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Corporation for Public Broadcasting Oversight and a Look Into Public Broadcasting in the Digital Era
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet
Ms. Laura R. Walker
Thank
you, Chairman Upton and Ranking Member Markey, for inviting me to testify today
on behalf of WNYC Radio. As President and Chief Executive Officer of WNYC, I am
pleased to come before the Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee to
provide members with an overview of how public radio stations such as WNYC meet
the public service needs of their communities everyday. For me, no period of
time better exemplifies WNYC's commitment to the greater New York metropolitan
area than September 11 and the months following that day.
WNYC's mission is to provide the highest quality programming -
programming "to make the mind more curious, the heart more tolerant, and the
spirit more joyful." Now, more than ever, that mission is critical. Public
Radio nurtures and helps sustain an informed citizenry by putting the necessary
resources towards important coverage of national and international news.
Public Radio provides a critically important independent voice as
conglomerates have gobbled up the commercial airwaves, and media in general
continues to evolve into the domain of fads and fluff. Public
Radio has the power to inspire listeners, whether with music or information. It
has developed a truly unique relationship with its audience and the community in
which it broadcasts - a relationship based on respect and intelligence,
honesty not salesmanship and on genuine interaction rather than superficial
indulgences. WNYC:
New York's Premier Public Radio Station WNYC
Radio is New York's premier public radio service.
It comprises two stations: WNYC
AM 820 and WNYC FM 93.9 FM. As the
nation's most listened-to public radio stations, WNYC AM and FM reach over a
million listeners each week in the New York City Metropolitan area - including
all five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, New Jersey, Long Island and
Connecticut - and extending New York City's cultural riches to the entire
United States and air national programming from network affiliates National
Public Radio (NPR) and Public Radio International. WNYC
Radio has a long and distinguished history of providing New York and the nation
with unique news, educational, cultural, and public affairs programming. WNYC
AM, one of the nation's oldest radio stations, first broadcast in 1924.
WNYC FM was created 19 years later in 1943.
Although both stations were owned by the City of New York and operated by
the non-profit WNYC Foundation, in 1997, the WNYC Foundation, which was
established by private citizens, purchased the radio licenses from City
government. Today, WNYC Radio is
run as an independent, non-profit organization. Since
its launch in 1998, wnyc.org has produced a wide range of interactive
programming to enhance the listening experience and solicit audience feedback.
Those features include live, on-line access - all day, every day - to
the AM and FM stations; archived audio of our programs as well as transcripts;
and forums for the discussion of national and local events. WNYC's
Programming Excellence: Local & National WNYC
is a strong local voice within the New York community and a national news
leader. Our newsroom has produced
hundreds of local reports for Morning
Edition, All Things Considered,
and Marketplace, and our daily
flagship programs, The Brian Lehrer Show,
The Leonard Lopate Show, Soundcheck,
and New Sounds, present many live
broadcasts and public forums. In
addition, WNYC produces national series such as Studio 360, On the Media, Selected
Shorts, Satellite Sisters, The Next
Big Thing, and The Infinite Mind.
These six programs are distributed to over 400 public radio stations around the
country and reach a national weekly audience of more than two million listeners. WNYC
is a leading voice of independent journalism and we are grateful for the
national reputation that we have developed for programming excellence.
For example, in June, WNYC won six New York State Associated Press
Broadcasters Association Awards, including the grand prize award:
the Steve Flanders Memorial Award for the best radio station overall. WNYC and Sound Portrait Productions also won the 2001 Edward
R. Murrow Award for Best Documentary for A
Public Radio Special Report: The Execution Tapes. Through
the years, WNYC has also served as a musical and cultural touchstone for our
listeners - from radio's very first broadcast of recorded classical music in
1929, to live concerts of tomorrow's avant
garde. September
11's Impact on WNYC The
events of September 11 truly challenge the commitment and resolve of every one
of us. It is at times like these
that we rededicate our commitment to public service.
