As you will see, the financial outlook for WBAI continues to grow grimmer. Here's an excerpt, followed by a link to Treasurer R. Paul Martin's full report.
"... At the February 3, 2016, local Finance Committee meeting the WBAI General Manager
reported to the committee that former WBAI interim Program Director Tony Bates had been hired as a consultant for $2,500 to run the December on-air fund raiser, and that a similar
arrangement had been set up for the same amount of money for premium contributions to the
current WBAI Winter on-air fund raiser. The $2,500 includes air fare to and from Los Angeles
and accommodations for the three weeks that he lives in New York City to do this job. The
General Manager was pleased with Mr. Bates’ performance.
At this local Finance Committee meeting the General Manager said that he was already
planning a one week extension to the current on-air fund raiser...."
The complete February 2016 Treasurer's Report.
ADDENDUM On the Blueboard, SDL asked "How goes the Beg-a-thon" Today R. Paul Martin replied:
"After 8 days the tally is $75,050. The daily tally stands at $9,381 per day. Goal for this 'thon is a tally of $460,000. Daily tally goal is $12,432, which requires 37 days to reach $460,000.
One day last week exceeded the daily goal by $2,328. All other days have been under the daily goal."
I'll read the .pdf later, as I have to work now. Check out RPM's BB for some current beg-a-thon numbers.
ReplyDeleteSDL
(JustAListener)
ReplyDeleteWhen's Reimers going to bring in Bill Cosby to fundraise?
Bet he's now available for a reasonable price.
I hadn't thought of that, but Bates and Cosby do have something in common... whether it will work on men is another matter. I hear tell that Haskins & Hamilton propose selling the white producers and hosts at auction. :)
DeleteI bid $100 for Malachy McCourt!
DeleteSDL
The parts of the report that stuck out besides the actual numbers:
ReplyDeleteStill working on FY14 audit! Hoping to get FY15 audit done by June deadline for
CPB funding.
Hey Mr. GM, No more QuickBooks.
CFO will propose new sources of funding besides listener donations.
WBAI getting a very small cut of Gary Null fundraisers. Wait a minute, isn't he suing Pacifica?
All Pacifica bank accounts should be at the same bank and the CFO should have access. This would save money on fees which is higher at WBAI then the other stations and allow central management and audit compliance.
The KPFK mess could stick all of Pacifica with a nice big bill thanks to their GM's incompetence. It looks like the KPFA GM will need her own 'safe harbor'.
“The CFO also said that Pacifica relies on Listener Support too much, which he said is not efficient for the long term.” Yes, especially when your stations are losing listeners…
ReplyDeleteWhat does Tony “Casanova” Bates actually do, anyway? The beg-a-thons sound the same as they always do, minus the Null Stuff, which I kind of like, since it must burn him up not getting to hawk his Stuff coupled with the loss of all that self-publicity.
The Null retreat – HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Dave Kenney may not have made a lot of money with his event, but I’ll bet he did it in an honest manner.
“While large donation premiums are raising most of the money in the on-air fund raiser, it is thought by many, including me, that the nature of some of the premiums puts off WBAI’s regular listeners, which can have a long term negative impact onWBAI’s listenership.” Not only “puts off” but has driven away listeners.
Radford raging at KPFK!
SDL
The old Hamilton slavery bit they re-ran contained phone numbers no longer in use, and I bet the "premium" is no longer in the heap. Today, they rebroadcast that Gwen Scott infomercial that they wore out a couple of years back. Scott has died in the meantime and they obviously didn't have her DVD set on hand, at least not legitimately, since three people caught Reimers making illegal copies a few years back. As Steve Brown recalled it yesterday (in a move to console a panicking Mitchel Cohen):
Delete"... 3 years ago, Janet Coleman, Carolyn Birden, and I had caught Berthold copying Natural Medicine: a Survivor’s Guide by Dr. Gwen Scott. We reported him to then-Executive Director Summer Reese, who reprimanded him, ordered the disk-copying machines shipped out to the Archives, and had attorney John Crigler write a letter explaining why what he had done was illegal and subject to fines and jail terms. But evidently, Berthold never shipped out the copying machines, and never stopped making illegal copies (or accepting CDs he knew were illegal, as for example the Martin Luther King compilations that Bernard White offered on the air)."
Think of all the stories we haven't heard yet!
