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| Image courtesy wbai-nowthen blog |
We
haven’t reported on Pacifica Radio for several weeks. Perhaps it is a good sign
because so often Pacifica’s internal dramas played out in public. However, things are likely to heat up soon.
According
to an unconfirmed report, Pacifica’s agreement with Interim Executive Director
Tom Livingston is due to expire at the end of September.
Previous reports have
indicated that Pacifica’s new Executive Director is/was to be chosen by the end
of this month.
All of this still could happen.
We contacted Livingston for comment but we did not receive a reply. If
we do receive a response from him we will update this story.
One
thing is certain: Sooner or later Livingston’s daily calming influence on the staff and the Board will expire. When that happens, Pacifica’s National Board
and the new Executive Director will determine if Pacifica sinks or swims.
We
have been monitoring Pacifica since Livingston came aboard in
January 2018. Most observers, us included, say he has done a great job in a nearly hopeless situation. This is some of what has been accomplished:
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| KPFK in Los Angeles is Pacifica's most solvent station |
•
A long-term operating loan took some of the immediate debt pressure off the
organization.
•
Livingston settled the Empire State Building’s court judgment that required
Pacifica/WBAI to pay roughly two million dollars of rent owed for the station’s
former transmission site.
•
WBAI’s transmitter was moved on time to a much cheaper location.
•
Pacifica’s internal records have been consolidated and now are maintained by an
outside vendor.
•
Livingston has steered clear of Pacifica’s endless factions, internal disputes
and general grief that have made it the most dysfunctional public media
organization ever.
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| Tom Livingston |
We have heard recordings of Livingston speaking at Pacifica National Board
meetings.
Despite getting the National Board to concentrate on the most
pressing issues, Livingston has sidestepped attempts by Board members
to question every single decision.
Livingston
lives and works in the real world. He is likely well aware that the BIG question is what will happen after he leaves.
But many things will remain the same.
Facts: Pacifica's arcane governance will still a
mess. The programming sucks. The organization has millions of dollars in debt.
Meanwhile
two Pacifica stations – KPFK in LA and WPFW in Washington, DC – are recruiting new
program directors. These searches are not being handled by Livingston
Associates. You can learn more about the KPFK job here and request information about the WPFW gig by email to MAScttee@gmail.com.
WBAI & KPFK APPEAR IN
THE AUGUST NIELSEN PPM RATINGS
Ten years ago both WBAI and KPFK had many more estimated weekly listeners than they do now.
Note that these estimates
are derived from different methodologies. In 2008 Arbitron was using the Diary
method.
CHECK OUT OUR NEW FORMAT FOR NIELSEN MONTHLY PPM RATINGS
We have been listening to readers who contacted
us about improvements in our reporting of monthly Nielsen Audio PPM data.
Moving forward we will compare data from Quarterly Reports – three months of
data.
We
agree with readers who felt comparing numbers from one “PPM month” to results
from the past put too much emphasis on individual months and can distort trends
that are better view over a longer survey period.
Also,
several readers told us that they want to see average-quarter-hour (AQH) share
percentages in addition to estimated weekly listeners. We are now providing
station AQH for three months in addition to the weekly listeners in the current
month.
We
know that many people want to see how NPR News/Talk stations are performing in
the ratings compared to local commercial News and Talk stations. We will now be
providing data for the top News and Talk commercial stations in each market.
We
would like your feedback. Please write to us at publicradio@hotmail.com.
In
New York, WNYC-FM has moved ahead of legendary Talker WOR-AM.
Note that WNYC-FM
AQH Share continues to grow even as the weekly listeners REMAIN ABPUT about
the same.
WNYC’s AQH share is now larger than WCBS’s even though WCBS has 200,000 more
people listening in a typical week.
WFUV
continues to have notable monthly gains. When estimated listeners from WFUV’s
streaming audio are added to the terrestrial numbers, WFUV now reaches over
400,000 listeners each week.
We
are now classifying KCRW as a NPR News/Talk station and not a dual-format News
and music station. The majority of KCRW’s programming that appears during the
time periods when most people listen to radio.
KCRW still has a few groovy music shows but in the evening replays of
spoken word programs now are heard more than music.
In
the news station race, just say “Sig alert” and keep the dial on KNX 1070 AM. People
in LA depend on KNX for traffic information in a city/area where it really,
really matters.
In
the San Francisco Bay Area, KQED is still the top-rated station in the market,
even though their AQH Share has been declining recently. KFRC-AM & KFRC-FM
have regained the lead in estimated weekly listeners.
Well one can question how appropriate/inappropriate it is to have him back on the air, but it looks like getting Leonard Lopate did boost WBAI's ratings a little bit. They went from 0.0 to 0.1. Baby steps, I guess. :)
ReplyDeleteLivingston was supposed to have been gone by July, per EEOC rules because his position was not posted publicly.
ReplyDeleteKen says: • A long-term operating loan took some of the immediate debt pressure off the organization
It is a 3 year loan, not long term, interest only (adjustable rate) with a balloon payment. It is not an operating loan: all of the money went to Empire State.
Ken says: • Livingston settled the Empire State Building’s court judgment that required Pacifica/WBAI to pay roughly two million dollars of rent owed for the station’s former transmission site.
The entire $3.2 million loan went to Empire. The details have not been made public but not everything thinks it was a good deal for Pacifica.
Ken says: • WBAI’s transmitter was moved on time to a much cheaper location.
The cheaper location and inferior reach degrades the value of Pacifica’s most valuable station.
Ken says: • Pacifica’s internal records have been consolidated and now are maintained by an outside vendor.
Pacifica’s “internal records” are not “consolidated” and it shows ignorance to even say that. The finances of Pacifica are in complete disarray. There is no CFO and no oversight. The outside vendors do not know what they are doing, have no guidance and have produced no financial reports yet. There are no budgets despite the fiscal year starting in three weeks. Supposedly a 990 was filed by the deadline of August 15 but Livingston has so far refused to make it public, as required by law. Although Livingston has taken the title of Acting CFO, he doesn’t really understand what that entails. He is in effect in charge of finance and accounting, which shows a gross lack of internal controls and there is no oversight by the Pacifica National Board.
Ken says: • Livingston has steered clear of Pacifica’s endless factions, internal disputes and general grief that have made it the most dysfunctional public media organization ever.
He simply does what the majority tells him to do – no matter how stupid. He wants to get paid.
Ken says: “Despite getting the National Board to concentrate on the most pressing issues,”…
There's no evidence he's done this. For example, they have been forced to focus on their pension plan non-payment issues, not from anything Livingston did, but because Pacifica was notified in May that it is under investigation from the Department of Labor and the IRS for violating ERISA laws.
Ken says: “Livingston has sidestepped attempts by Board members to question every single decision.”
Yeah, he just flatters them and they never ask questions - even when they should.
Ken says: “He is likely well aware that the BIG question is what will happen after he leaves.”
Yup. He’s leaving Pacifica a steaming mess. He signed a loan that Pacifica did not qualify for in any way, including with a six month waiver in order for Pacifica to comply with the terms of the loan regarding financial reporting it was required to do. Pacifica will not be compliant at the end of the waiver, which is September, when Livingston will have cashed his last $10k a month check and said buh-bye. The loan he signed is in default and everything Pacifica owns was used as collateral.
Yup, he lives in the real world where it’s all a big hustle and grift.
Ken says: “We are now classifying KCRW as a NPR News/Talk station and not a dual-format News and music station.”
Not sure if you classify KPFK as “News/Talk” or “dual-format News and Music” but KCRW has more music than KPFK. They have the same hours of music they've always had.