If WNKU was as good or had as many listeners as some say then why was it losing so much money.

 

The question I always had when I attended NKU was why NKU was footing the bill for shows not run by students . It never made sense .

If WNKU was as good or had as many listeners as some say then why was it losing so much money.

 

The question I always had when I attended NKU was why NKU was footing the bill for shows not run by students . It never made sense .

 

If done right, there doesn't need to be much monetary input from the sponsor (NKU in this case). I don't think that UK puts in much money toward WUKY, if any. Most of their bills are paid for via listener donations.

 

In Louisville, the public radio consortium is able to gather enough funding through donations to pay for three stations:

 

• One that's all NPR and local news and issue talk

• One that does all classical music (snooze)

• WFPK, which plays a similar mix of music as WNKU and WUKY, which is the "Adult Album Alternative," which tends to be a wild mix of local artists, roots rock/country rock, indie rock, folk, singer/songwriter, up-and-coming rock stars, aging rock star who makes new music that can't be played on regular rock radio anymore, bluegrass, blues, jam bands, aging country star who makes new music that can't be played on regular pop country radio anymore, etc., with other specialized programming genres mixed in, such as the Rolling Stones Hour or Grateful Dead Hour and others.

 

UofL is not involved in any way — Louisville Public Media is totally independent other than less than 10 percent from the feds, and most of their fund drives get wrapped up in about 4-5 days, where most public media operations do week-long fund drives. I think their goal is to be totally independent from the feds, given there's always been a desire by the GOP's hard right wing to kill public media funding. I think LPM can get enough to succeed in that endeavor, but they don't because the federal ties I think give them discounts on NPR programming services. I may be totally wrong on this part, but I've heard it more than twice, from different sources.

 

I have heard mention that the university restricted WNKU from doing fund drives in recent years, but I've not seen that confirmed. If that is the case, the university was looking to starve the station to death, because there's no quicker way to kill a public radio station (or TV, for that matter), than to cut off its main source of funding — the consumers. And if that is the case, it makes me very sad. I have many great memories of music discovery through WNKU from my time living in NoKy and going to school at NKU. Huge impact on my life, and I used to donate. Have a few CDs and a T-shirt from then.

If done right, there doesn't need to be much monetary input from the sponsor (NKU in this case). I don't think that UK puts in much money toward WUKY, if any. Most of their bills are paid for via listener donations.

 

In Louisville, the public radio consortium is able to gather enough funding through donations to pay for three stations:

 

• One that's all NPR and local news and issue talk

• One that does all classical music (snooze)

• WFPK, which plays a similar mix of music as WNKU and WUKY, which is the "Adult Album Alternative," which tends to be a wild mix of local artists, roots rock/country rock, indie rock, folk, singer/songwriter, up-and-coming rock stars, aging rock star who makes new music that can't be played on regular rock radio anymore, bluegrass, blues, jam bands, aging country star who makes new music that can't be played on regular pop country radio anymore, etc., with other specialized programming genres mixed in, such as the Rolling Stones Hour or Grateful Dead Hour and others.

 

UofL is not involved in any way — Louisville Public Media is totally independent other than less than 10 percent from the feds, and most of their fund drives get wrapped up in about 4-5 days, where most public media operations do week-long fund drives. I think their goal is to be totally independent from the feds, given there's always been a desire by the GOP's hard right wing to kill public media funding. I think LPM can get enough to succeed in that endeavor, but they don't because the federal ties I think give them discounts on NPR programming services. I may be totally wrong on this part, but I've heard it more than twice, from different sources.

 

I have heard mention that the university restricted WNKU from doing fund drives in recent years, but I've not seen that confirmed. If that is the case, the university was looking to starve the station to death, because there's no quicker way to kill a public radio station (or TV, for that matter), than to cut off its main source of funding — the consumers. And if that is the case, it makes me very sad. I have many great memories of music discovery through WNKU from my time living in NoKy and going to school at NKU. Huge impact on my life, and I used to donate. Have a few CDs and a T-shirt from then.