Well, Chris, scroll and read the fine print on http://www.gwenscottnd.com/
Delete"Natural Medicine: A Survivor's Guide - Copyright Dr. Gwen Scott, N.D. Duplication and/or unauthorized distribution is strictly prohibited. Violators will be prosecuted."
The set seems to still be available via the website. Natural Medicine: A Survivor's Guide - 3 DVD Set $39.99 (6.99 Priority Shipping. How much does WBAI charge?
SDL
Well, that's interesting, isn't it?
DeleteWBAI's price for that $40 set is $125 + undisclosed s&h! Now we know that the profit to the station can be quite good, what with them making their own copies... even better when they don't put anything in the mail.
When it comes to copyright infringements, I am very suspicious when it comes to the music sold by Mike Sargent, Tony Ryan, Daultie Anderson, Hopper and others. The speeches also need to be looked into.
3:03PM. Is this the Hamilton premium you mentioned, where he says it's 2013?
ReplyDeleteSDL
Damn! They're running it again! This is the same old propaganda commercial. It is pre-Sandy. See, he gives the 516 number... a commercial for Lux soap or Rheingold Beer would have as much relevance.
DeleteThey'd make more money selling Donald Trump toilet paper. Yes, it exists. I bet they could easily get $60.00 per roll.
Deletehttp://www.amazon.com/TK-Novelties-Donald-Trump-Toilet/dp/B01A3G78B4/ref=sr_1_2/178-3197475-9581935?ie=UTF8&qid=1455138028&sr=8-2&keywords=trump+toilet+paper
SDL
Could Madoff do a show from FCI Butner on BAI? Like Mumia. Madoff didn't pull half the shit these guys did.
DeleteKGT
"Cake" Davis is telling us all about eating plants and how they regrow. Considering the size of her, she must eat a forest every day. What a bullshit artist. No wonder Tony Bates has made her his beg-a-thon star. She'll spit out any old shit without remorse, as does he. Davis has absolutely no morals to speak of. You know what? I hope Pacifica denies her that LSB seat, just because she is so damn corrupt. Even an anti-whitey bigot, or a snake, is more honest than she is.
ReplyDeleteSDL
Yes, that she is. I used to give her the benefit of a doubt, attributing her idiocy to naivite. I now believe otherwise. She knows full well that Bates is guilty of a slew of loathsome actions, some of which.she.has willingly (and eagerly) participated in. Kathy is not very bright, l.m.o., but she is to a great extent dizzy by design. I still would like to know what on earth made Null give her an outlet for her nonsense ...birds of a feather, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI think Null collects the WBAItes with hopes of using them for his own purposes one day. He probably thinks they will be good witnesses against Pacifica and WBAI.
ReplyDeleteYou know my opinion about Davis - she's just nuts. If I were GM, she'd be gone on the first day. In fact, she'd probably be the first one I'd fire.
SDL
Another LSB meeting without quorum as the Indys failed to show. The JUC played the victim role pretty well. They accuse the Indys of anything and everything and the Indys return the favor. Ironically, they actually got a few more people showing up than a regular meeting. If this keeps up, someone may find a pretext to unseat an Indy member and claim a quorum. One member has already spoken about taking unilateral actions.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that not only do the factions not talk to each other, they don't talk much within their groups. Of course, they could be lying but I got the distinct sense that some faction members on both sides genuinely don't know what's going on and are just following orders.
I also learned about the mgmt. evaluation committee created in 2014 & the PD search committee. The GM hasn't been evaluated in five years. According to the comm. report at the meeting, it may have something to do with surveying everyone remotely connected to the station. Have you filled out your survey Chris? They need it to fill out their report which is expected to be about 150-200 pages. The PD Search Comm. is just as efficient. Apparently, it takes ten members to review resumes submitted by the GM. Of course, even if they find someone, to whom are they going to refer that candidate? Lydia Brazon?
How much longer can this game be played? This "GM" is beyond evaluation, I think. You say he was evaluated 5 years ago? Well, even back then, he qualified for dismissal.
DeleteI filled out one of those GM evaluations of Berthold and made sure to include all his potentially criminal offenses.
DeleteWere you able to get it all on one sheet of paper?
DeleteJust a thought- Was Woody Allen ever associated with WBAI?
ReplyDeleteKGT
Not to my knowledge.
DeleteHealing Cancer From Inside Out - 2nd Edition DVD and The RAVE Diet & Lifestyle - 3rd Edition book package is $125.00 from WBAI.
