Potential sale of high school station WJHS

Last month the Whitley County Consolidated School board, owner of WJHS-FM, 31 year old station at Columbia City High School, informed the public after just a weekend's notice that they were investigating the sale of the station's license for 91.5 FM and turning to streaming only for the radio program. The reasoning, as presented by the superintendent, is because of a near "$500,000 tower problem, and lack of underwriting revenue." (Note the station rents antenna space on a tower near US 30. Underwriting revenue lacks because the school doesn't allow the station manager any more than 1/2 a day to run the station. He has other classes during the day.)

A few former students and supervisors informed the board at this meeting that they were making a mistake, and that the decision should be withdrawn until the board and administration is better informed about issues with the station. (I'm one of the "former students/supervisors.")

This comes as WCCS begins the process of building a new high school to replace a building that is in a flood plain and is 60 years old.
The board believes they can get anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 for the license. They see cash and they snap to action, unless someone's in the way...
Updates to follow...

It would appear the station has received little attention until the idea of selling was brought up. I am guessing little effort to eliminate the costs by making sure the station had the ability to grow legs and stand on it's own without being a line on the expense sheet has not been given a chance.

Certainly one has to question if it might be a station problem or a school board problem or both. I would think it lies on both as that's typically the case. Most of us find a comfort zone and don't stray from it until the pressure is on to change. That's usually the case with school boards and stations.

Depending on the management of the station (does management have radio experience enough and time to coordinate and execute what needs to happen) can the station ramp up what it is doing and eventually break even?

I'd also like to know how the evaluation happened. Is this an arbitrary figure? Are their examples of similar situations to support this value?

Putting a station up on the block and actually selling it are two different things entirely. Many stations are for sale a long time before the buyer that will pay the price comes along. It might be a year or two and even then, it might not be the cash windfall expected. While radio is a highly desirable commodity, where it is, it's history and actual revenue figures matter. I can't see this station being more than a local station. It would need to move to hit the larger market. Then again there is no local station (the other local frequency does not target the community). What comes with the sale? Are there leases to be assumed and can studio and tower site be utilized? All of this is a factor.

What sort of support currently exists? Will the community support a local station as a non-commercial player? Is the format perfect for the area? I suspect if another entity walked in, even if it was centered on being a local station, the format would change radically.

As it appears the folks at the station want to save the station, what is going on to save it? If you think petitions and such will work, try again. The station needs revenue. Nothing makes heads turn and thinking change like dollars. Why is it the job of management to sell Underwriting? Are those doing a show willing to contribute and work on fundraising and selling underwriting?

When I was in high school our school paper could only be as large as the advertising revenue to support it. It had to be cost free as far as the school district was concerned. We sold ads ourselves and we really hawked the papers at 25 cents a pop back then. Since our grade was determined on the column inches writing we got in print, it really got us to 'work' the paper to be as big as we could get it with the better story that would command the most column inches. Our instructor called it real world experience. She regularly talked revenue and circulation. We polled advertisers and readers to stay in touch and provide a good product.

And if it went up for sale, $150,000 is not a bunch of money. What are those former students and supervisors doing to raise the capital to purchase the station? Might the district work out some favorable terms and conditions to ease their way out? Is the current group tending the station willing to pony up the cash, credit and hard work? Is the knowledge of running the station there? I'd want for the station to remain where it is and no tower rental and exclusive broadcast rights to school sports and functions for many years.

Lastly, nothing works like action. Action demonstrates passion and passion fuels results. If there's enough action it might pull the results that makes the school board want to hang on to the frequency. Instead of saying to the school board "don't do it", ask what do you need to accomplish to keep it.

Here's the short term answers I know:
We're working to pressure the board to at least keep the license for now.
As for community involvement: the community at large thinks the format's ok, they like the live sports. Underwriting is OK for sports, but due to lack of student involvement (in part due to the board cutting the radio club and taking away any practical radio class time - because the station manager teaches video lab and runs a testing room as well) there's NO live aspect to the programming. If there were more students on the mic the community would like it better. This is from what I've had people tell me.
If student involvement was increased there was the idea of having them raise underwriter dollars, but I don't think the board wants that. Underwriting is contract based and the board is twitchy when their money is involved. (I think now station dollars actually go into the general fund, and not back to the station for anything.)

I know this much: this board will hear us out. They're probably going to sell. When they do, they're going to get an earful from me.
Via the ballot box.

