Brown Broadcasting Service Alternative 95.5 WBRU Providence RI may soon be on the block.
The Board of Directors of the student operated station at Brown University voted to allow the university to explore a sale of the station’s assets. The 50 person Station Membership will vote on the proposal on March 11.
Station General Manager Kishanee Haththotuwegama wrote in a letter to alumni, “We’ve arrived at this point only after exploring a wide range of financial options, yet the challenges we face are more than just financial. We’re also faced with the reality that broadcast radio may not be the most engaging content distribution technology for the student workshop in the 21st century.”
WBRU operates as a commercial Alternative Rock station, but is owned and operated by the non-profit Brown Broadcasting Service consisting of students of Brown University.
Yet one more person saying the patient is going to die at the minor care clinic… If I were a student considering a career in media, I would hesitate to attend someone writing off radio knowing how strong of a force it still is. And really, in the end of the day, a class in FM isn’t that different from a class in web based content distribution anymore… If they have kept their web presence relevant. But I’m preaching to the choir here.
The ProJo story on this (at http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20170303/wbru-radio-station-may-be-going-up-for-sale-soon) does say that the station has been losing money over the past several years.