ReplyDeleteTotal from amazon.com is $24.10...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UURCAO?psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/The-RAVE-Diet-Lifestyle-Edition/dp/0972659064
SDL
And they still feel compelled to make unlicensed copies and/or not deliver the paid-for goods. When I think of how scrupulously honest WBAI used to be—to a fault, some said—I am even more disgusted by the constant self-congratulatory lies we hear from the likes of Haskins, Davis and others.
DeleteThey are now advertising a fund-raising special tribute to Lorraine Hansberry. That, of course, is the program we worked so hard on in the mid-Sixties... the program AFTRA-SAG tried to stop. I called the NY Times in an effort to embarrass the greedy unions... they printed the story and AFTRA-SAG gave in, but with the demand that we only air this one time. I wonder if the intervening years have rendered that stipulation moot? They had better not sell copies.
I have a prayer for WBAI:
ReplyDeleteI pray that WBAI falls on its knees real soon
I pray that Samori Marksman and Lynn Samuels and Robert Knight are burning in HELL
I pray that the evil that management did to staff members will soon come home to roost
I pray these things will come to pass real soon.
In your name - AMEN!!
Big thread about the Null vs. WBAI/Pacifica lawsuit on the NY Radio board, if anyone is interested. Scroll down a little to see it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.musicradio77.com/wwwboard/
Well, I used to point out how WWRL changed format from Black Radical programming to Spanish a couple of years ago. Now they changed format again, to Indian/South Asian programming. I guess the Spanish didn't make money, but the Black Radical wasn't seen as worth going back to.
Considering the changes made by the CRB recently, and how they are supposed to affect radio stations IF they have an internet stream, I wonder if they will affect WBAI at all. There are some other rules about how many times you can play the same artist per hour and such crap, too.
By the way, the CRB rules are what have held up my radio show. I was going to do an internet stream, but these rules make it a waste of money and time, unless I want to take some chances. Guess I better stick to my original overseas only broadcasting idea. Oh, well.
SDL
Every time I tune in to WBAI today, I run Into "Casanova" Bates shoveling so much shit down peoples' throats that it sounds like he stole a bulldozer from a construction site. He and Davis truly have no morals to speak of.
ReplyDeleteSDL
They have no morals...PERIOD! That said, I heard a decent interview Bates did with a man named Schwartz, who is Sanders' campaign manager. I have a feeling that this may have been a thinly veiled endorsement. They took calls, but I think the show was canned, because Bates announced that the following show would feature Dr. Wood—the nutcase who claims autos were fried (zapped) by some mysterious rays on 9/11. That, however, was not the next show.
DeleteIt seems to me that there is panic in drivel city. They know that this is destined to be another failed fundraiser, but they keep thinking that their repeated misjudgments will somehow correct themselves.
I heard most of the Bates interview because I was in the kitchen cooking. Yeah, it sounded like it may have been a puff piece to me. To be fair, Bates did an OK job of keeping the interview rolling along like a good infomercial host does to sell a product while trying to sound genuine about the product. In summation, a decent selling job. One thought ran through my mind, though, "WB(ernie)AI," sung to that jazz promo with the guy constantly singing the call letters.
DeleteAlso, I noticed the callers seemed questionable and called an odd number to get on the air. Yes, 9/11 laser beams and conspiracies didn't follow, but that could have been an error. However, I have a feeling it was either canned or a well staged and controlled live show.
Remember how I posted a few days ago about the Null premium show being played? I have a feeling that one was a mistake, or someone purposely playing it to try and get WBAI in more hot water. I lean towards mistake.
Wasn't it Prescod selling some Sanders package the other day? I'm sure WBAI will be pushing Sanders, at the cost of not giving any of the 3rd party candidates any airtime, like they used to when I was a kid. If Sanders doesn't make it, they will regale us all with the glories of Hilarity.
No way this beg-a-thon will meet the goal, not that any do. It's more a question of by how much they will miss the goal.
SDL
Yes, Prescod is pushing Sanders, but I really don't think there is any concerted effort to back him. These people are not organized, and many of them simply go with the flow—their rants have painted them into corners.
DeleteApropos the simpleminded, Haskins' was pre-empted this morning—he obviously can't raise a piggy-full of pennies. He sounds pissed these days. Notice that he can't call that show the "Morning Show" when Mimi is the host, so it becomes "The Wednesday Edition." I think he vastly over-estimated his wn importance to WBAI... after all those years (decades) he hasn't even learned how to operate the equipment, much less how to speak coherently.
