Michigan Radio

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Michigan Radio is the collective name for the network of radio stations operated by the Michigan Public Media unit of the University of Michigan. The station is a founding member of National Public Radio and an affiliate of Public Radio International and American Public Media. The main studios for Michigan Radio are located in Ann Arbor. There are also studios in Flint and offices in Grand Rapids. Michigan Radio is licensed to the Regents of the University of Michigan.

The stations are:

• WUOM - Ann Arbor (91.7 FM, 93 KW)
• WFUM-FM - Flint (91.1 FM, 17.5 KW)
• WVGR - Grand Rapids (104.1 FM, 108 KW)

The stations are not identified by their call letters, except for the hourly legal ID. They are known as Michigan Radio: Your NPR News Station. The format of Michigan Radio is news/talk, which has been the format of the stations since July 1, 1996.

Combined, the three stations cover most of the southern two-thirds of the Lower Peninsula.

Contents 1 Station beginnings 2 Early growth and decline 2.1 Important 1960s Programming Producers 2.2 Present Day Major Programming Producers 3 Resurgence of Michigan Radio 4 Programming 5 Station finances 6 Criminal investigation 7 Sources 8 External links

[edit] Station beginnings

Before the university had applied for its own radio station, the University of Michigan Extension Service Bureau of Broadcasting produced programs for other stations starting the 1920s. For instance, in November of 1944, the Bureau of Broadcasting produced "Stump the Professor" for WJR in Detroit and "The Balkan States: Places and Nations in the News" for WKAR in East Lansing.

In the early 1940s, the University of Michigan applied for an AM radio station. The FCC turned down the application because there were not any available frequencies at the time. Around this time the university began working on plans for a statewide network of four FM stations to be located in Ann Arbor, Mount Pleasant, Manistique and Houghton. The university applied to the FCC on September 11, 1944 for a station at 43.1FM (part of a band of frequencies used for testing of Frequency Modulation) with a power of 50,000 watts. At the time an assignment on the new FM band was seen as a significant disadvantage.

The FCC granted a license for WUOM (for University Of Michigan) at 91.7 in the brand new FM band; the station went on the air in 1948, broadcasting from studios in Angell Hall on the UM campus. In 1949 the station moved across the street to newly completed studios on the fifth floor of the General Services Building, now known as the Literature, Science & Arts Building. Michigan Radio remained in those studios until August 23, 2003, when it moved off campus to the Argus Building on Ann Arbor's Old West Side. Its signal covers most of the southeastern and central Lower Peninsula, from Lansing to Detroit.

WFUM-FM (for Flint University of Michigan) has been on the air at its current 91.1 frequency since August 23, 1985. The original WFUM operated at 107.1 MHz during the 1950s and was also a simulcast of WUOM. WFUM-FM was shut down after WUOM increased its power to 115,000 watts, giving it adequate coverage of Flint and meaning that WFUM, which operated with only 400 watts of power, was no longer necessary. WUOM has since reduced its power to 93,000 watts, but still covers the central to southern Flint area nicely. WFUM-FM resurfaced at 91.1 MHz at an unknown date and today operates with 17,500 watts of power. Its signal reaches the immediate area around Flint. The station uses the "-FM" extension because the WFUM callsign is also assigned to the University of Michigan's television station in Flint, WFUM-TV.

WVGR (Vogt Grand Rapids, after the man who led the campaign for public radio in the area) has been broadcasting since December 7, 1961. It covers West Michigan with a powerful 108,000-watt signal and is the only station in the network that directly competes with another NPR member, in this case WGVU in Grand Rapids and WMUK in Kalamazoo (although WUOM decently covers Detroit, Ann Arbor and Detroit are separate radio markets). WVGR had long rented space on NBC affiliate WOOD-TV's tower, but had to move in 1999 because WOOD began construction of its HD transmission system and needed the tower space. It temporarily moved to CBS affiliate WWMT's tower while it raised money for a new tower of its own. WVGR was forced to downgrade to a mono signal, but will resume stereo broadcasting when it moves to its new tower in July 2006. [1]

