Public radio station WRKF-FM is hoping to keep its fall fund drive to just one day of on-air solicitation next month. To that end, the station is asking listeners to contribute now so they don’t have to endure a week of disrupted programming and tortuous begging later on.
It sounds like such a simple solution to a complex problem. Actually, it’s only a small part of the equation. As it turns out, WRKF is going to have a hard time making ends meet this year, thanks to state budget cuts and a steep drop in corporate underwriting, from which the station receives a lot of its big dollars.
Sources familiar with the situation say that membership is holding its own, but corporate underwriting has been down all year and is showing no signs of picking up. Nor is it likely to; once the economy improves and advertisers re-enter the market with radio buys, they’re expected to do so aggressively to make up for lost time, which means public radio will not be their first choice of where to place their buys—or sponsorships, as the case may be.
Adding to the problem is that the Louisiana Educational Television Authority, the arm of the state that gives money to public radio and TV, had its budget slashed during the legislative session. On top of that, the local Community Fund for the Arts campaign raised about 20% less this year than projected, which could impact how much it gives to the station.
Catholic station nears goal
The nonprofit organization that is working to get the area’s first Catholic radio station off the ground is having surprising success raising the money it needs to pay for its license and operating costs. In just two weeks of campaigning, Catholic Community Radio Inc. raised more than half the $350,000 it needs to purchase WPYR-AM from Davidson Media Group, which operates mainly Spanish-language radio stations around the country.
The local nonprofit signed a purchase agreement for the 5,000-watt station last month and is currently awaiting approval of the deal from the FCC. If all goes according to plan, the new station will be on the air by November, broadcasting a mix of local programming and syndicated national shows to East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Ascension and Livingston parishes.
The station will be based out of studios on Summa Avenue and will rely on a small paid staff and a large volunteer effort to keep it going. Programming will be paid for through donations and corporate underwriting. Given the tough economic climate and the difficulty other radio and television stations are having, it might seem like a losing proposition.
But Catholic Community Radio has been warmly received so far, according to station manager David Dawson. In a diocese with more than 265,000 Catholics, there appears to be a niche for what the station has to offer.
The ‘early’ late show
Capitalizing on the growing popularity of “early” late newscasts, WBTR-TV—the independent channel that is owned by WBRZ-TV and airs on Cox Channel 19—now has a 9 p.m. show. But if the newscast looks familiar, that’s because it’s actually a rebroadcast of WBRZ-TV’s 6 p.m. show.
Station Manager Rocky Daboval says WBRZ eventually would like to update the newscast and air a later version with current weather conditions and sports scores on WBTR, but for now it’s rerunning the earlier show. And it’s not the only one. Since April, Lake Charles’ Fox affiliate, KVHP-TV, has been airing WBRZ’s 6 p.m. newscast at 9 p.m.
As to why one city would want an hours-old version of another city’s newscast, Daboval says there’s a lot of interest in smaller markets around the state about what’s going on in the state’s capital city. Of that, there’s no doubt. It’s also a growing trend in the industry.
In either case, it’s a good deal for WBRZ, which now sells its newscast to other stations for the cost of producing it just once.
EATEL’s community connection
On the subject of local programming, Gonzales-based EATEL recently launched EATEL Community Connection, a local community news magazine show for Ascension Parish and the surrounding communities. The hour-long weekly program features interviews with community leaders, volunteer organizations and residents, and includes cooking segments, a community calendar update and highlights from local news headlines. New shows air Mondays at 6:30 p.m. on EATEL Channel 4, with repeats on Wednesday and Friday at 6:30 p.m., and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at noon.
