From
time to time we have featured independent radio stations that operate much like
public radio stations but for various reasons aren’t public radio as we know
it.
We call these stations “almost public radio.”
They copy public
radio’s style, represent themselves as a public trust and/or are staffed by
people who, who frankly, would rather be working in public radio.
Today
we are taking a look at WNYU [link], licensed to New York University. WNYU
operates a facility that, on the surface, has the necessary attributes to be a major public
radio player. WNYU 89.1 FM broadcasts with 8,300-watts from its transmission
site in the Bronx. The signal covers the entire city, Westchester County, suburban
New Jersey and Long Island.
Despite
this capacity, WNYU has only a few thousand estimated weekly listeners. Except
for the students who work there, the station is unknown to most people who live
in the city.
One
reason for WNYU’S poor performance is because WNYU is a part-time radio
station. These arrangements happen when two stations broadcast on the same
frequency during different times of the day. In the biz, they are called
“timeshares.” They are generally NOT happy situations.
WNYU
shares 89.1 FM with WFDU, licensed to Fairleigh
Dickinson University. WFDU broadcasts from just west of Manhattan in
Alpine, New Jersey. WNYU is on-the-air from 4pm to 1am and WFDU is on during the
remaining hours. (Both stations operate 24/7 online.)
The
story goes that both NYU and Fairleigh Dickinson filed mutually exclusive
applications for 89.1 FM at the FCC in the mid 1960s. After several years of
hard feelings and legal and technical wrangling, the two universities compromised
on a time-sharing arrangement in 1969.
Since
then, the two stations have struggled and the two universities still have frosty
relations. (We will cover WFDU in a future post.)
WNYU TODAY
Another
factor that may be limiting WNYU’s potential is their programming. To use a
common phrase, WNYU is "too hip for the room.” When the “room” is New York
City, there will be difficulty drawing a substantial audience.
The
good news is that WNYU is programmed 100% by students. The bad news is these
student are probably the only listeners. For instance, these programs aired on
WNYU today:
• Smart
Moves For The Stiff Mind, a generous mix of IDM, EBM, minimal, abstract,
ambient, synthwave, electro-acoustic, post-punk, post-rock, leftfield sounds
and music. The program guide says it is danceable
• The Cheap
Seats,
a show where sports fans bring (quoting from the program guide) “…the excitement that comes when a bunch of
college kids vehemently discuss what they love”
• MCQ, a two-hour showcase of
queer Latin hip hop artists
• Other
Worlds,
two hours of experimental sound collages
Some
of these programs sound interesting and a few sound courageous and historic. But, the cumulative affect of an entire
schedule made up of such programs is of very limited interest.
WNYU
does sell underwriting announcements but there is no mention of memberships or
pledge drives on the station’s website. It looks like folks at WNYU are having
a good time. There is nothing wrong with that but it is a long way from public
radio.
On
the left is a chart of the Top Ten college station annual revenue we assembled
during recent consulting projects.
Financial information for college stations
is difficult to find and hard to confirm.
In
general, college stations have the smallest budgets of any noncommercial media
type. This limits the opportunities for participating students.
Perhaps that
doesn’t matter when you are having fun.
I haven't really done a deep-dive or anything, but I was always under the impression that WNYU was a "college radio" formatted/operated station. To use "public radio", even with an "almost" ahead of it, would almost be viewed as an insult to most college radio outlets. :)
ReplyDeleteNote: I have a specific meaning in mind when I say "college radio." Read here for more info on that:
http://friedbagels.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-exactly-is-college-radio.html