No, I don't think there is any organized effort to support Sanders. He's just the candidate closest to Pacificans' views, so, naturally, they will give him a lot of attention.
DeleteHaskins is the type of nonentity that if he disappeared right now people wouldn't even notice. People would miss Mimi more, if only for the theatrics and dramatics. I wonder if Mimi will be the fat lady singing at the end of this show.
By the way, I was thinking of seeing the McDonagh thing, but it's only an hour long at $21.49. Not worth it. My travel time there and back is probably longer. I don't remember if it is supposed to be a WBAI benefit or not, but it doesn't say it is on the website.
http://www.thecelltheatre.org/events/2016/2/29/cabtivist
SDL
The performance they advertise so frequently on WBAI is a benefit performance for the station. That's why they can mention the ticket price on the air
DeleteI can see a padded Mimi delivering the swan song, surrounded by the Dancing Mumias.
It would be nice to hear third party candidates on air especially Jull Stein of the Green Party. Not only would it be interesting but it could be used to help with fundraising efforts. Third party candidates always complain of lack of coverage. Pacifica would be a great platform for them to get the word out. This is yet another in the long list of long lost opportunities for Pacifica.
ReplyDeleteThe absence of third-party candidates also undermines their claim of WBAI filling in the media gaps. Bring all sides to the microphone was an important part of Lew Hill's prescription for peace.
DeleteI think their should be like a three or four hour Pacifica network wide presidential debate where ALL candidates are invited to attend, regardless of party affiliation, whether Dempublican, Republicrat, Libertarian, Green, the various communists, socialists, crazies, etc. Let's see who has the balls to show up.
DeleteI remember when the 1980 election was coming up, WBAI producers had on many 3rd party presidential candidates to state their cases. I liked that. Being in my mid teens, it was particularly rebellious to me, as John Anderson was hardly an outsider.
Shortly before the election, Tom Leykis did a one hour call in poll where the rule was that you had to vote for a legitimate candidate, and not Mickey Mouse, etc. The one other option was a "No" (abstention) vote. Well, WBAI and still Reagan won...
SDL
20-25 wannabes and two microphones will never work :) Also, these fools aren't capable of organizing anything like that. Opening the microphone to all the candidates is something that certainly should be done—or, at least, attempted.
DeleteWBAI will never sway an election one way or the other, but presenting all sides will at least give those who listen the opportunity to make a more informed choice. Well, that's how it used to be when he listenership was more broadminded. The few who tune in WBAI these days generally have their mind made up—in fact, I bet quite a few of them had their mind made up by the BAI bozos.
The logistics of my suggestion would require renting a hall somewhere, having one mic for each candidate and emcee, etc. Out of Pacifica's budget, of course. However, a nice fantasy.
DeleteSDL
If you're going to fantasize, why not imagine a WBAI with intelligent management and producers, a radio station that discriminates against ineptitude and ignorance? That sort of a radical upgrade/rebirth can lead to a hall full of microphones. :)
Delete"why not imagine a WBAI with intelligent management and producers"
DeleteBecause I don't have any LSD or peyote...
SDL
"I pray that Samori Marksman and Lynn Samuels and Robert Knight are burning in HELL".
ReplyDeleteI can't agree with you with Lynn. She was fun and had talent and generated much money. If you want to add Elombe BadBreath (nomesayin), I'll agree and add Dennis Bernstein when he meets HaShem on Yom Hadin, "The Day of Judgment" and Mr. HaShem sends him and his ponytail to gehenom.
KGT
I'll second you as to Lynn.
Delete~ 'indigopirate'
Lynn Samuels defender here, also. She may have been the first WBAI person I actually made a point to listen to regularly, as I was discovering the station.
DeleteSDL
Knew Lynn Samuels well. She slandered WBAI in a Jewish Week article years ago along with Mike Feder - falsely accused BAI of being anti-semitic. She hated Obama on her Satellite radio show. She was disgusting - not missed.
DeleteI went looking for the prices for the Unnatural Causes DVD and Just Medicine book and found something potentially very interesting.