Nowhere was that more evident than in New York City.
I want to describe to you how WNYC was affected and the extraordinary
work that WNYC's staff did in order to continue to serve the people of New York
during this crisis. Most
significantly, WNYC was able to provide non-stop broadcast service despite
having lost its transmitter in the attacks. First
and foremost, no one on staff was hurt, although several witnessed the event up
close. Both the FM antenna and the
back-up antenna were destroyed by the collapse of the World Trade Center.
WNYC was off the air on 93.9 FM for a period of 6 days, but we were able
to broadcast on AM 820 at full power 24 hours/day. On
September 11th, I was with a skeleton crew at One Centre Street where we
broadcast throughout the day, until all communication and power in the building
went down. We lost our AM signal
for approximately two hours while we made the switch to a direct feed from the
NPR bureau in midtown Manhattan to our AM transmitter. One
day later, we continued to broadcast from NPR's midtown office, where we used
makeshift studios in very small quarters. I cannot express strongly enough how supportive National
Public Radio President Kevin Klose and his team were in keeping us on the air.
To enable us to get our signal from the broadcast site to the satellite,
Washington-based NPR staff actually drove a kU-band dish to our AM transmitter,
which is situated in New Jersey, on Tuesday night, without which our continued
broadcast would have been near impossible.
Staff at the New York NPR bureau also worked with us to make room for our
activities so that we could continue to serve our listeners and the national
community through our news reporting. And
again, we are so grateful for the support of the entire public radio community
during these difficult days. We
temporarily relocated our administrative activities to our friends at WNET
Channel 13 public television, and WNET also helped keep our web site running and
our online audio streaming. Under
these incredibly challenging circumstances, our news and engineering teams did
an extraordinary job, not only keeping New Yorkers informed, but filing stories
for the entire nation through NPR. For
our FM activities, we made arrangements with another broadcaster to use their
space on the Empire State Building to install a temporary FM antenna.
A back-up transmitter was driven to New York from Illinois. We had an
active low-power FM signal by the end of that fateful week. We
also offered to simulcast our AM signal on WNYE-FM, the NYC Board of Education
radio station, in order to provide the most up-to-date information available on
the rescue efforts, school closings and transportation changes.
The Chancellor's office accepted our offer and we simulcast on WNYE 91.5
FM. In
the end, many called with generous offers of help and to express their concern.
Everyone at WNYC very much appreciated their support.
I especially want to take this opportunity to thank you, Mr. Chairman and
Members of the Committee, and Members of the New York Delegation, in
particular, for providing funding in a supplemental appropriation for New York
City. Your support was greatly
needed and appreciated. WNYC's
Commitment to the Community After
9/11, WNYC has recommitted itself to the rich and diverse New York community and
to youth education. WNYC has always and will continue to reach out into the
community and seek to nurture the strong, active citizenry that lies at the
heart of public broadcasting and New York City, itself.
WNYC recently took the following initiatives:
In
addition, WNYC continues its long-time commitment to partnering with New York
City's cultural institutions to present live concert performances, many
broadcast nationally, from such venues as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the New
York Philharmonic, American Music Festival, New York Guitar Festival, World
Festival of Sacred Music, and Merkin Concert Hall. The Community's Commitment to WNYC The
overall revenue for WNYC in Fiscal 2001 was $23 million.
Significantly, membership contributions rose a healthy 9% to $7.2
million, representing 30% of the overall revenue, and the largest source of
revenue in that year. Many
of WNYC's devoted listener-members also serve as volunteers at WNYC's live
community events and in our Listener Services Department. Underlying
WNYC Radio's successes is the support of our committed, diverse volunteer
board composed of dedicated individuals with backgrounds in non-profit,
business, education and community service.
The vision of these leaders has guided WNYC from city agency to
independent organization, and will serve it well in the era of growth and
opportunity that lies ahead. Conclusion
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