WBUR IS HOSTING ‘BIZLAB SUMMIT’ • KHSU MAY BE FOR SALE

Joan DiMicco

Joan DiMicco, Executive Director of WBUR’s Public Radio Business Laboratory (”BizLab”) wants to share ideas about how stations can uncover new sources of revenue. 

the goal is to generate revenue via platforms that are distinct from traditional approaches such as on-air drives, direct mail, and underwriting.

BizLab is an important part of DiMicco’s mission. She said on her career profile page [link]: 

"I am a passionate innovator, energized by building new technologies that connect and improve communication between individuals."

WBUR’s City Space

DiMicco and her team will be hosting the 2019 BizLab Summit [link] Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at WBUR’s City Space. The Summit is a one-day event that begins at 8:30qm and closes after an evening cocktail reception. Registration for the Summit is $100.00 per person.

BizLab participating stations – Capital Public Radio, Louisville Public Media, Vermont Public Radio, WAMU, WDET, and WLRN – have spent 2019 testing new ideas for revenue at their stations and in their communities. Representative from the stations will give detailed reports on their projects. CPB, the Knight Foundation and Greater Public provide funding for BizLab.

Public radio stations need additional sources of revenue to sustain their commitments to expanded news reporting. This requires new revenue streams and funding models.

Tamsen Webster

The keynote speaker for BizLab will be Tamsen Webster. 

She will discuss the biggest barriers to innovation and what it takes to implement different funding models at stations.

Webster is a 20-year brand and message strategist. 

She is also a former Executive Producer for TED events and broadcasts.

You can see what BizLab is working on now at the project’s website [link].

If you questions about the Summit, you can email

bizlab@wbur.org.

IS HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY PREPARING TO AUCTION OFF KHSU-FM

Craig Wruck is the HSU bureaucrat who engineered

the largest mass termination of station people

in public broadcasting history

The sad story of KHSU, once a Eureka area treasure, is taking a new turn that appears to include selling the station’s license. As you probably recall, a Humboldt State University vice president fired KHSU’s paid staff (see the one exception below) and shut out all volunteers to settle a grudge against people at the station.

The action has turned out to as costly as it was stupid. There was, and still is, no backup plan. It will take years for the university to regain the trust of the community.

According to a report last week in the Eureka Times Standard [link], the university is formally considering its next options, including selling the station to the highest bidder.

Since the mass terminations in April, KHSU has been simulcasting programming from KCHO in Chico, roughly 200-miles from Eureka. The university also cancelled programming from Radio Bilingüe that was on

KHSU HD2.

Also, in a twist, the university was surprised when the California State University Employees Union (CSUEU) pushed back against the university to reinstate the employment of Chief Engineer Kevin Sanders.

Steve Tillinghast, president of the local CSUEU chapter said in a press release that HSU management did not expect the Union to care. Tillinghast said:

 “Perhaps they did not even realize that one of the employees in the group they terminated was part of a Union and that they would be held accountable. Humboldt realized over the last several months that the chief engineer of KHSU is a critical employee and that the station could not operate, even in its reduced form, without him.”