[BC] seattletimes.com: Asset too valuable to sell

[Craig Bowman]

Is there any data to support the assertion this station is helping kids 
stay in school. 

Personally, I think a dance station is the farthest thing from a "public 
treasure"!  Lets keep things in prospective, this is likely a luxury the 
school system can no longer support.  Do all the classes have enough 
books?  How many kids per class?  Should I continue?  Yes, this might be 
a short term financial problem, and selling the radio station will mean 
that it is gone forever  How many students might do without in the 
absence of this money and what is the value of that.

Craig Bowman


Bernie Courtney wrote:

>if that article is right that would give them about a 1.7 / 1.8 in the
>market-- dam good for a high school station, let alone one with a
>dance format.  Dam good playlist too, they got tracks in rotation that
>the dance channels on XM and KTU in NYC haven't even spun yet.  I'm
>impressed!
>
>bern
>
>On 5/5/05, Brent Hall <reader at oldradio.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>Asset too valuable to sell
>>Full story:
>>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2002262108_danny04.html
>>
>>  Sawyer Moe may be new to radio. But he's a pro at the ancient disc-jockey
>>art of begging for money.
>>
>>First he woos his listeners with praise. They must be cool if they're tuned
>>to C89.5-FM, Seattle's hottest dance music, right?Next he scolds. Why is no
>>one calling during our pledge drive?
>>
>>Finally, the high school junior tries the blunt truth:
>>
>>"We need the money!" Moe shouts over a thumping dance-hall beat. "You know
>>the Seattle School District won't give us any -- they don't even have any
>>for themselves!"
>>
>>There's a lot of gallows humor around the C89.5 studios these days. That's
>>because selling the station -- arguably the most successful high school
>>radio outfit in the country -- is on the list of ideas for how to solve the
>>district's budget crisis.
>>
>>It's startling how much the district says it could make: $8 million.
>>
>>It would be a one-time cash windfall. In the short term it's more money
>>than you get by closing schools and cutting transportation. It's almost
>>enough to balance next year's out-of-whack budget by itself.
>>
>>Not bad for a bunch of kids toiling out of a dingy, converted classroom at
>>Nathan Hale High School in North Seattle.
>>
>>It's also why the district should leave the station alone. It's way too
>>valuable to sell.
>>
>>"The kids have built this place into a powerhouse," says Gregg Neilson, the
>>station's teacher-manager since 1983. "They aren't fiddling with radio in a
>>classroom. They're doing it on a par with the biggest radio stations in the
>>city."
>>
>>That's not just pride talking. The 50 student DJs and technicians reach
>>110,000 listeners weekly. That's about one-fourth as many as Seattle's top
>>FM station, KMPS (94.1) country, and as many as some AM commercial stations.
>>
>>Billboard magazine considers C89.5 one of the six most influential dance
>>stations in the nation. The others are all owned by multibillion-dollar
>>corporations such as Clear Channel and Entercom.
>>
>>The noncommercial station is almost self-sustaining. Listeners contribute
>>$220,000 a year, enough to pay for all but two teachers (who, besides
>>managing the station, teach classes in radio and video).
>>
>>All this would vanish if the district sells. It has happened elsewhere; in
>>2003, Portland schools got $5.5 million for a classical station.
>>
>>Selling irreplaceable assets to patch recurring budget deficits is a
>>mistake. Even if you net $8 million. Public treasures are lost forever, and
>>without more cuts the ledger just goes back in the red.
>>
>>C89.5 also has intriguing plans to seek underwriting, &agrave; la National
>>Public Radio, so it has the potential to turn a profit.
>>
>>But I was especially swayed by an aside from a reader, Patricia Goudge,
>>whose son Matt Cohn is the station's student manager. She heard I was
>>dropping by the station around 3 p.m., and wondered: Could I urge Matt to
>>come home by 10?
>>
>>We usually fret about how to get kids to stay in school.
>>
>>What's it worth to have them so obsessed with what's going on at school
>>that they won't stay away?
>>
>>Danny Westneat's column appears Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at
>>206-464-2086 or dwestneat at seattletimes.com.
>>
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>>
>>    
>>
>
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>  
>

-- 
Craig Bowman
Bowman Engineering
Durand, MI 48429
989-277-8835

"Conscience is but a word that cowards use,
devised at first to keep strong men in awe."

William Shakespeare