[edit] Early growth and decline

WUOM quickly established itself as one of the leading educational broadcasters. Because the station was not affiliated with any of the commercial radio networks, it produced nearly all the programs it broadcast in the early days. The program guide for October, 1949 shows the station on the air from 12:00pm-10:00pm on weekdays (the station had just expanded into evenings), with a few hours of programs on Saturday and Sunday. The programs listed in the 1949 guide include "From the Classrooms," "Songs of France," "Tell Me, Professor," "Especially for Women," "Around the Town," "Record Rarities," "Hymns of Freedom," "Angell Hall Playhouse," and "Tea-Time Tunes." The station also offered live play-by-play of Michigan football games that month, as well as two live concerts from Hill Auditorium - recitals featuring University of Michigan faculty. Some of the programs featured recorded music, but nearly all programs were performed live to air in the first days. By the early 1950s many of these shows were being transcribed and sent to other stations.

In the mid 1960s the station had the largest staff of any FM radio station in the country. WUOM produced programs that were broadcast throughout Michigan on commercial and educational stations, and many of its programs aired around the country. The tapes were "bicycled" from one educational station to another.

Michigan Radio's popularity gradually decreased from the height of the 1960s, and by the early 1990s the station was seen by some as a neglected backwater. One important cause of the decline was that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, created in 1967, tended to divert funding away from university owned stations to stations in large urban areas. For example, compare a list of some important producers of 1960s era educational broadcasting to a list of the present day major producers:

[edit] Important 1960s Programming Producers

^{[citation needed]}

• WUOM/WVGR Ann Arbor, Michigan
• WOI Ames, Iowa
• WILL Urbana, Illinois
• WUOT Knoxville, Tennessee
• KUOM Minneapolis, Minnesota

[edit] Present Day Major Programming Producers

^{[citation needed]}

• WBEZ Chicago
• WNYC New York
• KQED San Francisco
• WAMU Washington, DC
• WETA Washington, DC

Another cause of WUOM's decline may be that radio listening patterns changed, and listeners had new expectations. WUOM, while making some changes to accommodate the new realities of broadcasting, clung to its previously successful 1960s model for program production, which included primarily music and host presentation.

As a result of reduced popularity, the station faced declining audience and contributions throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1995 the Corporation for Broadcasting informed the station that its audience was so small that its federal funding was in jeopardy. Around the same time, the University of Michigan commissioned a private study that recommended the university divest itself of the radio stations. The university decided against that plan and instead made one last attempt to resuscitate the station.

[edit] Resurgence of Michigan Radio

Donovan Reynolds became the manager of Michigan Radio in 1995. He determined that the only way to save the stations was to execute a marked departure from the past by broadcasting programs that listeners actually enjoyed. Reynolds changed the format to News/Talk on July 1, 1996. Although a few public radio stations had a news/talk format in 1996, most were on AM. Classical music was still offered, but only during evenings, overnight and on weekends. The classical music programs were phased out in July of 2000, but continued to be streamed on the Internet from the station's website until 2004. Some classical music fans were initially unhappy with the changes, especially due to the recent closure of a Detroit commercial classical station, WQRS-FM 105.1, in 1998. Unfortunately for classical music fans, the talk-intensive format has been extremely successful in terms of attracting new listeners and therefore listener donations. The station now has a weekly audience of 451,000, making it the 8th largest public radio station in the country.^{[citation needed]}

Michigan Radio's transformation to a news/talk format coincided with NPR's offering of a new package of programs to span the gap between Morning Edition and All Things Considered. These new programs included the Diane Rehm Show, The Derek McGinty Show, and others, and Michigan Radio was the first station to sign up to offer this package to its listeners. This new package marked a major shift in the emphasis at NPR and inaugurated a decade of massive growth in the national weekly audience of public radio, from approximately 15 million in 1996 to 27 million in 2004^{[citation needed]} due to the popularity of the news/talk format. As audiences increased in size, donations to the stations also rose considerably.

As a public radio pioneer in the news/talk format on FM, Michigan Radio may have helped influence similar transitions to that format by stations including WUNC in Chapel Hill, NC, WETA in Washington, DC, and WNYC-FM in New York City, among many others. In January 2007, the list will grow to include WBEZ in Chicago. For several years after 1996, Michigan Radio's rise was a case study in the public radio industry, and its success still fuels change elsewhere, including in Iowa, where the Bornstein and Associates Report on Iowa Public Radio consolidation devotes a chapter to studying Michigan Radio's format change.

