Outsourcing Being Done for Fund-drive
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Submitted by Frank0051 on Thu, 10/22/2009 - 12:32
I have received word that when pledge drive starts this [edit]Tuesday[/edit] that several things will be happening:
1. There will be a cut in live pledging
2. WUFT-FM did not attempt to find volunteers
3. Many of your calls will be answered by some type of call center (how much did this cost???)
4. Pledge drive will be happening without some fimiliar faces/voices: Henri, Bill, Steve, Kevin, Eleni, Wink and Brenda.
No word on if pledging will be happening on HD2.
EDIT: just changed to reflect that the pledge drive is starting Tuesday.
Outsourcing Being Done for Fund-drive
Actually, outsourcing the fund drive is an impersonal response to WUFT's inability to secure volunteers at present. When contributors call around the time of their favored programs (ours, for example, being Theatre of the Mind), the hosts and fundraising guests get immediate feedback about popularity of the program, and listeners are encouraged to call by the response and challenges raised by other listeners. Outsourcing disconnects contributors from the program hosts and from other listeners.
Although some people express approval of recent changes, that is somewhat self-centered because the important loss here goes well beyond program content. What's not getting sufficient attention is the firing of long-time dedicated WUFT staff including station manager Henri Pensis, program director Bill Beckett, operations director Steve Seipp, and others who worked hard for decades to maintain the programming quality that you expected. Several of them had locally produced shows as well (e.g., Henri Pensis: Music of the 20th Century, Bill Beckett: Caravan). Without reinstatement of these people, any restoration of previous format will not be secure. Regardless of future format, the firing of these people is a blow to the station and loss to the community.
Answering Services are pretty common
It's pretty standard practice by just about every public TV & radio station to have calls taken by a answering service. Stations can hardly man the phones 24/7 and the answering services (some of whom specialize their service for public broadcasting) are very efficient and it allows listeners and viewers call whenever.
As I understand it, the simple fact is that there will be less live pledging as it's an overall shorter on-air campaign. There are many volunteers answering phones and in fact, some had to be turned away because of fewer shifts due to shorter drive.
I for one, have been enjoying the expanded news and public affairs from WUFT. Even before the format change, my classical needs have been served by the internet and my iPod. The live NPR shows like "Diane Rehm" and "Talk of the Nation" are exceptional.
We have never had an
We have never had an answering service for WUFT, that is just another expense.
Not very common for WUFT-FM
I hate to tell you this Oscar, but we have never had an answering service at WUFT-FM, so it is just an added expense on top of already expensive programming. We have NEVER had too many volunteers; usually we have too few volunteers - even when we beg places to volunteer. The fact that we will be doing pledge drive without 7 people that usually work pledge drive every day for several hours makes me very worried. We usually don't have enough manpower so we we have to take 2-4 hour breaks during the middle of the day and stop manning the phones around 10PM; now we suddenly have extra people? Sorry, wrong, I am just not buying it.
I have not heard that pledge drive is going to be shorter, but if it is that will make the funding situation EVEN WORSE. The Dean wants the station to be self-sufficient (eventually, including salaries), yet this programming will cost at least 30% more according to the Dean (internal estimates put it at least being 50% more expensive) plus this new answering service and the cost of still needing to maintain blank contracts with ASCAP AND BMI for HD2. Somehow I just don't buy it Oscar, I just don't buy it.
ASCAP/BMI Fees
Beg to differ..
Broadcast performance rights for BMI and ASCAP (and even SESAC) are covered by a compulsory license that CPB pays for on behalf of all CPB qualified stations. The internet streaming rights are covered by an agreement with SoundExchange for RIAA. That too is currently paid for by CPB for all stations. Both of those cover the main channel and HD2 and HD3.
So, you are wiling to say
So, you are wiling to say adding an answering service in place of volunteers, on top of programming that the Dean states is at least 30% more (and internal estimates show are at least 50% more) is someone going to make things cheaper? Again, the whole point of the original outsource post was to 1. show that an additional cost is being added to the budget because of the change, 2. to show we are losing 7 voices that we have been used to (10 if you count myself since I am no longer at WUFT-FM {big ego, what can I say}, Margi {who I imagine is no longer helping}, and Harvey {since he has left as well}), and 3. WUFT-FM will be even less of a local public station since there will be less live pledging and less local volunteer-ism (spelling?).
