GOT BIG PLANS FOR THE FISCAL NEW YEAR?

This coming Friday at 12:01am 2016 becomes 2017.  Fiscal Year 2017, that is. For a variety of reasons, most public broadcasting companies operate on annual calendars that aren’t January through December. For many station folks the “new year” starts July 1st.

The changing Fiscal Year means all sorts of station changes, particularly regarding budgets and schedules. Every new program on the schedule means another program is being cancelled or moved. There will always be complaints, so get ready.

To learn the pulse of change, today we take a look at a small sample of stations:

WUGA IN ATHENS, GEORGIA MOVES TO MAINLY NPR NEWS, DROPPING CLASSICAL

As of June 13th, WUGA-FM dropped three hours weekday Classical music and added news and interview programming. Gone from 1:00pm – 3:00pm is the Afternoon Concert. In its place is NPR/WBUR’s Here & Now. PRI’s The Takeaway now airs from 3:00pm to 4:00pm. WUGA’s daily Classical music from 8:00pm – 9:00pm has been replaced with a strip of syndicated weekend programs such as To the Best of Our Knowledge and RadioLab.

Classical music fans are not happy.  A group of citizens has organized WUGA Friends [link] in an attempt to  bring Classical music back to WUGA. The tone is getting nasty.  On the right is an open letter from WUGA Friends to University officials.  Edits in the letter are mine.

The person who wrote this screed was trying the help but the in-your-face attitude is mean and desperate.


"We've got the law on our side?" Call your lawyer.  Wait, call your therapist.

For years I have kept a file of “This time I really mean it” memos and posts. Most of them should not have been sent, but they were. In the WUGA case, I don’t this letter will make much of a difference.

 WUGA is owned by the University of Georgia but is operated by Georgia Public Broadcasting based in Atlanta.

PEORIA: THE MOTH RADIO HOUR & SNAP JUDGEMENT REPLACE KEILLOR

Peoria Public Radio – dba WCBU – will fill the two-hour APHC slot with

The Moth Radio Hour & Snap Judgment.  WCBU is apparently not going to try APHC with its new host Chris Thile.

On Saturday mornings recently cancelled Whad’ Ya Know? Is being replaced with Ask Me Another and additional hour of Weekend Edition – Saturday.

WCBU’s Program Director Nathan Irwin some it up this way is a letter to station members:

Taken together, these two events herald a shake-up of Peoria Public Radio’s weekend programming. It also creates an opportunity for us to look at some newer programs, and think about what kind of listening experiences will define public radio for the next generations – much as A Prairie Home Companion and Whad ‘Ya Know? have helped define public radio now.

WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO FILLS THE Whad’ Ya Know? VOID WITH A NEW LOCAL PROGRAM

Wisconsin Public Radio’s (WPR) July programming changes include the addition of On Your Money with Joy Cardin and Kevin McKinley. It will air Saturdays at 10am. An additional hour of Weekend Edition – Saturday will air at 9:00am.

WPR is also adding a couple golden-oldies: Says You!, hosted by Barry Nolan and Travel with Rick Steves plus Ask Me Another and the CBC’s Podcast Playlist.