Dick Purtan Radiothon nets 1.8 million
Oldies WOMC-FM Detroit and The Salvation Army in metro Detroit joined forces again this year setting another one-day, national radio fundraising record as WOMC listeners and sponsors helped raise 1,808,440 in 16 hours to feed and shelter Detroit's homeless and hungry. Last year's total was 1,723,088.
The 19th Annual Dick Purtan Radiothon was broadcast live on Friday, February 24, from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Oakland Mall in Troy, Michigan. Donations benefited The Salvation Army Bed and Bread Program.
This all-day event included Dick Purtan and Purtan's People interviewing celebrities, sports figures, comedians, political and business leaders, and metro area children who organized creative ways to collect money on behalf of their classrooms or schools.
Since 1988, the Dick Purtan Radiothon has raised more than 12,031,528 million for the Bed and Bread Program, including this year's record total of over 1.8 million.
WMUC-FM may fight to keep its signal
While the Baltimore Sun reported last week The University of Maryland's heritage signal on 88.1 FM in the DC market will be kicked off the air by Baltimore simulcaster (NPR) WYPR and WYPF (2/24/06 RBR #39), the battle may not have even begun yet.
From The Sun story:
"A ripple of indignation spread across the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park yesterday over news that its student-run radio station, which has been broadcasting since 1937, might be unceremoniously forced off the air by a more powerful station in Baltimore.
The college station, WMUC, issued an appeal to alumni to help it retain its signal, currently powered by just 10 watts and available within a radius of only a few miles of the 1,200-acre campus.
University officials said they had met with lawyers to determine the station's legal options. They also began looking for an engineer to explore moving the station to another frequency, out of harm's way, although that option, they said, could be thwarted by the crowded radio spectrum in and around Washington.
It is WMUC's position at 88.1 on the FM dial -- not just its small size -- that has placed it in jeopardy. It has the same frequency as WYPR, a 10,000-watt public radio station in Baltimore that intends to increase its power south, a move that could obliterate WMUC's signal.
"Everyone at the station is up in arms," said Jackie Russell, WMUC's general manager, who helps to oversee a volunteer force of about 175 students at the station. During the day, student representatives met with faculty advisers to figure out how to save the station "any way we see possible," Russell said.
A Federal Communications Commission engineer confirmed yesterday that WYPR has been granted a permit to increase the power of its main antenna by 5,500 watts and to redirect its output in a trajectory that might interfere with WMUC's signal. The engineer, who asked not to be quoted by name because he is not authorized to speak on the record, said that the larger station's Class A license entitles it to cover a wider area that could include College Park, while WMUC's Class D license -- which defines it as a "secondary station" -- does not protect it from such encroachments.
The FCC engineer said that WMUC's weak signal was likely "to get worse" if WYPR sets up its power boost, although it would not be clear until then by how much. In the worst case, he said, WMUC's signal might not be heard at all.
Andy Bienstock, WYPR's program manager, said yesterday that he hoped his station's signal expansion would occur "within the next year."
"It doesn't mean WMUC has to go off the air," Bienstock said, "but there is a very good chance that it will interfere with their signal. There's also a chance it won't, but we won't really know until we turn it on."
In a letter yesterday to the editor of the campus newspaper, The Diamondback, Bienstock said WYPR had informed WMUC of its expansion plans several years ago, "and indicated our willingness to find a mutual solution, such as helping WMUC find another frequency so that they could remain an over-the-air presence, or working students into our news department."
"We tried, but were completely ignored, our phone calls not returned," Bienstock wrote. "And so, since the construction permit has long since been granted, here we stand."
Stephen Gnadt, a campus administration adviser to the station, said the university did reply to WYPR's 2003 offer. "We said we're not interested," Gnadt recalled. "We were already aware there were no other frequencies available and, after so many years, the students didn't want to give up the frequency they had."
Gnadt and other campus officials said they believed the matter died then. It came as a shock, they said, to read an article in The Sun on Wednesday that mentioned WYPR's decision to go ahead with its expansion and the possible effect on WMUC.
Zack Richardson, 23, who was WMUC's general manager in 2003 and is now a reporter for a food industry trade magazine in Washington, said he, too, believed the danger to the station had passed.
"The assertion on WYPR's part that this is a done deal, that the FCC has given them authority to remove the station off the air, that was a surprise to me," Richardson said. He said he also found it ironic that WMUC would be threatened by a station like WYPR, which began life as a 10-watt student station at the Johns Hopkins University before growing in recent years into a professionally run, independently owned operation."
RBR observation:
Let's see...WYPR is licensed to Baltimore. Surprisingly, it was allowed to buy WYPF in Frederick, MD to simulcast its signal a couple years ago. The actual signal is located between Frederick and DC, so it covers a good bit of DC. Why didn't DC's WAMU and WETA fight the encroachment into a large chunk of their market? With WAMU and WETA already airing NPR most of the day everyday and often airing the same feed at the same time, does DC need yet another NPR feed doing the same in the market? Can you say "overkill"? Nevertheless, it seems to us that the last real student-run college radio station in the DC area should not only be allowed to stay, but to boost its power directionally to the south to serve more of the market as well. This way it wouldn't interfere with WYPF or WYPR's turf. Yes, there are class D license issues, but enough is enough of this. WYPF needs to keep its signal out of DC and not be allowed to boost its power. WMUC should have allies in WAMU and WETA in that respect. Will every college radio station end up an NPR affiliate someday? No wonder radio seems less and less important to college-age kids.
Good Morning - Gain a personal edge on today's business day. Are you reading this from a forwarded email?
