PJ FINN APPOINTED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MVY RADIO • iHEART ACQUIRES STUFF MEDIA

 

P.J. Finn (right) in the WVYRadio main studio with DJs

Barbara Dacey and Laurel Reddington

(image courtesy Vineyard Gazette)

Paul J. “PJ” Finn has been appointed Executive Director of WMVY – a/k/a MvyRadio – the innovative Triple A music station serving Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and eastern shore communities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Finn has been part of WMVY for 18 years. He also remains Program Director.

In part, because of Finn’s programming expertise, MvyRadio has become a success in a very challenging situation. Small stations in vacation locales often suffer because visitors tend to support stations at home.

MvyRadio reported income of $1,328 million in fiscal year 2016, the most recent data available. In FY 2016, revenue from underwriters was $515,000 and $316,000 from members.

In the Fall 2016 Nielsen Audio ratings, WMVY had a Metro AQH share of 2.7% and 14,300 Total Survey Area estimated weekly listeners.

During his years with WMVY [link], Finn has seen the station go through many changes and challenges. From 1980 until 2013, WMVY was a commercial station owned by Aritaur Communications. In late 2012 Boston’s WBUR bought 92.7 FM and it became WBUA, a fulltime repeater of WBUR.

In the decade prior to the sale, WMVY developed a pioneering online stream site that built a global audience.  Around the same time as the sale of 92.7, Friends of MvyRadio, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, was founded. Friends acquired WMVY’s intellectual property and online streaming rights.

Friends conducted a Save WMVY campaign to operate the online station and raise money to acquire a noncommercial station license. $600,000 was raised in 60 days.

PJ Finn

In November, 2013, Friends announced the purchase of 88.7 FM, then operating as WMEX, a 250-watt station based on Martha’s Vineyard.  

MvyRadio began broadcasting on 88.7 in May 2014. The call letters were soon changed to WMVY. 

Since then the station has increased its power to 13,000-watts. WMVY later added a translator at 96.5 FM to better serve Newpost, Rhode Island and other coastal communities.

Finn said in a press release about his new gig:

“I have always believed in WMVY, and now I am thrilled to be in a position to collaborate with and inspire an incredible group of people -- our staff and our Board -- to bring the station to new heights and successes.”

iHEART MEDIA ACQUIRES PODCAST COMPANY “STUFF”

Podcast industry observers are saying that iHeartMedia is showing how serious it is about podcasting with the acquisition of Stuff Media, LLC, the publisher of the popular podcast HowStuffWorks. 

According to the August 2018 Podtrac rankings (on the left) iHeart is the top commercial publisher, second only to NPR. HowStuffWorks is number five on the August chart.

The purchase price is $44 million. Because iHeart is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the sale will need to be approved by the bankruptcy court.

Though iHeart says it currently publishes 643 podcasts, they have yet to have a breakout hit. On the other hand, Stuff Media’s podcasts have been solid hits. Stuff Media current publishes 40 podcast titles.

Next on the left is Podtrac’s August 2018 Top 20 Podcasts. Companies associated with public radio dominate both charts. Thirteen of the Top 20 are produced by public media shops.

Commercial podcasts and publishers are a growing presence in the podcast industry.  The number of monthly listeners to Barstool Sports podcasts grew by 37% when comparing August 2018 data with August 2017.

The Daily, published by The New York Times and now a hit on public radio News/Talk stations thanks to American Public Media, is now the nation’s top podcast, according to Podtrac.