KBCS planning massive jazz programming cuts

[funkogre]

From kbcs.fm...

Dear supporter of KBCS,

At KBCS, we’re continually working to better serve our listening community. This ongoing effort has helped us understand how our listeners use KBCS as well as other radio stations, and it’s helped us determine what we believe a thriving community-service and listener-focused station should look and sound like.

KBCS is—and will remain—a station that prides itself on being a place for community volunteers to learn broadcasting and to be radio programmers. For more than two decades, there have been countless volunteers who have put immense amounts of energy, time, and passion into the radio shows they create at KBCS. And, as we move ahead, there will be countless others who will join current KBCS volunteer programmers and continue this important tradition. As KBCS staff, we have the deepest gratitude for the commitment and dedication of all station volunteers, past, present, and future.

The reality KBCS faces is, quite frankly, one of declining audience and financial support. To us, this has been a clear indicator that we’re not serving our audience as well as we could. Most importantly, we also see this as an opportunity to do just that.

Over the last three years, KBCS has undergone a rigorous process to better understand our audience and to formulate a cohesive strategic plan. This has involved hours of interviews, volunteer and community meetings, street corner surveys, as well as extensive consideration of when and how KBCS listeners currently listen to us. This work has led us to the new programming we’ll present next month, programming we believe will offer deeper service to our listeners.

So, beginning August 24th, 2009, KBCS will:

• Expand weekday public affairs programming from 5 to 9 a.m., offering Public Radio International’s The Takeaway from 5 to 8 a.m., followed by Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now! from 8 to 9 a.m. Both shows will be hosted by local community members trained in the KBCS public affairs department.

• Bring on longtime KBCS host John Gilbreath every weekday from 9 a.m. to noon. John’s show will be a daily musical journey touching on many genres, and focusing on his extensive knowledge of jazz, world, and Americana.

• Feature current veteran KBCS folk hosts weekdays from 12 noon to 3 p.m., who will present programming spanning the breadth of the American music tradition, from the early days of country, folk, blues, and beyond, to today’s singer-songwriters and local artists crafting new music not heard anywhere else.

• Expand weekday public affairs programming by offering a re-broadcast of Democracy Now! at 3 p.m., followed by The Michael Eric Dyson Show at 4 p.m.

• Air locally produced programs Listen Up Northwest, Voices of Diversity, and One World Report weekdays at 5 p.m., as well as syndicated programs Counterspin, Grit Radio, and Sound of Young America

• Round out evening weekday public affairs with Hard Knock Radio from 6 to 7 p.m., with 6 p.m. headlines from Free Speech Radio News. As in the morning, the entire afternoon lineup of public affairs programming will be hosted by local community members.

As with any growth and change, we’ve had to make some tough choices. The programming plan discontinues Drive Time Jazz weekday mornings, Daily Planet weekday afternoons, The Bud & Don Show Monday mornings, BeBop Spoken Here Tuesday mornings, and 20th Century Jazz: The First Half and Vintage Jazz Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Some of this programming will, however, be

offered weekly through our online streaming archive.

These have been exceedingly difficult decisions to reach, decisions which we do not take lightly, and which were made only after extensive consideration of how we can best serve our audience. We acknowledge and pay tribute to these many talented and dedicated programmers who have added tremendously to the KBCS community for many years, and hope that they continue to be a part of KBCS and its future.

We’re always astounded by the generosity and dedication of our programmers, volunteers, and all of the people who are working together to build KBCS as a community resource. We believe the changes outlined here will have a profoundly positive effect on KBCS, and will deepen our service to the community through the programming we offer.

We look forward with great optimism to KBCS’s future, and we hope you’ll share it with us.

With respect,

Steve Ramsey, General Manager

Peter Graff, Program Director

Joaquin Uy, Public Affairs Director

Sabrina Roach, Development and Outreach Director

Uli Johnson, Membership and Web Director

Edited July 14, 2009 by funkogre

[funkogre]

I looked this up in my search engine after reading this and found a website to express your disapproval of these changes. Here's a comment from mudcat.org.

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Major Programming Changes Slated for KBCS Community Radio

BELLEVUE, Wash., (July 8, 2009) -- Starting in August, the first phase

of planned changes at KBCS 91.3 FM will eliminate four hours of music

programming each weekday. Further changes are planned for weekend and

weeknight shows in coming months. The richness and diversity of

programming will be drastically cut if these plans are carried out.

You can help! By replying as soon as possible, your comments can help

preserve music diversity at KBCS.

Write to: savekbcs@gmail.com.

Phase 1 - Weekday Program Changes scheduled to take effect in August 2009:

* Drive Time Jazz (7 - 9 a.m.) will be replaced by public affairs.