 

Just not a big fan of any business that can't thrive on their own.

Just not a big fan of any business that can't thrive on their own.

 

I get that, and that's why I've been encouraged to see some stations move toward further independence. But given the variables I've shown you, I think you should understand why the tether is still there. It may not jive with your political sensibilities, but a whole lot of people from both sides of the aisle value NPR news because it is devoid of all the theatricality of TV and talk radio news, and plays it as straight down the middle as anybody. It leans left, but it's more centrist than any other national news service out there sans AP. And it's hard to make it in public radio without NPR, which is a big drawing card.

I get that, and that's why I've been encouraged to see some stations move toward further independence. But given the variables I've shown you, I think you should understand why the tether is still there. It may not jive with your political sensibilities, but a whole lot of people from both sides of the aisle value NPR news because it is devoid of all the theatricality of TV and talk radio news, and plays it as straight down the middle as anybody. It leans left, but it's more centrist than any other national news service out there sans AP. And it's hard to make it in public radio without NPR, which is a big drawing card.

 

Again if so many people enjoy it why can't they survive without donations or public funding. Radio Stations across the country survive without it.

 

I did chuckle when you said NPR is down the middle. But that has nothing to do with my opinion. You can be far left as you want if you are profitable.

Again if so many people enjoy it why can't they survive without donations or public funding. Radio Stations across the country survive without it.

 

I did chuckle when you said NPR is down the middle. But that has nothing to do with my opinion. You can be far left as you want if you are profitable.

 

Do you comprehend the fact that public radio stations are non-profit? They don't have advertising. Some people appreciate this and are willing to help pay for it.

Do you comprehend the fact that public radio stations are non-profit? They don't have advertising. Some people appreciate this and are willing to help pay for it.

 

I think it's a silly model, we just disagree.

If done right, there doesn't need to be much monetary input from the sponsor (NKU in this case). I don't think that UK puts in much money toward WUKY, if any. Most of their bills are paid for via listener donations.

 

In Louisville, the public radio consortium is able to gather enough funding through donations to pay for three stations:

 

• One that's all NPR and local news and issue talk

• One that does all classical music (snooze)

• WFPK, which plays a similar mix of music as WNKU and WUKY, which is the "Adult Album Alternative," which tends to be a wild mix of local artists, roots rock/country rock, indie rock, folk, singer/songwriter, up-and-coming rock stars, aging rock star who makes new music that can't be played on regular rock radio anymore, bluegrass, blues, jam bands, aging country star who makes new music that can't be played on regular pop country radio anymore, etc., with other specialized programming genres mixed in, such as the Rolling Stones Hour or Grateful Dead Hour and others.

 

UofL is not involved in any way — Louisville Public Media is totally independent other than less than 10 percent from the feds, and most of their fund drives get wrapped up in about 4-5 days, where most public media operations do week-long fund drives. I think their goal is to be totally independent from the feds, given there's always been a desire by the GOP's hard right wing to kill public media funding. I think LPM can get enough to succeed in that endeavor, but they don't because the federal ties I think give them discounts on NPR programming services. I may be totally wrong on this part, but I've heard it more than twice, from different sources.

 

I have heard mention that the university restricted WNKU from doing fund drives in recent years, but I've not seen that confirmed. If that is the case, the university was looking to starve the station to death, because there's no quicker way to kill a public radio station (or TV, for that matter), than to cut off its main source of funding — the consumers. And if that is the case, it makes me very sad. I have many great memories of music discovery through WNKU from my time living in NoKy and going to school at NKU. Huge impact on my life, and I used to donate. Have a few CDs and a T-shirt from then.

 

Eclecticism sure is a wonderful thing and not something that you can just find anywhere.

 

I realize that for some, different or new sounds don't compute, but for many others variety is the spice of life.

