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WNKU sold.

Would part of the poor management have been buying those other 2 signals in the first place? Management has said Middletown didn't add many new listeners, and Portsmouth is so far out I can't see how that did any good. A community group would be smart to focus on the original signal and let the other 2 sell. Even in the unlikely event the sale could be stopped, not only do listeners have to raise the initial money but ongoing expenses, for a format that never cracked a one share in Cincinnati or Dayton. Are they willing to ppen their wallets to that extent.
No matter who was governor, had I sat on the board of regents I might well have made the same decision about cutting 3 broadcast licenses loose.
 
The city of license is Highland Heights, my original hometown. I hope Highland Heights City Council has something to say about all this.
 
NoWayNoCC said:
The city of license is Highland Heights, my original hometown. I hope Highland Heights City Council has something to say about all this.
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Unless they've got a spare $2 million in the treasury, I doubt it.

gr8oldies said:
No matter who was governor, had I sat on the board of regents I might well have made the same decision about cutting 3 broadcast licenses loose.
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Exactly. This isn't a government issue. This is a community issue. If people want to take charge of their media, they can do it. It just takes money and willingness to work. There's a teacher at Western Kentucky University who has been very vocal in radio station operations. Maybe someone should see if he'll get more involved in a sister college.

Here's his blog:

https://dicktaylorblog.com/
 
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NoWay, you seem to be under the delusion that the FCC regulates formats and that city councils can block station sales.Neither is true. Is this burg going to pony up $2 million to keep this format on the air (let alone the cost to continue running it?). My guess is no.
 
Andy Travis said:
"A senior manager at CPR who requested not to be named, confirmed that such an offer had been made to NKU President Geoffrey Mearns. Means ignored it because apparently he had already made up his mind to sell."
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If that's true, CPR should go to the University's Board of Trustees. Once again, that's what the Friends of KPLU did in Seattle. If the University isn't doing what's best, the Trustees need to be informed.
 
I take that back. According to Tom Taylor they would like to buy 105.9 which needs repairs so they might get it at a lower price.
 
How many of those 8,400 persons have ever given dollars to support the radio station? If they believe so much in its mission now, why not then while it still mattered. And if (big if) the effort to divert the sale from Bible Broadcastsing to Louisville Public Media were to happen, how many would choose to step up and offer future financial support? Perhaps a few. Likely not all 8,400. And likely, eventually, not for long.

Beyond that, how many of the signed petitioners are actually from the state of Kentucky? Very few. And at the heart of the issue, isn't this a Kentucky matter. It's a Kentucky school. It's Kentucky taxpayer dollars that go to cover the serious deficit between revenue and expense at NKU and its radio station. When you begin to see core teaching jobs at NKU eliminated, is ownership of three non-core radio stations (two of which that should never have been bought) such a benefit that they must survive at taxpayer cost? I doubt if many Kentucky residents would think so.

So, if (big if) the sale of 89.7 is somehow diverted to Louisville Public Media, how likely is it that 89.7 will continue as a locally northern Kentucky programmed radio station. Not long, if ever. NKU couldn't find the support to keep a radio station they've owned since 1985 in the black. Add a two million dollar debt to LPM's budget and ask if we can expect them to operate a local northern Kentucky presence? No. 89.7 becomes a simulcast of WFPK. In the end, we still lose a local voice.

Of course, the programming relayed from Louisville might be considered better than a Charlotte NC or Rocklin CA based religious broadcaster. But Louisville isn't Cincinnati. it's still not local. And it's still not core to the new owners. LPM is Louisville. And while I'd love to believe that in their most altruistic sense, LPM would always hold onto a non-core northern KY radio station, I have to suspect that with another downturn in the economy, 89.7 would again be on the block. And frankly, how many current stakeholders in LPM consider expansion into northern KY a mistake in the making?

Okay. Just asking a few questions. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a pessimist. ;)
 
LPM might want to take a lesson from the disaster that NKU's purchase of the Middletown and Portsmouth signals has been before they decide to expand. LPM wants to LMA the signal, and though they say they would "take over all the finances" (likely meaning a relay of the Louisville station) it means NKU is still on the hook for the license and some expenses, and break even at best instead of taking BBN's $1.9 million. If I'm a trustee, do I want an LMA agreement that keeps me stuck with the license of does money talk? I'm going with "money talks".
 
If NKU has already turned down an offer from a Cincinnati public radio organization, why would they accept one from Louisville? Makes no sense to me. And why is Louisville going to bail out alternative fans in Ohio? It's an added expense with no benefit.
 
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