An update to this...
Two community groups are working with the WCCS board and administration to head the sale off at the pass.
What has happened is the firm that's designing the new high school (to open in 2020, when WJHS' license comes up for renewal, coincidentally,) came up with $500,000 for new studios and equipment. The group I'm involved with did our homework, and with the assistance of some engineering knowledge from a long time engineer who happens to live in the area, we've informed the board of the problems in the architects' proposals.
Now the sticking point is money and student involvement.
Not long after this popped up the student station at nearby Homestead High School (WCYT-FM) won station of the year at the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters. This didn't go unnoticed by the WCCS board. Right now the CC station has 6 committed students in the program. We're attempting to change the flavor of the program to add to the number of students and possibly changing how they can be involved with the station.
Next month is the board-imposed deadline for a vote on whether they intend to list the station's license for sale and transition to all-streaming.
My final opinion right now: a MAJOR waste of time to try to sell the license for nickels and go streaming.
They HAVE the license until 2020.
They see dollar signs. I can hear it in the board members' comments. I'm still afraid of the outcome in May...

I'm not hearing how you plan to produce the operating income for the station. Remember the revenue is akin to the gas that gets the car to go with the proverbial car being the radio station. Knowing what it costs to operate and how you have a plan in place that covers the bills and then some for that rainy day is what will convince the board to keep the station.

What I am hearing is the board has cut the station down to a shell of what it once was. There's a reason for this: it drains tax dollars. If it at least self-funded itself, including the adult leadership needed, we would not see a part-time manager and very little participation.

It seems the best scenario would be a separate and independent of the school board local organization taking the station. That would mean having a revenue plan in place and an arrangement to acquire the license.

I assume the station offers local community announcements and non-school information. If not, every local mover and shaker and every local group should be sending press releases about upcoming activities. Nothing gains attention like a bunch of local business and non profit groups known to every board member telling how much they appreciate the station. And those folks will likely be the source of that operational budget.

I suspect the School Board is at least partly charged with getting as much as they can from every tax dollar and then cut every expense they can without educational compromise to demonstrate they're worthy of the position. The people that elect them likely have a few choice words about their school taxes.

The month of May WAS to have been the month that we would find out if the WCCS board had a buyer, or even just to know that bids were taken and who would they like to sell the station's license to...
Alas they don't have any bids in yet, so the matter's been tabled for another month.
But in the time between announcement and waiting for the decision, we (the group "Friends of WJHS") have been working to get both sides of the matter (board and station mgr.) working TOGETHER. We have approached ideas like better fundraising, better operations to get students involved, better station presence (both on the air and in the community,) and even live events around town to put it back on the radio map.
But it all falls into the lap of the board, and they - for what I've seen and heard - are still leaning toward a frequency sale and the end of WJHS on 91.5 FM.
Again, like I said before, if it happens, this town won't forget my name.

I wouldn't be waiting to bring in revenue or at least promises for revenue (ie: go meet local businesses and ask them to fill in a short letter where they agree to spend a certain amount per month on Underwriting). Nothing will change their minds like money. Believe me, nothing else matters. The reason they want to sell is for money. If the station can show it can produce income they'll think twice about selling it. The idea is the station is not a financial burden but can carry its own weight. Plans are just that but producing results are something different altogether. You mention better fundraising and such. I'd put it in action now.

I knew a radio owner well enough that in a conversation he admitted to me he talks to lots of people who claim they have a perfect plan for his station. They talk, he said, about how many listeners and awareness in the community but were always silent when he asked how it would provide the money to operate the station. Simply put, if he could see a path to revenue from any plan brought to him, he said he would give it a shot. You might say that was quite a learning conversation for me. Listeners, awareness, great organization, etc., are all great ideals but worth nothing if the revenue is not there. None lead to revenue directly like going out to bring revenue in.

edit to remove duplicate post

We've had a couple of our group members who have dealt with underwriting talk to the station manager (Dirk) about raising money and also how he has been going about it versus what has worked in the past. It's also been approached that the station needs a full time fundraiser, someone who would be paid 10-15 percent (or higher) of what's raised in commission. We've also brought out the idea of "station members." PBS/NPR inspired listener membership with benefits beyond just supporting the station.

One matter still at hand is the bids the board has already sought from potential buyers. They haven't gotten any back from potential buyers so until they do we won't know what they're after, price-wise, so we just keep treading forward hoping to find the right combo of plans that MIGHT change the board's mind,
But me being a realist, I'm almost convinced now that they're going to dump the license and run. One or two years of streaming and then pull the plug.
I'm hoping to win the lottery this weekend so I can put my own bid in motion and sucker punch the whole system.

