With the decision by Congressional Republicans, endorsed by President Trump, to “claw back” previously designated federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — now defunct — two big noncommercial educational FM stations with listeners across Southern Ontario and Western New York faced a pressing financial dilemma.
Annual funding of $2.2 million through CPB evaporated. Listener donations from Canada and the U.S. alone couldn’t sustain initiatives including the recent launch of Adult Alternative-fueled offering “The Drive” on the station’s HD2 signals.
For Buffalo Toronto Public Media President/CEO Tom Calderone, a risky and innovative solution was solidified. One of the two FMs, with a commercial-band frequency dating to June 1960, will be converted from non-commercial status — allowing BTPM to take a cue from Toronto-based Zoomer Media, JAZZ.FM91, and even the CBC.
In Canada’s largest market, CFMZ-FM, CJRT-FM, and CBC Radio 2 all air advertising, with the latter allowed by the CRTC to do so with a four minute per-hour limit.
Now, BTPM seeks to take a similar path with WNED-FM 94.5. But, don’t expect the Classical format in place since August 1976 to suddenly pair Beethoven with ads for Northtown Kia. Rather, “BTPM Classical” will move from WNED to 50kw Class B WBFO-FM 88.7 in Buffalo. This will reduce “BTPM Classical” reception via 94.5 MHz in areas south of Buffalo including Salamanca and Olean, but allow them to shift to WNJA-FM 89.7 in Jamestown, N.Y., a Class B with a signal that includes Bradford County, Pa., and areas east of Erie, Pa.
Those who monitor the FCC’s LMS closely shouldn’t be surprised by the shift of WNED to commercial status for the first time since 1975, when it was WEBR-FM. On January 30, the FCC granted the modification request filed by licensee Western New York Public Broadcasting Association to change WNED to commercial status. EVP/COO Nancy Hammond made the filing on behalf of BTPM, but did not offer an explanation to the Commission as to why a shift after nearly 40 years was desired.
On Friday, Calderone — a former Global Head of Spotify Studios Podcasting and Video, VH1 President, Executive VP of MTV and MTV2, and one-time voice of iconic Modern Rock WDRE-FM in Philadelphia and Nassau County, N.Y. — unveiled the plan of action.
First, “BTPM” Classical’s “move” to WBFO will result in a mesh of music programming and signature NPR spoken word shows such as “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” and “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me,” as these shows cannot air on a commercial radio station. In reality, WNED’s programming is moving in full to WNJA-FM and will remain as-is for those who consume the “BTPM Classical” audio stream.
Current WBFO simulcast partners WOLN-FM in Olean, N.Y. and WUBJ-FM in Jamestown, N.Y., will continue to air their respective programming schedules but morph into “BTPM NPR,” taking on the full slate on spoken word programming heard on WBFO today.
Additionally, simulcasts of HD2 “The Bridge” or “Friday Night Lights” high school sports games will no longer be heard on WBFO itself. That programming will instead be heard on a new incarnation of WNED-FM that could debut as soon as May. Calderone is coy as of today, only saying the station “will become a reimagined, full-service station featuring local, national, and international news, public affairs, entertainment, sports, and music, supported by members and an advertising-eligible license.”
While it will not directly compete against CBC Radio One or CBC Radio Two, the reborn WNED could take a similar approach to attracting Western New York consumers, donors and advertisers. “The federal funding cut put us in a difficult position,” said Calderone. “But we are using this moment to think creatively — as we always have — about how we serve our community while protecting BTPM’s essential services. We still have details to finalize before the switch launches. However, we know how much our audiences value the stations they have listened to for decades, and we didn’t want to wait to share what’s ahead.”