* Morning jazz programs (9 a.m. - noon) will be replaced by a single

jazz program with a single paid host. Gone will be these shows:

- The Bud & Don Show

- Bebop Spoken Here

- 20th Century Jazz

- Vintage Jazz

- The Caravan

* Lunch With Folks (noon - 3 p.m.) will be replaced with a

homogenized, generic "Americana" program with a couple of paid hosts,

eliminating the diverse knowledge and expertise of the variety of

daily programmers.

* Daily Planet (3 - 5 p.m.) will be replaced by news.

This first phase of programming changes will result in the elimination

of over 20 volunteer hosts along with their formidable knowledge,

expertise, and passion for the music of their respective genres, to be

replaced by two to four paid DJs.

Voice your comments now! Tell us what you think about these proposed changes.

Write to: savekbcs@gmail.com

* Would these changes make KBCS less valuable to you?

* Are you a member/supporter/volunteer?

* How would these changes affect your participation and support?

Please pass the word to anyone who likes jazz, folk, world, or other

eclectic music found on KBCS.

Visit www.savekbcs.org for current details. Thanks!

About SaveKBCS:

SaveKBCS is a group of long-time volunteers and financial supporters

of KBCS who want to save what we value most about our community radio

station.

SaveKBCS is not affiliated with KBCS 91.3 FM Radio.

SaveKBCS is not affiliated with Bellevue College.

Contact: savekbcs@gmail.com

Website: www.savekbcs.org"

Edited July 14, 2009 by funkogre

[BillF]

Removal of Bebop Spoken Here will be a great loss! Another blow to the music I love! Bernie Goldberg's knowledge and taste were rare attributes. Sorry my small cash contribution didn't help.

[ghost of miles]

Bill, really sorry to hear this--I know you're a devoted fan of that show. This is Bill Barton's station, isn't it?

[funkogre]

This is very sad news indeed. I hope public outcry can turn this around. KBCS always calls their station "Community" radio but if they remove all these great programs it will really kill the diversity of this station. I used to listen to their Drive Time Jazz program everyday on the way to work and really enjoyed that everyday you would get a new volunteer host that was playing jazz that interested He or she and was not just playing tracks off a playlist. Now all that is going to be changed and instead of 5 volunteer jazz hosts each weekday morning there will be ONE paid host each week day morning.

The elimination of the great unique programs of this station, such as Bebop Spoken Here and The Don & Bud Show, will be a huge loss for the area. The Don & Bud Show has been hosted for many years by Bud Young, (former owner of Bud's Jazz Records, the only jazz specific record store in Seattle until it's closing in 2008), and Don Lanphere (one of Seattle's legendary saxophone players who went to NY at 19 and recorded with Fats Navarro, he passed away in 2003). Now Bud always jokes that Don is "on assignment".

Bebop Spoken Here, 20th Century Jazz: The First Half, and Vintage Jazz play specific eras of jazz music. Music that is that is heard very rarely on Seattle area stations and certainly is not devoted to, in three hour programs every weekday, anywhere else.

If these changes happen I will no longer be listening to this station or supporting it in any way. KBCS is the only station in Seattle with this kind of diverse programming everyday of the week and this is greatly needed in this area. I can only hope congress passes the Low Power FM legislation and some new stations come along that are truly COMMUNITY stations.

Edited July 14, 2009 by funkogre

[Guest Bill Barton]

It's interesting that this information has already "leaked" to the worldwide jazz community. I completely agree with you, BillfF, regarding BebopSpoken Here. Not to mention the venerable Bud Young and his The Bud and Don Show... Very sad...

To tell you the truth, I don't see much chance of turning this around, though SaveKBCS isn't giving up! I signed their letter to Bellevue College management, by the way. Anyone in the listening audience who has concerns/issues with the programming changes might consider contacting KBCS management and/or Bellevue College.

Needless to say, KBCS volunteers are concerned, and many of the on-air hosts have a track record of quality radio programming that reaches back way longer than my two-going-on-three years at the station. Phase two and phase three of the "tweaking" may very well leave all of us - including late-night people - in the lurch. We'll have to wait and see...

As you might imagine, volunteers have been instructed not to editorialize about the changes on-air. Well, this isn't on-air, and I'm about to editorialize.

For me, this is a deja vu situation that reminds me of what happened at WCFE-FM in Plattsburgh, NY where I worked over a decade ago (1990-1996). It was a community public station started by WCFE-TV, the local PBS affiliate. I was part of the small paid staff that built the station from the ground up (it was literally a hole in the ground when I first arrived in Plattsburgh.) I was Music Director and Marco Wolfe Werman, now Senior Producer for The World at WGBH, was News Director. In the station's almost six-year existence as a true community station we built a devoted listener-base and a very active role in the local/regional community. The Board of Directors wasn't seeing enough $$$ coming in as of 1996 and decided to sell the frequency to WAMC, the NPR-affiliated station in Albany. There was considerable outcry in the community, including a similar "SaveWCFE" campaign, but to no avail. WCFE became a "repeater frequency" for WAMC (fondly referred to by many of us as the McDonald's of Public Radio) and we lost our jobs.

