Today's RCB/PBA-AETC Meeting

A meeting was held today between the Georgia Tech Radio Communications Board (RCB) and representatives ofthe Atlanta Educational Telecommunications Collaborative (AETC), which is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1994 to manage Public Broadcasting Atlanta, WABE 90.1FM, and WPBA TV30.

WREK alum Adam Preble (GM 2000-01) attended the meeting and provided the following summary:

They [AETC] stressed that they're "really here to listen and learn," and that they "don't want any of WREK's airspace for [their] programming." They are basically offering their services in a partnership to assist with underwriting and programming "should we decide one is necessary," and they see their larger role as helping to preserve unique programming like WREK's. When asked what they were interested in getting from WREK, their response seemed fairly altruistic; they see threats on the horizon for public broadcasting and say they want to help.

While they don't seem to have any interest in WREK's air time (they say they're very happy with WABE's 3 HD radio channels), I think it's important to note that their help doesn't come without a cost. For example, if we had them help with fundraising or underwriting, some form of profit sharing would be part of the arrangement.

RCB to meet with Public Broadcasting Atlanta

To continue its review of WREK, the Georgia Tech Radio Communications Board (RCB) will meet with representatives of Public Broadcasting Atlanta (PBA) on Thursday, March 29 to discuss PBA's proposal for a "partnership" with WREK. PBA operates WABE-FM, the Atlanta NPR affiliate.

According to news reports last fall, PBA's initial proposal was to "lease" WREK's main signal 14 hours a day, from 5AM-7PM for NPR and other programming.

Internet Streaming is not Free

A key part of each of the three proposals to change WREK's operation is that student broadcasts would continue using an HD radio subchannel and Internet streaming. For example, in his Dec. 1, 2006 letter to The Technique, Tech Associate VP of Institute Communications and Public Affairs James Fetig writes:

"...there always will be a student-controlled WREK signal in an independent HD format and on the Internet."

However, Internet streaming is not free, and in fact is becoming dramatically more expensive. This is because streaming requires the payment of performance royalties, which were established for digital transmission by the Digital Millineum Copyright Act in 1998. Stations pay these royalties to an organization called SoundExchange, which in turn disburses the proceeds to music performers and copyright holders. Note that these royalties are in addition to the traditional royalties that radio stations pay to music publishers such as ASCAP and BMI.

Performance royalty rates are set by the US Copyright Revew Board (CRB). Last Friday the CRB announced new (and significantly higher) royalty rates for internet streaming. According to this report, the new royalty rates will allow noncommerical webcasters to stream audio for a flat fee of $500 per year providing that listenership does not exceed 159,140 Aggregate Tuning Hours (ATH) per month (the amount of time all users listen to streaming audio in one month's time). Above this limit, noncommercial licensees will be expected to pay the full commercial cost, which for 2007 will be $.0011 per "performance" (i.e., per listener per song). This is a significant increase from previous rates. Even worse, the CRB increased the rates over the following years so that by 2010 the cost will be $.0019 per performance.

The limit of 159,140 ATH corresponds to an average of 216 listeners per hour. Given the choice of using Internet streaming or purchasing a $200+ HD radio receivers, most students are likely to choose Internet streaming to listen to WREK. The increased use of streaming by Tech's 17,000 students could surpass the limit, causing the higher per-performance rate to kick in and resulting in high royalty obligations.

For example, consider a scenario where the ATH limit is exceeded by 100 listeners per hour. Assuming WREK broadcasts 10 songs in an hour, the added royalties would be 100 X 10 X $.0011 = $1.10/hour. Over a year this adds up to a cost of $9,636. By the time 2010 rolls around, this amount would climb to $16,644 - a significant percentage of WREK's current operating budget. The more successful WREK is at attracting listeners, the higher the cost. This could make the cost of Internet streaming prohibitive.

Update: the text of the offical CRB decision can be found here.

