Advice on WMFE purchase: Transparency key to success
Enthusiastic applause for 100,000-watt 90.7 WMFE-FM’s recent announcement that the Federal Communications Commission has approved WMFE’s purchase of 89.5 WKSG-FM, a 22,000-watt noncommercial station near Ocala. WMFE’s intent is to create a two-station network showcasing public radio’s finest content for our region. When this is finally realized, three to five years from now, I fully hope to turn my enthusiasm into a standing ovation.
But bumps in the road may await, however. Each bump deserves a plan to address it. And that plan should be shared publicly to enhance the station’s credibility and transparency.
Speaking from experience gained during my 36-year leadership of WMFE, I think it is necessary for WMFE’s leaders to immediately define and publicly share the metrics they will use to measure the success of the new initiative, including how the new station will be self-supporting. WMFE must avoid major internal distractions like key staff turnover, particularly at the general manager level.
Within the year, WMFE should take steps to identify and groom a second in command, giving the general manager opportunity to fully develop the expansion.
Should the lead manager move on to better career challenges, the No. 2 lead is in place and waiting with no time lost to advancing the vision. WMFE should evaluate its corporate culture and inclusively shoreup areas in need of polishing when advancing toward this new initiative. WMFE should keep separate budgets for how it accounts for both stations’ annual operating expense and revenues. Consolidating budgets while cleverly taking from one station to pay for the other would only introduce damaging erosion and distrust. Overselling the dream while under-delivering on performance must be avoided. And a plan must be developed now to show how the stations will survive a likely reduction in federal support grants should the White House and Congress escalate their stated intent to zero out such support to stations.
Finally, WMFE must convince skeptics and potential major donors that WMFE leaders are not hitching this bold expansion to a broadcast technology that in future years will become increasingly obsolete. Today, listeners are more and more turning their ears and their financial support to other content-distribution platforms such as mobile digital and wireless devices. Those platforms offer on-demand delivery of content that does not need broadcast transmitters and expensive towers. How will this second station purchase figure into that challenge?
Yet in spite of my cautionary advice, I continue to applaud WMFE for this second station acquisition. The programming services coming forward from it to an unserved audience to our northwest will create opportunities for both stations and offer rich public radio content to new listeners.
Thanks, WMFE. Your plan is bold, but not without its challenges. I’m getting ready to give you a standing ovation.