ReplyDeleteWBAI is hawking the DVD (alone) for $100 (DVD and book $125). Well, there doesn't seem to be a DVD available! Seems the film is stream only via amazon.com and PBS. Could they be selling a burned DVD of a streamed movie whose rights are owned by PBS? Some relevant urls:
http://www.amazon.com/Unnatural-Causes-Documentary-Socioeconomic-Inequalities/dp/B00FCFTGHG/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1455561897&sr=1-2&keywords=Unnatural+causes
http://www.amazon.com/Unnatural-Causes-Tara-Reid/dp/B008G9BF10/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1455562697&sr=1-1&keywords=Unnatural+causes
http://www.pbs.org/unnaturalcauses/
The book alone is about half the price via amazon.com ($50 pledge/$26.80 amazon). That's pretty standard for premium mark-ups via any public broadcaster. Fair enough.
SDL
Bears looking into.
DeleteHerbal Pharmacy for Everyone $150 via WBAI and CAD $39.95 (USD $29.00 roughly) plus postage from Canada.
ReplyDeletehttp://herbalinstructions.com/order-dvd/
SDL
Hey. Here's a thought. Maybe Eliot Spitzer can come on WBAI.
ReplyDeleteKGT
Tell him to bring Anthony Weiner with him, hook up with Tony Bates and have lots of fun with the women at WBAI.
DeleteSDL
I was tuning about the college radio area and fell upon a Daulton Anderson promo on WHCR for his Sunday 8:00AM show on the station. I thought he dropped that show to move over to WBAI, due to its higher power but fewer listeners.
ReplyDeleteSDL
He never gave up that show, and you know Reimers doesn't give a damn whether WBAI originates or acquires the mediocrity.
DeleteOK. Shows you how much attention I pay to the third rate religious huckster.
DeleteSDL
If anybody is interested ,just listened to joe rogan podcast 692 with jay leno online
ReplyDeletevery interesting and entertaining , and some really funny stories .
I switched on WBAI to see what scam premium was being pushed yet again (they seem to have so few these days that they constantly repeat the same five or six) and heard the Cake & Casanova money show. As soon as I went to turn the dial, silence erupted. It's been some minutes now, making me want to sing Simon & Garfunkel. Well, at least they pretty much knocked Null out of the beg-a-thon system. Oh, poor Null, so mad at being upstaged by Cake & Casanova, a dead woman's DVD set, a comedian, laser beams and conspiracies, etc. that he decided to sue them, finally. Really eats you up not being the star you once were, doesn't it, Gary? You're not the savior anymore. Bates showed you up, didn't he?
ReplyDeleteSDL
Apropos everything old is new again, this morning Haitee-Ho Haskins dusted off a relic of his own making that had been hanging around for years: "Lynching, an American Tradition". In the spirit of St. Valentine, he offered it for sale as a "gift."
DeleteIt is clear that he sees himself as a frontline BAI warrior, fighting a valiant, lonesome battle for truth and justice. I think all this, encouraged by a handful of mindless repeat callers, has gone to his little head. Soon, when accumulated mismanagement kicks the soap box from under him, he will have his first real encounter with truth, and he might not overcome.
BTW, also overexposed during this desperate dash for dough, and lying through their teeth, are the acidic Ameno Sisters. They have become quite the scam team as they seek to take charge of your money.
Listening again to Mozart, and what follows...they should offer *it* as a premium. I'm on the floor.
ReplyDeleteYes, now YOU, too, can have The Best of the Pacifica National Board Follies! Listen to over twenty immature wannabe politicos square off against each other in a no holds barred teleconference internal political bad ass brawl!
DeleteSDL
While the world looked in vain for that infamous Weapon of Mass Destruction, it was right under our noses. To think that all this time, it was to be found at The Colony, collecting dust in the "M" bin.
DeleteIsn't life a hoot?
In the middle of all the drama going on at the PNB and WBAI, the PNB Elections Comm. met to work on hiring a National Elections Supervisor while still waiting for the Elections Supervisor's report and barely acknowledging all the issues like outdated membership lists, vote counting issues, etc. The meeting was chaired by Bob Lederer who did not see any problem chairing the committee while running for the WBAI LSB.
ReplyDeleteLydia Brazon was on the call firmly in charge after the imaginary resolution extending her term as IED. How about it Chris? DO you want to be National Elections Supervisor? It would almost be worth it so you can get to hang out with the GMs of the stations.
The problem with these people is that they have crossed so far over the line that Alice's adventures now seem real.
DeleteThank you for the above, BTW.
I know how to save WBAI. Hold a "Fire Reimers" beg-a-thon. If they hit one million Dollars, he gets fired. I bet they will meet the goal in a week.
ReplyDelete