[edit] Programming

Michigan Radio provides a variety of programs, including:

• Morning Edition
• BBC Newshour
• The Diane Rehm Show
• Fresh Air
• Day to Day
• Talk of the Nation
• All Things Considered
• Marketplace
• The World
• News and Notes with Ed Gordon
• On Point
• Living on Earth
• On the Media
• Weekend Edition Saturday
• Car Talk
• Whad'Ya Know
• Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
• This American Life
• Weekend America
• A Prairie Home Companion
• Thistle and Shamrock
• American Routes
• Speaking of Faith
• Marketplace Money
• Splendid Table
• Studio 360
• The Changing World

[edit] Station finances

Being a telecommunications entity operated by the University of Michigan, Michigan Public Media and Michigan Radio financial documents can be obtained from the university through the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.

Michigan Radio receives the largest portion of its funding from listener contributions (41% in FY 2005). These contributions are solicited during two annual fund drives, in the spring and fall, lasting about 7 days each. Listeners are encouraged to become "members" of Michigan Radio, but such membership does not include any publicly known privileges. So called "day sponsors," who contribute $365 per year, will have a short message read a few times on the air on a selected day. These listener fund drives are known to be very successful, and the station regularly exceeds its monetary goals.

The second largest revenue source for Michigan Radio is underwriting contributions (30%), and the underwriting company typically receives on-air mentions in return. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting provides 9% of station funding, and the university itself kicks in another 9%.

Having increased its net assets by over $2.5 million in the last 3 fiscal years, the station is clearly doing very well financially. According to a 2004 CPB report on the financial health of public radio stations, Michigan Radio was one of the few top 20 public radio stations in excellent financial health. That CPB report, titled "Having It All," was seen as a general warning to all public broadcasters, including Michigan Radio, to improve the bottom line of their stations. Although the station remains silent on the air about its financial goals, it is presumably amassing cash for the following purposes:

• Cushion unexpected shortfalls in revenue, should a fund drive fall short of its usual record-breaking performance.
• Rainy day fund, should federal or university support be reduced.
• Funding for major expenses, such as a new $1.5 Million tower for WVGR near Grand Rapids.^{[citation needed]}
• Funding for expanded programming and services.
• Emergency expenditures, such as a lightning strike at the Ann Arbor studios in July 2005, that caused a few thousand dollars in damage.

Michigan Radio Financial Information
Year Ending June 30 of	2005	2004	2003
Fund Drive Contributions	$2,212,975	$2,126,367	$1,980,700
Underwriting Revenue	1,305,348	1,280,278	813,878
Total Revenue	5,406,342	6,694,305	5,301,301
Operating Expenses	4,848,220	4,830,944	3,808,165
Total Net Assets	5,974,401	5,368,162	3,458,634

[edit] Criminal investigation

In early 2006 the university department of public safety began an investigation into some financial irregularities at Michigan Radio, resulting in 3 former station employees being charged with crimes. It was found that nearly $60,000 was given to businesses in exchange for on air mentions, an arrangement that violates FCC regulations for nonprofit broadcasters.

Former deputy director at Michigan Public Media Michael Coleman and former director of development Justin Ebright were both sentenced to probation, while WUOM salesman Jeremy Nordquist was found guilty of a felony count of conspiracy to commit embezzlement.

[edit] Sources

1. WUOM/WVGR/WFUM-TV Financial Statements for years ending June 30, 2005 and 2004. Audited by George Johnson & Company, Detroit, Michigan.

[edit] External links

• Michigan Radio website
• Technical Info on WUOM/WFUM/WVGR Transmitters from Michiguide
• "How Radio Got Into the Act" - Jack Mitchell's account of the three men at WUOM who got radio included in the act creating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
• CPB report "Having it All." The report explores the financial health of public radio stations. (pdf)
• Bornstein and Associates Report on Iowa Public Radio, which contains a chapter devoted to Michigan Radio's 1996 format change.
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WUOM
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WFUM
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WVGR