SIGN OF THE TIMES: “THE CBS CONNECTED MINUTE”

Folks looking for signs of life in commercial radio news should take a look at CBS Audio’s new one-minute newscast The CBS Connected Minute. 

The module is a fast-paced look at three or four current stories. It is intended for commercial radio music stations to insert between the tunes. A sample is available on the CBS Audio website [link].

The CBS Connected Minute is notable because it shows that the venerable CBS Radio News is very much alive and kicking with substantial news resources. While a one-minute news module is very different from public radio’s newsmagazines, it signals increased interest by a respected commercial syndicator to provide news content for use within music programming.

CBS Audio has an impressive menu of programs and other news content that may be available to public radio stations for a fee.

Amy Bolton

There seems to be confusion about the status of CBS Audio after last year’s sale of CBS’s radio stations to Entercom Communications. Amy Bolton, Manager of Affiliates Sales at CBS Audio. provided this clarification:

“CBS News Radio and CBS Audio are a division of the CBS Corporation. Entercom purchased the terrestrial radio stations, previously known as CBS Radio, from CBS at the start of this year."

Plus, Bolton says CBS Audio content, such as The CBS Connected Minute, provides fact-based news rather than information with a partisan spin:

“The Connected Minute is news, and as such really will not have a POV.  If events are of a political nature, we will cover it (Mississippi Senate race for example), but only if it’s newsworthy.”

SIGN OF THE TIMES #2: TIGHT BUDGET AT WUTC CAUSES PROGRAMMING SHIFT

According to a report in the Chattanooga Times Free Press [link], WUTC [link] will drop its dual format of NPR News and Classical and adopt a News/Talk format as of January 2, 2019. The reason is that WUTC’s licensee, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, wants to cut its funding to the station.

Ironically, WUTC’s switch to all News/Talk comes with cuts to the station’s local news department. WUTC will lose three of its eight full-time employees. The Times Free Press adds the station will become automated throughout the day.

WUTC’s situation is similar to challenges faced by university licenses in medium and small size markets across the country. We believe the financial peril of stations like WUTC is under-reported and important. It shows that not all NPR member station are seeing the benefits of growing listening and funding occurring in large markets.

Byron Lane, GM of WUTC, told the Times Free Press that the station’s dual format has become obsolete:

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“If you look at our ratings for the past several years, our music programs have not been performing as well during the day...to the detriment of…programs like All Things Considered and Morning Edition. There are not many [stations] that work well when you switch from talk to music back to talk.”

WUTC image

As the chart on the right from WUTC’s website shows, WUTC’s cash is around 20% of the station’s annual budget. The money provided by the State of Tennessee to public broadcasting entities is also under threat.

WUTC has been the sole provider of NPR News in Chattanooga since 1995 when WSMC dropped NPR programming. The station’s licensee – Southern Adventist University – said NPR shows interfered with the church's prohibition of secular entertainment from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday in observance of the Sabbath. WSMC is now has a full-time Classical music format.

SIGN OF THE TIMES #3: PUBLIC RADIO STATION DEMOLISHES SATELLITE DISH WITH EXPLOSIVES

KTNA in Talkeetna, Alaska, decided it no longer needed a satellite dish to access public radio programming. So, they blew up their satellite dish. 

he demolition is another sign of public radio’s increasing use of online file delivery pioneered by vendors such as PRX.

A satellite dish was once a prominent sign of public radio’s national distribution backbone. 

But now satellite program delivery is waning and dishes have become expensive eyesores. 

Live programming, such as the NPR Newsmagazines are still distributed via satellite. For now…

Anchorage TV station KTUU was present on November 18^th when the big bang happened. You can see the video on KTUU’s website [link] including slow motion action from several points-of-view.