In an effort of trying to save the station, I'd be making a few visits to different local businesses each day to see what can happen. I would not just talk about it.

The best advice I can tell you on hiring someone to sell/fundraise: Do not offer just commission. 10-15% sounds low for the sort of rates I suspect you'd be charging and the average amount you can get per client. If that's about $2,000 a month per client, the commission rate is fine. If it's $200, definitely not.

Realities of sales: it takes about 5 to 8 visits to reach a point of trust so the business owner to say yes to Underwriting. That means weekly in person visits getting to know one another. A bare minimum is 4 hours. Each client is different and needs a custom plan you need to compose. Give that another hour or so. You'll need to know their position in the market and among competitors to create your custom plan. You have to visit every week or so after you sell them or somebody else will get those dollars. So, let's say you invest 10-12 hours to get that $200 initial order. If commission is 10%, how long might a person work for $2 an hour and using their car and gas to earn that?

One person cannot handle a huge number of clients...about 40 is the best one person can handle and stay on top of. So if the average order is $200, the commission scale should be at minimum, an average salary locally for handling 40 accounts.

You must pay a salary, commonly called a draw. That draw should pay their living expenses, barely. The way they get a raise is by selling more clients. Once they have enough clients to go off the draw onto straight commission, that raise comes in to play by selling more people.

The good salespeople are making good money where they are. You can't afford them and could never offer enough money to get them to give up a job they can already count on and perform well in for the option to go for an unsure thing. You want a friendly person who can listen and has high standards and chances are they're new to sales or maybe a fairly recent hire in their first sales job. One station I worked for liked to hire former school teachers because they were good at guiding clients and already had the discipline and transparency to perform their job well.

Offering only commission: Let me ask you, if I offered you a job, say, at a store and I said you only get paid on what you sell but otherwise I wasn't going to pay you a penny, would you be biting at the bit to take the job? How long can you go making nothing until you can locate people to buy what you are selling? Would you be okay with zero income for coming to work every day for a couple of months before you make that first dime? If you would not jump at this opportunity, why would you think anyone else would? I bring this up because it is commonly believed because you can do sales, a paycheck does not matter. And the absolute destroyer of your station's sales is a revolving door of salespeople. Sales is built on relationships. If the salesperson always changes nobody will buy.

I'm hoping I'm not coming off as a jerk that thinks he knows it all. I am just a radio guy like you. I spent 10 years on the air, went in to sales kicking, screaming and crying No. I have had the opportunity to run a few stations from the General Manager's chair. I consider myself pretty lucky to have been able to learn radio from the on air end and the sales end. I always had a tendency to manage to get hired at stations with minimal budgets (ie: one station owner said to look in the mirror to see his promotional budget!). My first year in sales my parent-in-laws bought our groceries because my paycheck would cover everything but groceries. By my 5th year I had almost triple my draw in commission alone and was pretty well respected in town among business owners (meaning I didn't get blown off but they listened to me). We even had a gas trade by then.

Good advice. I'll be bringing this along to our next group session.
One thing that hangs up progress is how we have to push items through school administration approval. And a lot of that is so backwards that it seems like it takes 6 months to get a 1 day project approved.
We just have to know before we sign people up that we know if we're selling for a 2600 watt broadcast outlet or a 48 kHz streaming outlet. It will make a big difference.

Something you might not have to get permission to do is have a form each local business owner could sign saying they would budget $X.xx a month to the station for underwriting should the school board choose to keep the station (that might be an Underwriting package including sports sponsorship as well). If you know what income you need to break even with the station, and get maybe 10-20% more than needed, the school board might have a change of heart.

I really hope you guys can pull it off. I suspect there will not be a bunch of demand for the station unless it sells really cheap. Being that your is the only local station in the town, I'd hate to see it go to some group that would ignore the community.

Just thought I'd update on this...
Nothing has happened lately on this, partly because the WCCS board hasn't released any info on whether they've received any bids for the license. (I suspect they may have, but not enough to want to release the information.) As for the Friends of WJHS, we're working behind the scenes still to try and swing WJHS into the black again, income-wise.
Ground was just broken for the new high school so I would think focus is on the construction and such, and a license sale would be passed by as fast as the wind through a tower...where nobody would notice.