Oscar, I am also willing to say with 90% certainty that you may be wrong and I can say this because I have seen the contracts that the station had to sign for the licensing agreements. There was a dollar figure attached to them; I don't know if it was done through some type of agreement with CPB (so you may be right in that aspect), but cost was certainty a factor and that added cost may be due to our Internet streams. Nothing is ever free, someone always has to pay for it (may that be CPB as you suggest, or WUFT-FM as I believe might be the case).
As a sidenote: WUFT is required to take part in various reporting programs to help calculate the distribution of royalties and they have to jump through more hoops (and take part in more reporting) because of the multiple HD channels that are streaming. When you take into account that HD1 and HD2 are streamed on the Internet, you completely change the reporting requirements. I would encourage you to public record request the contracts to see for yourself, everything should be public record as defined by Ch 119 of the Florida Statues (somehow the Dean argues the consultant's report is not, but we will not get into that)*. Before the change, we were able to get great deals on certain NPR programs for HD2 because their audience was limited - but, we still had to take part in detailed RIAA reporting because of the streaming nature of the station of HD2.
Also, Oscar, would your real name happen to be Oscar? For someone that seems to know so much about WUFT and public radio, I am surprised we have not crossed paths.
*Actually, along with withholding the consultant's report, the Dean and General Counsel are somehow arguing that minutes of meetings concerning the switch have to be "sanitized" (see Current Magazine), which is perhaps another statutory violation of the Ch 119.
Answering, ASCAP/BMI, and HD
For it's answering service, WUFT-FM will most likely use the very same one that WUFT-TV uses. Again a very common practice. The answering service even knows if the incoming call is for TV or radio by the number that's dialed. Not sure how you surmise that less local voices means less of a public radio station.
Many surveys show that public radio listeners tune in for content and that the hosts are not the primary reason they tune in.
Not to bruise any egos here, but remember the "controversy" when Bob Edwards was let go from NPR and "Morning Edition?" The national audience for the show went up.
You may have seen ASCAP/BMI contracts for the commercial stations which are common. However, I am 100% sure that broadcast performance rights and internet streaming rights are covered by CPB for radio stations.
You are correct that WUFT needs to keep playlists for locally-originalted music programming for all streams. If the shows come from a network source, like NPR, then the station only has to supply its schedule to SoundExchange and they get the playlists directly from the national program. Stations also have to keep logs of internet connections and time spent listening so that SoundExchange can calculate royalty fees for artists.
NPR, APM (American Public Media) and PRI (Public Radio International) currently all provide quite significant discounts to stations who broadcast their programming on HD digital channels only. Of course, if you move a program that was on the HD channel only to the main station, then the fee structure changes.
1. I highly doubt the
1. I highly doubt the answering service is going to be some type of "buy one, get one free" system. The current system you are talking about (where you can push a button and be directed to the radio station or the television station) is done through the phone system and could easily be free when there are volunteers to answer the phones...however, when the calls are still answered by an outside service, you need to pay that service to answer the calls. I am not denying that is not a very common practice; as I have said twice before, it is just another added expense from the switch. Also, just an FYI, we learned last pledge drive that our phone menu system (as you have described) works very, very poorly; nearly all the calls we received on a Saturday were meant for the TV station and we could not process them...lost revenue! (many of the individuals did not want to call back and pledge to the station, especially after getting redirecte to the wrong place two or three times)
2. I think you and I just have a different idea of what a public radio station. To me, a public radio station is supposed to be something that broadcasts local favors and has individuals that tie it into the community. I could the reason public television is seeing decreasing pledges is because it no longer does this local community tie in. Now, before you start, I KNOW, I KNOW, the Telecom Act of 1996 effectively did away with public radio as many of us value it...so you win this argument on a legal technicality (but that doesn't necessarily mean more pledge dollars or better service to the listeners).
3. I did not see the ASCAP and BMI contracts for a commercial station, I saw them for WUFT-FM and their was some type of dollar figure attached. Perhaps I am thinking of some type of RIAA contract rather than an ASCAP/BMI blank licensing agreeement, but I think it was the blank licensing agreement. Either way, if we assume you are right, doesn't that mean that the ASCAP/BMI blank licenses costs are passed on to the stations through their CPB agreements? Perhaps I just don't understand the idea of the CPB. That being said, I again renege and point out that the point of the orginal post was to show that we are having an addition cost associated with this switch because of the outsourcing along with the increased programming cost.
