Anybody have any money? The Indiana Gazette reports that Northeast Indiana Public Radio (NIPR) is selling its three classical stations.
The organization plans to sell WBNI-FM – 94.1, WCKZ-FM – 91.3 and W204BF-FM – 88.7, [general manager] Joan Brown said.
NIPR decided it needed to devote its financial resources elsewhere, considering the recession and the station’s capital campaign raised less money than expected, Brown said. The analog stations’ coverage and sound quality also didn’t meet the expectations of classical music fans, she said.
The organization’s 10 full-time employees and its part-time workers and volunteers will not be affected by the sale, Brown said.
NIPR will continue to broadcast classical music until a buyer is found, Brown said. NIPR plans to keep playing classical music on WBOI-FM 89.1 HD-2 stream, which is available on high-definition radios, and on its Web site www.nipr.fm.
The website has a note that the network’s broadcast signal is running at reduced power and is being worked on, and the web stream is having difficulties, too. When it rains, it pours.
But seriously, now would be a great time for some classical music lovers to get together and buy a station!
I personally think we’re going to see the pendulum swing back again in some places. In the 90s, all those big conglomerates like Citadel and Clear Channel snapped up stations for more than they were worth, but now they’ve discovered radio isn’t a big money maker after all and they’re starting to offload them – by the hundreds.
New startups are moving to the internet, so terrestrial broadcast stations are going to be affordable again. If all of the arts groups in a community will work together, it will be possible to run a mom-and-pop classical radio station that will serve the arts community the way it ought to.
That’s the Marty prediction for today!
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My father has had an opera program on WBNI nearly since it’s inception and my mother used to be their Development Director. I talked to them yesterday and they seemed to see this coming (they bought HD radios after NIPR off loaded classical to the lower power signal, so they will still be able to hear the music). I agree about terrestrial stations becoming affordable again – now that Clear Channel has ruined radio for the rest of us.
I have been a program host on WBNI since July 1992. I now hear that Northeast Indiana Public Radio, the owners of WBNI, have sold sister station WCKZ and the Fort Wayne translator of WBNI to Star Educational Media Network, pending FCC approval. NIPR is still trying to sell WBNI. Many listeners will be disappointed when they can no longer hear WBNI’s programming since it’s unlikely many of them will buy a digital radio or be able to assess the live Internet streaming. These all involve some expense and a little technical know-how, which many listeners probably don’t want to be bothered with.
Thanks, Robert. I’ll look into this.
Marty
Hi Marty! I agree with every word. KHFM has become a terrible “lite” station, paying bits and pieces, sometimes announced (pore- or post-), often not.
We deserve the station that KHFM used to be.