More Details about the RCB Review

Here are some more details about the WREK Review Process that is being conducted by the Georgia Tech Radio Communications Board (RCB):

• A meeting with Public Broadcasting Atlanta (PBA) is being planned sometime in March. This will complete the RCB's hearings to consider the "three proposals".
• The WREK staff is in the process of preparing a Strategic Plan that will present their vision of WREK's future. This plan will be considered by the RCB as part of its deliberations.
  
• A survey of Georgia Tech students is being prepared and distributed by the Georgia Tech office of Institute Communications and Public Affiars (IPCA). The results of this survey will be reviewed by the RCB as part of its deliberations.
  
• A "Town Hall Meeting" at Georgia Tech is being planned to to facilitate a public discussion about the future of WREK.
  

The board will make its recommendations after these steps have been completed.

News Coverage of the RCB/GPB Meeting

This week's Technique and Creative Loafing both ran stories about the Feb. 7 RCB/GPB meeting:

• Technique article: "RCB meets with GPB representative" - Feb. 16, 2007. Describes the meeting, including the fact that no concrete proposal or financial terms are discussed. Mentions an upcoming meeting with Public Broadcasting Atlanta (PBA) in the "near future". Also discusses WREK's plans to broadcast in HD format, possibly by late summer.
• Creative Loafing article: "Public radio vies for airtime on WREK-FM" - Feb. 14, 2007. Describes the meeting and some of the alumni's concerns. Mentions administration plans for a "town hall meeting near the end of the semester to discuss the future of WREK-FM".
  

More about the RCB / GPB Meeting

I have received a few more details about the RCB /GPB meeting last week with Georgia Public Broadcasting, including a list of attendees. GPB was represented by the following people:

1. Ms. Nancy Hall, Interim Executive Director
2. Ms. Bonnie Bean, Chief Financial Officer
3. Mr. Mark Fehlig, Director of Technical & Engineering Services
4. Mr. Jim Wesley (title unknown)

While Ms. Hall, Ms. Bean, and Mr. Fehlig are all listed on the GPB website, Mr. Wesley is nowhere to be found.

However, some Google searching reveals that he is James W. Wesley, Jr., a retired broadcasting executive who was most recently Chairman and CEO of Summit Communications Group, Inc., which at the time owned several commercial radio stations and cable systems. Mr. Wesley is a Georgia Tech alum (IM '55) who got his start in broadcasting as an announcer at WSB in 1955 while still a Tech student.

What is even more interesting is that Mr. Wesley is a generous donor to Georgia Tech. Most notably, in 1998 Mr. Wesley and his wife endowed the James and Mary Wesley Chair in the School of Literature, Communications and Culture ("LCC") with a gift of $2.5 Million. More recently, he was listed in the highest category of donor ($500,000-$1,000,000) in the Georgia Tech Alumni Association's "Founders Council Newsletter" in Fall 2003, Spring 2005, and Spring 2006.

It is interesting to see someone of Mr. Wesley's stature and background advocating a "partnership" between GPB and WREK. As a major donor, I expect that any proposals that Mr. Wesley might bring to the Tech administration will receive careful consideration. However, while GPB expressed a strong interest in "leasing" a portion of WREK's signal at last week's meeting, they offered no concrete proposal.

The RCB / GPB Meeting

The RCB meeting with the GPB was held today as scheduled. Commenter "WREKker" at Rodney Ho's RadioTalk blog describes the scene (emphasis mine):

The meeting was unusual in a lot of ways. GPB’s representatives purported to only be interested in a “partnership” with WREK. They would give WREK staffers opportunities like internships in exchange for airing their programming. Whether WREK staff are interested in internships, I cannot say. But I doubt it. As for their programming, they are primarily interested in “drive time”, when they are airing NPR staples like Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, and Marketplace. They repeatedly stated that they were looking for a way to get a signal into Atlanta, and that they had no specific proposal. It was “whatever WREK wants.” It is uncertain whether you can take this at face value, however.

Update (2/8 10AM): Rodney has now posted his own report on the meeting.