Here is the latest WBAI Treasurer's Report. You will have to click several times on the enlarge button to bring the dire report to a readable size.
And here, extracted from the Treasurer's Report, is this summer's fundraising tally, as furnished by the station's delusional management. Please click on the tally table to enlarge the image... unfortunately, that will have no effect on the totals, which—coming from Berthold Reimers—are less than reliable.
(JustAListener)
ReplyDeleteWhat pops out is the 20K brought in on Wed July 29th.
Was that Null's "Survival Stuff"?
An organization that had management would track the details but this manager is too busy hiding under his desk...
I would love to see how much money Null makes on these thinly disguised sales. Once a major source of enlightenment, WBAI has become a greater source of income for the likes of Null.
DeleteWe should have leased out the signal when we still had the chance. -Kevin White
ReplyDeleteThat would have been a bandaid, Kevin. Only an enema, applied Foundation-wide, could have worked.
DeleteI have said in recent times how WBAI has hit the limit and over-bled the ever shrinking supporters. Any person with a brain would recognize this, make a budget, cut expenses, etc., especially a supposed accountant now GM. However, when you are blinded by political ideology, nepotism and greed, and no one puts a stop to your antics, you do business on usual, living parasitically off other people for as long as you can.
ReplyDeleteSee, this is what really gets me more than anything else. No one in any power at Pacifica ever actually does anything to put a stop to the WBAI nonsense. For all purposes, WBAI acts as an independent station, doing what it wants. That's why I blame parent Pacifica even more than its children at WBAI.
SDL
The Pacifica Board's seeming indifference is, indeed, puzzling. In the pre-"democracy" days, there were monthly in-person meetings of the Pacifica Board, attended by the three GMs, who each delivered a written report. On the following day, the managers had their own meeting—a very practical approach that saved money and yielded quality programs.
DeleteThese numbers are of course beyond catastrophic.
ReplyDeleteIf I recall rightly, and as I understand it, KPFK had its CPB funding taken down because its listenership had fallen below the minimum threshold – are WBAI and any of the other stations facing comparable issues?
Also, so far as I know we’ve had no public reference to or information on the AGs’ investigations.
All in all, and still, a long running infinitely squalid little tale.
~ 'indigopirate'
Does the CPB have a minimum threshold for funding? If so, I would imagine it must be different for different radio markets due to the number of potential listeners.
ReplyDeleteI really wonder if the AG investigation won't just "go away" as it seems things tend to with Pacifica. If nothing else, the number of topics that are secretive at Pacifica are ever increasing all the time. Soon the PNB members' names will be secret (mention a name and off to Pitmo you go, without trial). Amusing how they are becoming everything they were against all these years, kind of like how many of the old hippies became Republicans.
Anyway, I tuned about the FM and see Armand's ass kissers inherited his time slot. I guess it is an investment that the spirit of Armand will bring in money. Needless to say, I tuned away.
SDL
As I recall the few passing statements we’ve heard indicate that CPB funding requires a minimum listenership defined by a formula accounting for signal strength and potential audience numbers within that signal’s reach. Minimum listener financial support standards also apply.
DeleteI don’t know precisely what those levels are, but I do recall that we’ve had reference to the fact that a significant number of small community radio stations are no longer eligible for CPB funding because of declining listenership.
It’s possible the AGs’ investigations will simply ‘go away’. On the other hand, WBAI/Pacifica have a tendency to color perceptions with their own attitudes, which tend to involve largely tacit assumptions and expectations that crises that don’t immediately force them into bankruptcy, dismemberment, or dissolution are in a sense acceptable so long as you talk about it (mostly in secret) and form various committees to plan to talk about talking about talking about it and reaching plans to talk about it and ‘develop plans’ and ‘talk about developing plans’ ‘soon’.
Certainly this has been the approach to the studio situation, the transmitter situation, the fraudulent commercial fund-raising situation, etc.
Not to mention the minor detail of the programming situation.
There’s a strong tendency to think you can ‘get away with it’ or ‘it’s not really a problem’ or ‘we’ll manage, we always have’. Sometime it plays that way, sometimes you’re a low-rent bush-league ‘progressive’ nonprofit version of Madoff.
After all, no one plans on getting caught.
Ever.
~ ‘indigopirate’
@~ ‘indigopirate’:
DeleteThe CPB requirements make perfect sense. There’s no reason to give money to a station that has 100 listeners and makes as many dollars. I wonder if the funding cuts will cause Bob Fass to have to announce fewer call letters in the future.
Pacifica’s and WBAI’s strategy for decades has been to push things aside unless/until they absolutely had to be dealt with. It’s their modus operandi. However, don’t compare them to Bernie Madoff, who did a much better job of “borrowing from Peter to pay Paul,” until the end.
I know this is redundant, but with a dwindling audience leaving and/or dying off, fewer Dollars shall be coming into the station. These morons simply won’t accept that and respond as needed, by drastically cutting expenses. Now is the time they need to project lower earnings and meet that budget. No, they won’t. They’ll talk about how to get more listeners and supporters to the crap they put on, which won’t happen, of course.
SDL
@ SDL – Agreed on all points.
DeleteThe core problem being, of course, the long abandonment of the foundational principles and purpose and an accompanying dedication to what, for lack of a better term might simply be called ‘good radio’.
There is no interest in good radio at WBAI/Pacifica and therefore no reason for anyone to listen.
It isn’t complicated.
~ ‘indigopirate’
I'm amazed they were able to raise 70,450--that's how many suckers born over how many minutes--may well exceed PT Barnum's estimate.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find fascinating is how BAI's current "programming" is at war with itself.
ReplyDeleteThe blaxploitation which makes up a huge percentage of programming nowadays is actually in opposition to the Gary and the Null Set... largely middle-class and upper-middle white people. The only thing Null's audience and Haskins' have in common is a penchant for stupidity. Perhaps the station needs to combine these disparate elements with a promo for a Reparations Weekend at Gary's Florida estate. Or with a giveaway of Gary's Black Stuff (free from coal tar dyes, of course).
Outside these mirror elements of exploitation sits the only decent programming left on the station: Off The Hook, Peter Bochan, Jim Freund, Opera Glass, Richard D Wolff, Simon Loekle, Max Schmid, James Irsay... This is the talent I'll miss when the charlatans and racists bring the station crashing down.
(JustAListener)
ReplyDeleteHank Kee went off on management again last night.
Management knocked PCRS for not raising any funds one night even though the PCRS was pre-empted that night!
But that's just "management" as usual.
I hope the PCRS crew continues online after WBAI has faded away.