D/FW Radio: Dallas Exploring WRR-FM LMA Options

The city of Dallas is inviting proposals to take over management of city-owned classical-music radio station WRR 101.1 FM. The Dallas Morning News reports KERA, the local public radio and TV operation, and the Dallas Symphony Association have expressed interest.

A request for proposals went out June 17, initially with a July 5 deadline for questions and a proposal submission deadline of July 15. The deadlines have been extended to, respectively, July 9 and July 29.

A July 2 statement from the city’s Office of Arts and Culture, which oversees WRR, says: “WRR 101.FM has operated at a deficit for eight years in a row, with a declining fund balance in operating reserves of $5.1 million since 2012. The station’s operating results have ranged from nearly breakeven to losses of over $1.2 million, not including capital obligations.

“As a responsible steward, the City of Dallas is exploring new management for WRR 101.1 FM to ensure it remains a City-owned classical music format radio station. All RFP [request for proposal] respondents must operate as a nonprofit. If the station’s operating and capital reserves were exhausted, the City would not be able to require it remain a classical station.”

According to DMN, that last sentence, added to the rather hurried RFP deadlines, alarms members of the Friends of WRR, which for more than 40 years has helped support the station. The Friends of WRR have asked supporters to email members of the Dallas City Council, requesting delay and reconsideration of the RFP process and timeline.

In addition to being unusual as a city-owned radio station, WRR is unusual as a commercial classical radio station. It depends on revenue from on-air advertising, a challenge for a station with a relatively small share of the area radio audience.

WRR 101.1 FM (100 KW)

Jennifer Scripps, the city’s director of arts and culture, says WRR’s ongoing deficits, plus growing competition from alternate classical music sources online, prompted reconsideration of the city’s relationship to WRR.

“The economics continue to be a challenge, with the rise of streaming and such,” she says. “What are the options for a strategic partner? Most radio stations don’t have the [city-owned] station’s pension burden.

“We are very interested in exploring a new model, because it’s not sustainable to continue dipping into reserves.”

Nico Leone, KERA’s president and CEO, acknowledges Friends of WRR concerns that potential outsourcing of WRR management is being rushed. But he adds, “A big chunk of our business is radio. We’ve been involved with groups involved with non-commercial classical stations, and we’ve got a pretty good sense of what the current practices are — growing audiences, building younger audiences. When you look at the public media, classical is thriving.