Ironically, I used this little "horror story" as a "pitching point" when I helped out with on-air fundraising during the recent mini-drive. It was on Daily Planet, another program slated to disappear. I don't recall the exact wording I used, but offered the story as a cautionary tale. I took pains to make clear that I was not suggesting that something similar could happen at KBCS. Little did I know... Management sprung the announcement of the immanent and impending changes shortly after volunteers had helped with the mini-drive, trying to raise funds for programs that were already on the chopping-block.

The sobering reality is that all broadcasting in the U.S.A. is forced to compete in the marketplace, whether it's dubbed "community," "public" or "commercial." I've worked for or volunteered at all three types of stations, and bottom-line is that the bottom-line is what drives management at all of them. It's a capitalist society, boys and girls, and that isn't about to change. Sour grapes? Maybe... Cynical? You bet!

I've been doing radio as a passionate creative outlet for as long as KBCS has existed as a station and actually (barely) supported myself doing so for around a decade. The latter is not likely to happen again. And the way things are going right now, I'm beginning to wonder whether I'll even be volunteering anywhere. We'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks to funkogre for bringing this out in the open on this forum.

Edited July 22, 2009 by Bill Barton

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

1st of all how can they have wanted to cut the bud and don show if the bud and don show hasnt existed for like 5 years- sadly grand master bebop saxophist don lanphere died a number of years back///

frankly i cant believe they had tjhat much jazz on it, at all these days///

the only good area jazz show was my show where all the time was mobley time

[Guest Bill Barton]

chewy, bro, please read the previous posts in this thread and see if it shouldn't concern you as an avid jazz fan and Seattle-area resident...

check out the SaveKBCS link...

20 hours of jazz programming goes - poof!

no Hank or anybody else cool during morning drive-time...

Bud and the other volunteer hosts for 9-11 a.m. go "bye-bye",,,

no big deal, eh?

[Guest Bill Barton]

Well, roughly a month has passed with no further interest or response here. The changes are going through regardless of what listener/supporters or volunteers think. R.I.P. community radio as we knew it. Bud Young? Bye-bye! Bernie Goldberg? Bye-bye! Trad jazz? Bye-bye! An alternative to KUOW and KPLU? Bye-bye! Regardless of how Bellevue College and KBCS management choose to "spin" it there's no question in my mind that long-time listener/supporters are being betrayed and abandoned.

FWIW, here's my original e-mail message to Station Manager Steve Ramsey in response to the posting for the full-time Music Director position at KBCS:

_________________________________

Steve,

I find it interesting that the word "community" is missing from the

station's description. It's somewhat ironic that I used my little

"horror story" about the demise of WCFE on Daily Planet during the

recent fund-drive. Deja vu...

My two cents:

I don't understand how Bellevue College can think that the proposed

restructuring is going to be more economically viable. Hiring at

least two more full-time staff (the music director and John Gilbreath

for starters) is obviously a major expense. And it sounds like KBCS

would be competing with KPLU and KUOW on ground that they've already

pretty well staked out.

So much for "community" radio... I know that you and Pete are

obviously stuck between a rock and a hard place in this scenario. But

it sounds to me like BC is abandoning the commitment to providing an

alternative to pre-digested "public" radio and in the process will

likely alienate long-time listener/supporters. Favorite programs

slated to disappear... Folks who recently contributed $$$ for - say -

Daily Planet or BeBop Spoken Here may very well feel betrayed. Not to

mention the fact that long-time volunteers like Bud Young will be

given the heave-ho. I find this very sad the more that I think about

it. Hopefully some sort of compromise can be worked out.

Thanks for listening.

Sincerely,

Bill

Bill Barton

___________________________________

I've been through some very similar scenarios in over 30 years of involvement with community, college, public and commercial radio stations. Bottom-line is that the bottom-line is what drives management in all of these stations in the U.S., regardless of what they're called. So-called "public" or "community" radio is forced to compete in the marketplace because of how this society is set-up. The days of yore when "public" broadcasting was called "educational" broadcasting are long, long gone. So is any significant government support.

Around 20 years ago, a friend and former colleague, who is a very business-savvy guy, a long-time professional in development as well as on-air work, told me that, before long, all public radio would be talk - news and public affairs - with no music, not even mainstream classical. That seems to be the wave of the future all right.

When I'm driving around in the car it's looking more and more like the radio dial will be set to KING-FM, the "commercial" classical station now.

By the way, I never received a response to my e-mail.

Edited August 20, 2009 by Bill Barton