FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 15, 2005
CONTACT: Nancy J. Sterling, APR
ML Strategies, LLC. (617) 358-2464, (617) 348-1811
nsterling@mlstrategies.com

WBUR FM ANNOUNCES FUNDRAISING, PROGRAMMING CHANGES

Less on-air fundraising; new lineup

Boston, MA - After a six month review, The WBUR Group today announced a number of changes that will significantly decrease the amount of time listeners are subjected to on-air fundraising appeals, increase the quality and depth of local news coverage and assist the stations in more aggressively managing their finances.

“The changes are the result of an intensive process begun shortly after we received recommendations on the operational aspects of the stations from our outside management consultant in February,” said Peter Fiedler, Acting General Manager of The WBUR Group. “We were receiving consistent complaints from listeners about the volume of on-air fundraising. At the same time, we needed to act in a financially responsible manner. We have now decided to put our resources into "On Point ", "Here and Now" and enhanced local news coverage, including the addition of two reporters to the news staff."

Key actions being taken include:

• On-air fundraisers will be reduced by one-third, from 6 to 4 per year; WBUR is also exploring ways to make fundraisers less intrusive and more acceptable to listeners.
  
• Increased coverage of news emanating from Boston, including the addition of new reporters focused on business, health and medicine and the arts.
• "On Point ," the award-winning call-in program hosted by Tom Ashbrook, will move to 10:00 a.m. to noon from its current 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. berth, which will provide exposure to a broader group of listeners. One hour of "On Point " will be repeated between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. each evening.
• The 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. timeslot will be filled by an additional broadcast of "Fresh Air" which is first aired at 3:00 p.m.
• "The Connection, " which has aired weekdays between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon will go silent following its August 5 th broadcast. Host Dick Gordon will be leaving the station in mid-July. "Dick Gordon is a highly respected journalist who has served WBUR listeners and others around the country with great distinction," said Fiedler.
• “ Here and Now ” the popular midday current events show, will be refocused to take advantage of host Robin Young's experience and knowledge of Massachusetts and New England. “ Here and Now ” will also put more emphasis on arts and culture, another strength of Young's.
• WBUR is projecting a balanced budget with a small surplus for FY06, assuming Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funding remains level.
• These changes will result in a realignment of staff including several layoffs.

"Grant Thornton, our management consultants, looked at all aspects of the stations' operations, except programming," said Fiedler. "Once we'd implemented their recommendations, the only remaining area for review was our on-air line-up. We decided to strengthen local focus because that is where our core listener base is. We relied on input from listeners including professional audience focus group research, experts at NPR, a CPB report on national versus local programming, as well as the ratings."

The revisions in donor solicitations are in response to what is referred to in the industry as "fundraising fatigue." WBUR Group management already responded to listener concerns by reducing on-air fundraising by 34% since last October. The new plan will further minimize on-air fundraising with the elimination of at least two campaigns in this fiscal year for a total reduction of more than 50%. WBUR will also re-engineer its entire fundraising process.

"In order to run the station in a fiscally responsible way, while at the same time accommodating listeners' demands for less fundraising, we had to make other changes," said Fiedler. "We streamlined operations, reduced programs that were not core to the station's mission such as Citizens of the World, and consolidated the management team. The WBUR Group now has a balanced budget for FY06."

The steps taken today by The WBUR Group represent a reallocation of resources which are being invested back into the station to develop a stronger organization. Any savings resulting from the changes will be reinvested in WBUR; no monies will be returned to the general Boston University treasury. Boston University remains the largest single financial supporter of The WBUR Group.

Click here to read a letter about these issues from Acting General Manager Peter Fiedler.