4. Again, Oscar, is your real name really Oscar? For someone that seems to know so much about WUFT-FM and public radio, I am surprised our paths have not crossed? It would be nice to know if "Oscar" if Oscar is just a very awesome listener or someone that used to work for WUFT-FM as well or someone working for one of the Dean's outside consultants whose reports were generated using public dollars and used to make a decision by a governmental agency and are still not public (you can see I have a pet peeve for governmental employees who bend the limits of public record laws). I think it is known who I am (if not, simply look at the jazz and blues pages), but you are entitled to your privacy as granted by the Interwebs if you wish.
Oh the beauty of free speech and anonymity granted by the Interwebs that Al Gore gave us ;-).
Better Service?
I think we will have to agree to disagree.
The face of public service media is undergoing tremendous changes and "better service" is such a subjective issue. While I'm sure there are many who bemoan the format change, there are also many who have, and will, embrace it. And, again, it's all about content. If that content is being delivered by Neil Conan or Diane Rehm, the listener cares little. It's the quality of that content that is indeed king. Some may also argue (and it is debatable) that news and public affairs programming is a greater public service than music programming -- especially in these days of media outlets that are polarized left and right. (Think MSNBC and FOX.)
Don't forget that WUFT has dedicated an entire channel to classical music. Even though it's on HD (and the web) it is a significant acknowledgement that music programming is important. They could have easily flipped a switch and put BBC World service on 24/7. I know, the penetration of HD radio is quite lagging, but for those who make the investment in equipment and time, it's well worth it. BTW, the FCC is getting ready to adopt rules that will allow a significant increase in the ERP for HD signals that could greatly help WUFT and many other stations as well as faster adoption of HD. I'm old enough to have been around when FM was new. It too took some time for it to be fully adopted.
If WUFT offered podcasts of it's locally-originated musical programming, then yes, they would have to have a separate agreement with RIAA to distribute copyrighted material. Again, the ASCAP/BMI/SESAC rights and the SoundExchange/RIAA steaming rights are paid by CPB. CPB does not charge back to stations. In fact, CPB is mandated by law to distribute federal funds by a strict formula. The CSG (Community Service Grant) pool is a fixed percentage of the overall appropriation. Of that pool, TV get 75% of it and radio gets 25% - also a percentage that is dictated by law. Of course, if ASCAP/BMI/SESAC and RIAA didn't charge non-commercial broadcasters, the pool would be bigger, but that's not going to happen.
Methinks you believe highly in conspiracy theories. No, I am not "one of the Dean's outside consultants" and I have no legal or financial association with WUFT or UF. I am a very knowledgeable communications professional with multiple years in public broadcasting.
I think we can agree to
I think we can agree to disagree; just a different outlook on what public radio is supposed to be. I tend to like community favor and I don't think WUFT-FM is doing that with the current change. Perhaps the new student programming that the Dean promised will do that, but that remains to be seen...especially considering that most of the Sunday local programming is scheduled for the chopping block in the long-run as well.
I remember when HD came to Orlando, god, perhaps 6 years ago. I was all on board to get an HD radio in my car; a couple years later only half of the stations that had HD projects in the work planned on completing them. In Gainesville, several of our HD stations flipped the switch back to being purely analog. HD has a multitude of problems, including the fact that it is proprietary (compared to open source standard used in various European countries), which could potentially be like granting a monopoly to Ibiquity if it is mandated as a radio standard. The decrease in power consumption is great, but increasing the ERP causes other problems. I remember reading an FCC study that stated if ERP was increased to 10% of what analog signals were, we could see bleeds in every radio market. Does that mean we now need to redraw our radio markets to make them bigger and even further dilute localism? Interesting to s see where it leads to say the least.
Thank you for explaining CPB to me; as I had mentioned, I clearly did not understand the concept of how it worked.
Outsourcing
Sadly, this is not surprising news. I think if Dean Wright could replace all of the WUFT employees with animatrons he would do so. They cost less and don't talk back!