Moment of Truth
Well folks, here it is the last night of the first pledge week after the death of Classic 89. So, what can we expect to hear about it's success or failure in the next few days. For one, I'm predicting that the Junta at WUFT will sound the clarion loudly and declare from on high that THIS pledge drive has been "the most successful pledge drive ever!!!" It only stands to reason that they would say this whether the funds are there or not. Remember that they LIE automatically. Further, if any students out there are considering attending UF's school of Journalism, consider this: The dean of the school purposefully fails to report that there is still a tidal wave of angst, anger and protest about the decision to change WUFT's format. Instead, he continues to state that the response to the change has been positive and that your pledged dollars will go to the continuation of current programming; lies from a journalist that can't be trusted! This isn't the journalistic code that you want to live and work by. Is it? Long live Classic 89!!! Fight On!!!
- Johnny Wrong's blog
- Login or register to post comments
- 220 reads
I sent a letter into the
I sent a letter into the Gainesville Sun on Saturday, sadly it has not been published. I decided to send the same letter into the Alligator...we'll see what happens. I have also sent it into the radio station so it is part of the public record. Below is the letter:
WUFT-FM Membership Drive Falls Short
The Fall Membership Drive at WUFT-FM brings in over half of the stations' membership dollars. Sadly, this semester's drive fell short.
In it's report compiled in June 2009, consultants advising the Dean suggested the format change would only lose $52,000 in membership dollars the first year ($26,000 a semester) - even if the new programs brought in no new dollars.
This semester's pledge drive represented a loss of over $49,000 compared to Fall 2008. That is a nearly a 40% reduction in pledge dollars; the number of pledges fell by 40% as well. The Fall pledge drive even brought in 29% less than the much weaker Spring 2009 Pledge Drive. Even big donations from the Dean and his circle of insiders, along with strange pledges from the University itself, could not stop the bleeding. A nearly $50,000 lost in one semester far exceeds estimates and will likely continue next semester.
While the state the of the economy is certainly responsible for some of the losses, the hemorrhaging of membership dollars highlights a bigger problem. A large portion of the community has lost faith in WUFT-FM, and so have former and current staff members. It is time to re-evaluate the format change and consider the needs of the community. While some of the additions have proven worthwhile, others just don't add up. It is time to consider adding classical and jazz music back into the schedule, even if only for a block a day. Even the Dean's argument of increasing student involvement has not panned out; more students were cut by the format change than added. Why not add some student talk shows in place of expensive NPR or BBC programming? Dean Wright, please go back to the drawing board.
The Alligator published the letter
Frank, your letter got published in the Alligator today, Tuesday, November 11. There also was an article or opinion about the changes at WUFT-FM. I am not in town at the moment, and don't have it in front of me, but my daughter called from G'ville and will bring it all home tonight. Will post more detail then.
Meanwhile - Can we get the full list of donors and pledges? It is a public record isn't it? Of course the University and the jschool will deny that it is, and will likely fight any request for it. But, having the detailed records from this and the last couple of years of drives would probably make for some eye-opening comparisions. Anyone know how I'd make a request for this information, and how I could fight their likely refusal to provide it?
PS: Frank, we miss you, and Marty, and the Jazz.
Haha, I was just coming over
Haha, I was just coming over to post a link to the letter: http://www.alligator.org/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/article_3466dca8-...
Here is a link to the story: http://www.alligator.org/news/campus/article_0fd7de66-cdb7-11de-97cb-001...
I would not fill comfortable releasing a list of donors (I'm not sure if there is any laws stopping you from requesting a copy since the radio station is not a foundation, but rather part of the University), but I can provide totals.
Fall 2009 Total: 83,189.60 (it actually went up over the weekend, the closing amount of Friday was 82,429.60) The donations from the university largely disappeared as well.
Fall 2009 Total Number of pledges 730 (it went up over the weekend as well, the closing amount of Friday was 724)
Spring 2009 (spring is always weaker than fall): 114,692.25; number of pledges: 1017
Fall 2008: 132,337.95; number of pledges: 1215
Spring 2008: 112,675.89; number of pledges: 898
I used to have the numbers from 2007, but I think I lost them when I hard drive died a while back.
Clarifying what I was asking for
Frank, what I was asking for, perhaps not too clearly, was information on how to request the detailed pledge data from UF. Who to request it from, how to request it, etc. You certainly should not divulge that data: While it is probably, ultimately, public info and subject to Florida's public records laws, the university is the 800 pound gorilla and will not only fight like wild to keep secret that which it wants witheld, but would probably go after you if you released something that is ultimately a public record anyway.
