2008 Woodie Awards
Committee outlines options for future of WMUB station
Megan Milstead
Issue date: 8/28/07 Section: Campus
After nearly seven months of research, the committee investigating the future of Miami University's involvement with its public broadcasting radio station, WMUB, will give its report to President David Hodge early next month.
The committee surpassed its original tentative deadline by almost four months.
"If we were going to do this right we were going to bring in consultants and people who know public radio," said Richard Campbell, chair of the committee and director of the journalism program at Miami. "At some point the president just said, 'Take the time you need to do this right."
WMUB-licensed to the university's president and board of trustees-is facing a decline in financial support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and Miami.
The university provides for office space, cash support for expenses such as student wages, and for seven full-time staff positions.
John Hingsbergen, program director for WMUB, said the station is satisfied with the people the committee has consulted.
"They've met with a ton of talented consultants," Hingsbergen said. "They've met with people we know and trust. Most of us on the staff are confident of the people the committee has talked to, and we don't expect anything terribly dramatic (to happen)."
According to WMUB General Manager Cleve Callison, the station also asked Miami University for a review.
"We went to the president and asked for the review," Callison said. "I guess you could think of it as a, 'How are we doing?'"
Callison said other important questions included whether the university wants a radio station, and if they do, what kind, as well as how much money it would cost to support the station.
The last major review of the station happened 10 years ago, about the time Callison was hired.
According to Campbell, the average university-owned radio station subsidizes 36 percent of its station's budget. Miami, in comparison, subsidizes 60 percent of WMUB's budget, and in this fiscally tight time, President Hodge felt the subsidy should be reduced.
The committee surpassed its original tentative deadline by almost four months.
"If we were going to do this right we were going to bring in consultants and people who know public radio," said Richard Campbell, chair of the committee and director of the journalism program at Miami. "At some point the president just said, 'Take the time you need to do this right."
WMUB-licensed to the university's president and board of trustees-is facing a decline in financial support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and Miami.
The university provides for office space, cash support for expenses such as student wages, and for seven full-time staff positions.
John Hingsbergen, program director for WMUB, said the station is satisfied with the people the committee has consulted.
"They've met with a ton of talented consultants," Hingsbergen said. "They've met with people we know and trust. Most of us on the staff are confident of the people the committee has talked to, and we don't expect anything terribly dramatic (to happen)."
According to WMUB General Manager Cleve Callison, the station also asked Miami University for a review.
"We went to the president and asked for the review," Callison said. "I guess you could think of it as a, 'How are we doing?'"
Callison said other important questions included whether the university wants a radio station, and if they do, what kind, as well as how much money it would cost to support the station.
The last major review of the station happened 10 years ago, about the time Callison was hired.
According to Campbell, the average university-owned radio station subsidizes 36 percent of its station's budget. Miami, in comparison, subsidizes 60 percent of WMUB's budget, and in this fiscally tight time, President Hodge felt the subsidy should be reduced.
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