 

Even the old songs that you still love were songs you were hearing one time years ago for the first time. You weren't born knowing them. You offered them the patience to get to know them. After a few times they felt familiar. Or they grew on you subliminally just because you had the radio on. No different with new stuff now.

 

The head might not always be ready for it the first time around, or through only 10 second snippets, but sometimes their brilliance isn't recognized until after a few spins.

 

If one wants to believe that there's nothing new worth listening to, one sure fire way to convince themselves of that is to say so and then live by that cliche'.

 

Amazing how every decade there is tons of music being made when people from era after era contends that no good music was made after their era. Their perception of that is not the music's fault, it's theirs.

I think it's a silly model, we just disagree.

 

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it's silly, but it's certainly not ideal given the corporate dominance of the radio waves and the streamlining of content (i.e., cutting out the fluff) that goes on in the interest of keeping costs low.

 

But the point still stands that some people are willing to pay to hear "the fluff," and enough to keep these radio stations on the fringe operational. The last I read was that most of the most successful (granted, that means "surviving" and not "profitable" in the public media world) public radio stations get less than 15 percent of their funding from their sponsor — usually universities — and the feds via CPB. If they can get that close, they can go totally independent.

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it's silly, but it's certainly not ideal given the corporate dominance of the radio waves and the streamlining of content (i.e., cutting out the fluff) that goes on in the interest of keeping costs low.

 

But the point still stands that some people are willing to pay to hear "the fluff," and enough to keep these radio stations on the fringe operational. The last I read was that most of the most successful (granted, that means "surviving" and not "profitable" in the public media world) public radio stations get less than 15 percent of their funding from their sponsor — usually universities — and the feds via CPB. If they can get that close, they can go totally independent.

 

I don't agree with any public funding. If WNKU had a majority of programs run by students and it was an educational venture then I would have no problem.

I don't agree with any public funding. If WNKU had a majority of programs run by students and it was an educational venture then I would have no problem.

 

You're getting hung up on the wrong thing here. Stop thinking about it from a student-run standpoint. It's totally irrelevant here, and as has been noted, NKU and other universities around the state have separate student-run stations for such purposes. The student-run stations, generally established years after ones such as WNKU, just don't use the university in the call letters the same way. WGUC in Cincy, which plays classical music, has been independent from UC since '94. It started in the 1960s.

You're getting hung up on the wrong thing here. Stop thinking about it from a student-run standpoint. It's totally irrelevant here, and as has been noted, NKU and other universities around the state have separate student-run stations for such purposes. The student-run stations, generally established years after ones such as WNKU, just don't use the university in the call letters the same way. WGUC in Cincy, which plays classical music, has been independent from UC since '94.

I feel like it's the right thing. If the school funds it at all then the school should benefit.

I feel like it's the right thing. If the school funds it at all then the school should benefit.

 

For the most part, the funding from the schools is minimal. As I mentioned before, most of these stations get 85 percent or more of their funding from listener donations. I don't think WUKY gets any funding from UK, but if it does, it's likely less than 5 percent.

 

I don't know what went on with the downfall of WNKU, but if the university restricted its fundraising capabilities, it was looking to kill the station.

I have heard mention that the university restricted WNKU from doing fund drives in recent years, but I've not seen that confirmed. If that is the case, the university was looking to starve the station to death, because there's no quicker way to kill a public radio station (or TV, for that matter), than to cut off its main source of funding — the consumers. And if that is the case, it makes me very sad.

 

While I have not delved too much into it, I have seen that mentioned in several articles about the situation. And, I agree, if they were doing this, it was almost like they wanted an excuse to sell it.

Have a few ?'s:

 

1. Curious as to how advertising $$$ have been used to get them to this point? They do advertise for local business while I've listened to them over the years! Did the university hamstring advertising dollars?

 

2. If the sale has been finalized when is the last day we get to enjoy WNKU?

 

3. What do we know if anything about the purchasing station other than it is "religious?"