are operated by different entities: WUGA is operated by GEORGIA PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION and is taxpayer supported. WNEG is operated by UGARF MEDIA HOLDINGS, LLC, (University of Georgia Foundation), a privately financed entity. As to whether the station would sell, conventional wisdom seems to say selling would be difficult. The State Legislature can close down the staewide network on a voice vote if they choose, but requiring a private entity to sell its property would be quite difficult, if not impossible

Ah, OK. I see. I was comparing apples to hammers. The stations are owned by two separate entities and not UGA as a whole. WUGA is owned by GPB and ran by UGA. WNEG is owned by a separate arm of the University. So they wouldn't pull the plug on WUGA, it would just become a repeater of GPB's programming out of Atlanta. I was thinking UGA was the licensee of both stations.

 

[hypwr]

Duquesne University in Pittsburgh is trying to sell WDUQ-FM. It has been on the air since 1949 but the school does not want to (or cannot) support it any longer. No one, or no group, is beating down the doors to buy it.

The public is upset, because it is the main NPR supplier in SW Pennsylvania.

 

[Witchlover]

Duquesne University in Pittsburgh is trying to sell WDUQ-FM. It has been on the air since 1949 but the school does not want to (or cannot) support it any longer. No one, or no group, is beating down the doors to buy it.

The public is upset, because it is the main NPR supplier in SW Pennsylvania.

One wonders if the public will be sufficiently motivated to start a not-for-profit, purchase and operate the station. If there is so great a demand for its programming, why is there no one willing to step in and do these things?

 

[Radio-X]

One wonders if the public will be sufficiently motivated to start a not-for-profit, purchase and operate the station. If there is so great a demand for its programming, why is there no one willing to step in and do these things?

There is a demand for the programming, no doubt. The problem is that the medium of radio in general has to cut back. SCETV has realized this for about 10 years, pretty much took out any locally orignating broadcasts, but still operates a pretty good statewide network through Columbia. It's all automated, but still pretty good. Proof that NPR can be run cheap(ish).

It's just the fact of the matter that these government run stations in the south will be run on the cheap. That means places like Athens will get local shows cut. Places like Savannah will be next. Not to sound pessimistic, but GPB will eventually go 24/7 from Atlanta...it just makes financial sense! There may be three different GPB formats on HD at some point, but little will be local besides that TOH ID.

Ideally, getting the government out of funding these stations alltogether would be nice. But with the landscape of non-com radio changed in the past 10 years, any sale of a large statewide NPR network would probably mean some of these stations would be sold to EMF or some big religious group. I'm big on free market economics, but something about that does not sit well with me. Maybe its the atheist blood in me...

Radio-X

 

[Witchlover]

It's just the fact of the matter that these government run stations in the south will be run on the cheap. That means places like Athens will get local shows cut. Places like Savannah will be next. Not to sound pessimistic, but GPB will eventually go 24/7 from Atlanta...it just makes financial sense! There may be three different GPB formats on HD at some point, but little will be local besides that TOH ID.

I think that is already happening.

Ideally, getting the government out of funding these stations alltogether would be nice. But with the landscape of non-com radio changed in the past 10 years, any sale of a large statewide NPR network would probably mean some of these stations would be sold to EMF or some big religious group. I'm big on free market economics, but something about that does not sit well with me. Maybe its the atheist blood in me...

Radio-X

Well, I can think of no way a government entity can refuse to sell to a religious oulfit. First Amendment activists would go apoplectic. Well, maybe not: After all, we're talking Christians here. Call me atheist if it fits, but I see no problem with regulating the business of Christianity. I mean the publishing houses, real-estate holdings, etc. What's more, those tax exemptions can go. In my opinion, tax exemptions to any religious organizations are, in effect, state support of religion. Give me a minute to get into my Kevlar® here, and then fire away.