What I am interested in are the contributions from the dean and his buddies. If Paul Gordon was one of the big donors, then I might file an ethics complaint with the State of Florida's Ethics Commission. I think Gordon is on thin enough ice as one of the consultants who did this, then appointed interim director of Multimedia ops, and finally a candidate for the position permanently (sweetheart deal?). But if he is helping inflate pledge figures, which make him look good and hence like a better candidate for the job, that is a very serious problem, in my opinion.
Requesting Pledge Numbers
Hey, feel free to shoot me an e-mail and I can provide you some more info on the general process for a Public Records Request with the university. frank0051@yahoo.com
Generally, you usually just contact that particular department or college you would like to request the information from and "request" the information. There is no formal process, usually an e-mail is fine; but, generally making a phone call to find out who the send the e-mail to first is better. From there, the request is usually granted and the records or turned over or it is sent to Steve Orlando and the General Counsel's office for review...that is where things get hairy. I think the one there is one thing in the Florida statutes that might protect the donors' list from being released, but I will look into it some more if I get a chance.
Anyways, like I said, feel free to shoot me an e-mail and I can give you some advice on how to phrase to request, what to expect in the process, what to do if they do not turn over the information, or if they attempt to charge you an obscene amount of money.
Double post
double post
Source of Numbers
Frank -
Just wondering what your source is for the numbers you cite? They seem quite specific ... right down to the exact number of pledges. Do you have any idea as to the number of pledge minutes (actual time on air in pledge breaks). That would be an interesting comparison to see of the dollars raised per time changed significantly.
I did have a sheet that
I did have a sheet that outlined approximately how long pledging would take place each program, but I deleted it. I imagine you could PRR one if you wish...not sure as to what extent actual radio station documents are covered by Ch. 119. As Mr. Gordon said in the article, on-air pledge segments were shorter this semester. However, I think that is insignificant given the change was done to make the station more self-sufficient and increase student involvement. If a program cost X amount of dollars, you need come as close to X amount of dollars (minus whatever your underwriting revenue is) to pay for that program, whether it takes 2 minutes or 10 minutes. While it may be more pleasurable to the listener to hear less pledging, it certainly does not help the station financially. You could do some easy algebra and find some interesting statistics for the numbers provided above, such as Average Per Day and Average Pledge Amount. I think those are more important numbers to look at.
Given the fact that a) far less money was brought in to pay for more expensive programming (granted new program costs are deferred for the first year or two thanks to the nice people at NPR) and b) less students are involved now (hopefully this will change in upcoming semesters), then I think it would be easy to label the pledge drive as somewhat unsuccessful. To extend on that "additional student involvement", I originally thought their would be more student talk/news/public affairs shows. That has not happened in the short term, but I hope it does in the long term. Those are shows that are community oriented and interactive, relatively cheap to provide, and provide a great deal of student training; of course, the flip side is decrease in support from the community. This possible downside could be offset if the programs were focused locally, such as weekly a public affair program covering the big issues facing North Central Florida that particular week and a monthly or bi-weekly interview program with a North Central Florida leader (sort of like Florida Public Radio's "Florida on the Line"). There are also some easy ways to increase donations by changing the number of days and whatnot, but that is for other people to look at.
That being said, the Dean and his consultants do have the ability to blame a poor economy. It is actually a good strategic move to make the change during a downturn, especially since pledges are relatively stable in an area like North Central Florida since a sizable number of donors are employed by local governments or educational institutions and, relatively speaking, more insulated from downturns in the economy. Ultimately, I think the Dean's supposed goal of eventually shifting the costs of employees to the station, rather than the college (in order to make the station truly self-sufficient), is beyond reach for the foreseeable future. While it is an admirable goal, the money just isn't there at this point. Plus it it cost shifting in the truest sense of the phrase, especially given that employees at the station do provide services to the college via student training.
It figures
Well then, based on the numbers from your source (if accurate) the average pledge for the just completed drive was $114 and was $109 in the Fall '08 campaign. Interesting. Also, the sharp increase in the number of web pledges -- as reported by the Sun -- indicates a significant trend towards a somewhat younger demographic.
Perhaps the most telling stats won't be available until February or so when the Arbitron ratings for the Gainesville-Ocala market come out. Not only will the AQH and share numbers be informative, but the demographics will be very telling.
The numbers are accurate;
The numbers are accurate; fullfillment percentage will be another interesting number to watch.
I noticed that trend, it is good to see the average donation amount up, but that could be consequential. There were 3 large donations from "insiders" (including the Dean, as I mentioned in the letter) which inflated the average by about $2.50 and donations from the University could end up pushing that level higher as well. If those pledges are reoccurring in future pledge drives, that would be great for the station. I know I would love to see these individuals as repeat donors - more money for public radio. What is telling is the average per day was down quite a bit; again the economy is definitely to blame, but how much?
