WGDR’s Future On Campus
Update: Wednesday, July 17, 2024
In the midst of the flooding impact in our area in these last few days, we’ve also had our own big headlines at the station. The sale of the Goddard campus was put back out for bid late last week and we are now once again awaiting a new owner and timeline. WGDH, Hardwick also was knocked off the air by a broadcast gear failure. Here is a bit more on each of those issues.
What’s up with WGDR’s future on campus?
At this point in the process of the sale of campus, we have no viable leases going forward. However, we have no reason not to expect a new buyer won’t negotiate a new lease with us and help us stay put.
When the last potential buyer was closing in on the sale, we were preparing for trying to buy as much time as possible with a temporary lease and then work out what it would take to move the station, if we had to. Through this process, we are clear that moving a radio station would be a significant undertaking, perhaps bigger than taking on community ownership. We have used the last many weeks to explore all our options, including if we had to move, what it would take, and the cost. A small CVCR Future committee has been working on this since June.
Even with a new buyer in the mix, there are still many unknowns that we are trying to work through and we are doing our best to be responsive to the facts we have when we have them.
What would a move of the station mean?
Moving the WGDR antenna off campus to a new tower. This could significantly increase listener broadcast reach. This requires FCC approval and takes at least 4-6 months to process. Moving an antenna can only be done at certain times of the year and there is a very small area in which we can legally move it. The one-time cost to move the antenna could be at least $60K or more if we need to put up our own tower somewhere else.
Moving the studio location. A new location would bring many wonderful possibilities for the station’s future. However, the one-time cost of the move is significant, estimated to be at least $125K.
New locations would significantly increase our annual budget. We will likely need to downsize our space and would take on increased and new utility and rent costs. We project that could be an additional $75K on top of our existing $100K current budget.
By design, with the last Goddard administration, our rent was way under the market rate. We pay just $4/sq and the average is $15/sq.
Moving anywhere else will increase our rent, add rent of a new tower location, and add full utilities for both the station and a tower location for operation.
While we are hopeful for future community-minded partnerships with other location landlords, we can’t count on that.
Ok, then what’s up with WGDH?
Separate from the situation on campus and the recent flooding, WGDH’s audio processor died on July 12. This is one of three key pieces of gear that broadcast our signal from the station (the other gear is a transmitter and exciter). We are working hard to assess the right investment to make in replacing the gear and better upfitting the station shed to prevent gear from literally frying out. Climate change over the last 14 years of WGDH’s time on the air has made the broadcast shed experience extreme heat for long stretches of time. This, and the age of the gear, is part of what led to the gear frying - and the other gear is just as susceptible to heat failure. To replace just the processor would cost around $3,500. To update all the broadcast gear would cost closer to $15,000. To make the shed climate resilient with a heat pump to keep the gear protected and allow it to last 20 years or more, would cost $9,000. This is all why we are trying to consider what is the best investment to make for WGDH’s future and avoid more costs in the long term. We will have an update on WGDH as soon as the board makes this decision.
Could we even move WGDR? Could we even upgrade WGDH due to the costs?
WGDR and WGDH are built on a history of resilience. We are for the community and of the community. Together, we can take on any challenge - we have and we will again if a move is needed.
We are also still working hard to right-size our annual budget and finish raising what it will cost just to run the station in 2024. For an organization just three years old, we’ve come through a number of pricy challenges already - a WGDR transmitter replacement in 2022 for $11K, recovery from covid, and the fundraising pitfalls we had to absorb from last year’s flooding. We are trying to be very mindful of not burning out our current donors. To adjust for new expenses to operate WGDR under new campus ownership and to address WGDH’s needs, we are going to have to find new funding from new donors, underwriters, and others, and we need help doing that.
As we move forward, we are committed to:
Being transparent and honest with the community about what we know, when we know it, including board decisions on these matters and the costs associated with those decision.
Engaging the community - at the station and with listeners - as partners in this project for the future needs and wants of the station, to generate ideas for how we can do this, and to connect us to resources to make it all happen.
Building a plan (plans?!) and enacting them in smart, phased ways.
Making it happen, together.
What can our supporters do right now?
Help share this update of what is happening at the station; direct folks with ideas and resources directly to us.
Help us increase our current operating and fundraising resources, by:
Helping the Board Search Committee identify possible new board members for end-of-the-year openings. We especially need folks with fundraising and organizational change experience. Potential candidate ideas can be sent to Llu@WGDR.org who will pass them onto the board.
Introducing us to friendly leads for new underwriters and sponsors in the business and nonprofit community.
Introducing us to community-minded philanthropic Vermonters who’d invest in the move and our future success.
Consider giving a one-time gift to help build the start of our CVCR Future Fund. These are one-time donations that would be money we can spend on capital costs like broadcast gear upgrades at WGDH (and WGDR), help us meet the increased cost in rent and utilities under new ownership at Pratt, or for other unplanned needs this year.
We will continue to share more information on the air and our website as this all unfolds. You can sign up for email updates from the station on the website. To reach out with resources to help or actionable ideas on the move, contact Station Manager, Llu Mulvaney-Stanak, at Llu@WGDR.org or call the station office at 802-276-0365.
Thank you all for listening and for your support of the station now and through this process.
