3 Potential buyers for WDUQ
Pittsburgh:WDUQ's sale could be made within a month if one of three potential buyers come through. However, Duquesne University President Dr. Charles Dougherty says the univeristy is not comitted to making a sale and a sale will not occur unless a reasonable offer is made. The school believes that the station is worth $10 million.
According to the Post-Gazette, the only potential buyer that is being revealed is Pittsburgh Public Media - a new nonprofit formed by the station's general manager Scott Hanley. The goal of Pittsburgh Public Media is to maintain WDUQ's NPR and jazz programming. Nonetheless, the school is not requiring that the station maintain its NPR affiliation or current format. Even so, Dr. Dougherty is developing a partnership with Pittsburgh Foundation and plans to attain a third party who specializes in the transfer of NPR stations.
Readers’ Forum
We can only hope that Pittsburgh Public Media is selected. Certainly Scott Hanley’s group has put together a good faith effort that will allow WDUQ to continue it’s mission as an independent public radio station. I fear that 90.5 is likely to fall into the hands of a fringe group with a limited viewpoint and very deep pockets if that is not the case.
That said, I am very afraid that is exactly what is going to happen…
Bruce - April 12, 2010 at 8:32 pm