As far as the web pledges: the question is are donations that are processed by the calling center counted as web pledges? I don't know the answer to that, but I would assume they are based on the time of some of the web pledges came in. I know some of the pledges I collected over the phone during jazz and blues were labeled as web (if I did them on the computer rather than paper) since I did not have direct access to the same pledge as the phone volunteers when the room was locked. I don't think it is an important trend unless those donations truly do come from the web rather than the call center; if they are truly web-pledges then you are absolutely correct: a younger (or for that matter, more professional) demographic is being reached. Again, that number could be consequential as well, even if they are not numbers from the call center: the three large donors and the University pledges account for about 9-10% of those pledges labeled as "web".
As far as Arbitron numbers, do you have access to the 2008 numbers (or any numbers for that matter)? I know I would be interested in seeing them; Joby and I tried to find Arbitron numbers for WUFT/WJUF in the Summer of 2008, but our search was unsuccessful. I asked Ben about them, but he told me, "the station does not rely on those numbers given data gathered for public radio stations is very, very questionable especially in relatively small markets like Gainesville". I don't remember seeing any Arbitron numbers for the station in the consultant's report either; in fact, I think the only numbers I have seen for the station are the ones that were on the old website from like the '95 Aribtron report. Based on what I know about Arbitron, they do not make the numbers for individual public radio stations available to the public by market, but individual stations can request them. Here is a link to the numbers for the past several survey sessions: http://www1.arbitron.com/tlr/public/market.do?method=getAllMarket (just select Gainesville-Ocala; notice there is no WUFT). As a side note, it is also my understanding that a public radio station must buy a license from Arbitron in order to use Arbitron data for marketing purposes when it comes to underwriting. I know the Radio Research Consortium and CPB can buy group licenses, but those numbers cannot be used for underwriting promotion by an individual station if memory serves me. Can you confirm any of this? Just figured you might be able to given you know a lot about public radio and CPB.
I like the idea of using Arbitron numbers just like you seem to, but it seems that using audience numbers might be baseless in the Dean's situation. If the change is being done to increase self-sufficiency and student involvement, then what do audience share numbers matter if that audience does not contribute money to reach the goal of self-sufficiency. Sort of a catch-22.
Anyways, look froward to your insight.
UNpledge numbers
Any compilation of the number of UNpledges or UNpledge dollars?
BTW, they didn't take a dollar amount on my UNpledge, nor did they call me back as they said they would.
Ratings Data
Although the data is collected, Arbitron does not report NCE numbers in their ratings books -- that's why WUFT is not listed via the link.
Public radio stations generally obtain ratings data through RRC, the Radio Research Consortium. There are some restrictions on how stations can use the data, but using them for underwriting is perfectly fine, as long as they are not used in comparison to other stations in the market. They are not inexpensive as Arbitron has recently increased the pricing and not all stations subscribe.
BTW, the TV Nielsen ratings have greatly increased their fees in the past several years and many public stations have decided to not subscribe or renew the service for their stations.
While I do have access to WUFT (and all public radio) numbers, I cannot share them as it would violate contractual agreements --sorry.
Donations of nearly $83K to WUFT's campaign is not an insignificant amount ... especially given the recent format change. Believe it or not, I'm sure that there are many listeners in the market who don't even know the station changed format! In other markets when public stations have changed to an all-news/talk format, the pattern has been the same -- an initial decline in membership dollars and listening, followed by a growth that supersedes the former. There is no reason to postulate that the scenario here in Gainesville will be much different.
Would you be able to say if
Would you be able to say if WUFT generally places in the top, middle, or bottom of the market?
"Donations of nearly $83K to WUFT's campaign is not an insignificant amount ... especially given the recent format change. Believe it or not, I'm sure that there are many listeners in the market who don't even know the station changed format! In other markets when public stations have changed to an all-news/talk format, the pattern has been the same -- an initial decline in membership dollars and listening, followed by a growth that supersedes the former. There is no reason to postulate that the scenario here in Gainesville will be much different."
Agreed, except for the "not insignificant" part. Eventually the station will bring in more money than the older one, but the question is how long? And will that be caused by economic and population growth in the area and inflation, or by actual strengthening in the donor base. Couldn't simply leaving a block of classical music held the majority of those donors in the short-term until they have (for lack of a better phrase) "died out"; Opera would see the same argument since they donate large sums of money. As for Jazz, wouldn't it just be cheaper? I think the flaw to your idea that most people do not know the station is changed is this: for some odd/quirky reason people in Alachua County (stable population, opposed to student population) seem to be somewhat more informed about the local community than other parts of the South (see voter turnout numbers)...just a little strange. Don't know if it has an effect, but I imagine for Alachua County listeners it does; of course, there are lots of other counties in the listening area, so I surmise that point could be null if the other counties are less informed. Second, I think in general most people do not venture down to the lower part of the dial of the radio unless they have a reason to (ie. want to listen to public radio or religious channels); if this is true, then the potential listening base likely does know that the format has changed.