Lunch Meeting with WABE General Manager John Weatherford
As a follow-up to the February 2 meeting APRI had with WABE management and several board members, Mr. Weatherford offered to meet with us to further discuss APRI’s concerns, to update us on the station’s digital broadcasting plans, and to hear three proposals from APRI (see next section for details). That meeting, consisting of three APRI Steering Committee members and Mr. Weatherford, took place over lunch on June 14.
Mr. Weatherford began by sharing a number of physical plant and equipment problems WABE is facing, some of which are affecting the both the time and money that can be devoted to programming issues.
However, Mr. Weatherford was also quite forthcoming and enthusiastic about the station’s progress on the digital broadcasting front (which is certain to be discussed at today’s board meeting). He stated quite clearly that WABE was committed to providing an all-news/talk digital broadcast channel, along with an all-music channel. As to when that announcement would be made publicly, he was uncertain – but his goal is to have those channels on air before the end of the year.
This was excellent news for APRI, with one significant caveat: to receive the HD signal, you must have an HD radio, and the least expensive car and home models are still in the $200 range, with selection and distribution at very “early-adopter” stages. (For an informative overview of HD radio, go to ibiquity.com.)
Nonetheless, and despite the fact APRI is convinced WABE’s analog programming is disproportionately weighted toward classical music, we are excited that our ultimate goal of an all-news/talk public radio channel in Atlanta is about to become a reality.
We appreciated Mr. Weatherford taking the time to meet with us. He listened carefully to our concerns and was open about sharing WABE’s digital plans. He, along with Mike Wood’s earlier efforts, have created an atmosphere of friendly dialogue with APRI – one which we intend to build on, as you will see in the next section of this Status Report.
APRI “Remaining Engaged” via Fall Pledge Drive Challenge Grant and Volunteer Shift
At the February meeting APRI had with station management and Planning CAST members, we were disheartened when – after much give-and-take discussion about why, in APRI’s opinion, there is such an imbalance of classical music to news/talk programming – Mr. Weatherford finally made this pronouncement: “We feel we’ve reached the best balance [of music to news/talk].”
The clear message was that station management was not going to entertain any programming mix change – period.
As the meeting limped to a close, Sonny Walker encouraged APRI to “remain engaged” with WABE and the Board. We were uncertain as to how we could possibly do that and, frankly, after Mr. Weatherford’s unilateral declaration, we were in no mood to continue any direct contact with station management.
However, Mr. Walker’s “remain engaged” phrase stuck in our heads. The Steering Committee met, and we did come up with three proposals we felt would benefit both APRI and the station. We presented those proposals to Mr. Weatherford, and he was very receptive.
The first proposal is for APRI members to have a Challenge Grant of from $2,500 to $5,000 during the Fall Pledge Drive. All the money we raise from our members would be restricted for use in HD news/talk programming or equipment expenses. The funds given when our Challenge Grant occurs (either during Morning Edition or All Things Considered) will not be so restricted because, as Irene Wreen pointed out, there’s no way to say definitively that a person is calling (or pledging online) solely on the basis of APRI’s challenge.
The second proposal deals with helping accelerate the public’s acceptance of the HD format: The faster listeners get HD radios, the better – so APRI proposed the station offer a sliding discount off the purchase of an HD radio. The more you give, the larger the discount; e.g., give $100 and get $25 off … give $200 and get $50 off, etc.
Again, Mr. Weatherford was very receptive. He has since discussed this proposal with station management, and while they think it may be a bit premature to offer such discounts during the Fall Pledge Drive (in case technical issues delay the implementation of HD broadcasting beyond the end of the year), the Development Director has told APRI the station should be more than willing to offer the discounts during the Spring ’07 Pledge Drive.
APRI has expressed our willingness to help in any way to make the discount offer a reality. We certainly feel that a significant number of our 700 supporters will take advantage of it, and will spread the “digital word” as well.
Our third proposal is for APRI members to take a volunteer shift during the Fall Pledge Drive. As we’ve stated many times, our supporters love the news/talk programming on WABE, and with the coming of an all-news/talk digital channel, we are more than happy to help the station raise funds toward that end. This offer has already been enthusiastically accepted by both the Development Director and the Volunteer Coordinator; we feel confident we can supply the 17 needed slots. All that remains is to see which shift suits our supporters best.
So APRI is “remaining engaged” with WABE, despite the station’s present unwillingness to change its analog programming mix. We continue to believe the present mix does not serve the Atlanta community as well as it should. Converting the public to digital broadcasting will soon be strictly a matter of individuals willing to pay hundreds of dollars for home and car HD sets – an expense that will be prohibitively burdensome to many people.
In the mean time, WABE analog programming should contain more NPR-type content – and APRI will remain engaged in that goal as well, despite station management’s apparent intransigence. Is management’s present attitude one the AETC Board feels management should express so unilaterally to WABE’s largest grass-roots organization?
