WBAI BY THE NUMBERS – Part I
According to the station's website, $500,000 is needed by the end of March in order to protect the transmitter. Our calculation differs and we thought it would be useful to collect information from various management reports so that you can draw your own conclusions.
While we do not doubt that there are other urgent needs, we strongly believe that the representation of the station's fiscal status should be as clear as possible.
Here are some of the numbers. Paint your own picture.
Empire State Building Transmitter/antenna rent ($ 50,000+ per month) (The time period and amount in the papers filed to begin the lawsuit are not relevant to this discussion as the amount due advances.)
Payment due by 3/15: $ 50,000 (Nov.) PAID 3/2013
Payment due on 3/31: $100,000 (Dec. & Jan.) PAID 3/2013
Payment due on 3/31: $ 50,000 (Feb.)
Payment due on 4/1: $ 60,000 (April $50,000 plus first $10K installment of March rent)
————-
Total $260,000 – Amount payable from Feb. 18 (when suit was revealed) to April 1
With $150,000 paid this month, the transmitter payment due by March 31/April 1 is $110,000.
TRANSMITTER FUNDRAISING
To reduce co-mingling of transmitter rescue funds and other station funds, the Local Station Board (LSB) requested that the General Manager (GM) create a dedicated account. No notice was given to the LSB that additional time was needed to secure particular authorizations before the manager could open an account. Instead, the national Interim Executive Director (IED) opened an account with the Bank of America with whom she has a relationship. As of 3/13/13, she had not arranged for any access to this account by the station's manager. We cannot speak to what, if anything, is in that account.
Station funds are being collected in four ways:
1 – Directly through station's website: It is not clear how pledges for premiums during the announced "transmitter fund only" period from March 4th are being treated since, in the name of the transmitter, some producers are still offering premiums. $408,411 was raised during fund drive before March 4. As of March 12 total funds raised was $625,000 – an increase of $216,589. Also as of March 12, the transmitter fund was at $154,000, meaning that $62,589 non-transmitter fundraising was also recorded. At 7 PM March 20, wbai.org showed "Emergency Transmitter Fund" at $245,121. There is no mention of non-transmitter funds raised.
2 – Through station's website by the 516-Call Center: Pitching with a room full of volunteers who listen to the station and are familiar with the topics and staff and can interpret caller intent is very different from working through an outside center where the official name of the premium is the single most important thing one must communicate to the operator. As a result of this process, there has been frustration and loss of pledges.
3 – Through the Church Street Station post box near new office: Checks sent here are being recorded as transmitter support and manually deposited into a local restricted account to which the GM has access.
4 – Through the GPO post box used on postage paid envelopes sent with invoices: Checks sent here are directly deposited into the station's operating account for general expenditures.
OTHER REAL ESTATE DEBTS
Silverstein Properties for Wall Street space ($ 37,000+ per month)
Lawsuit: Full settlement details are not available but apparently of the $150,000 due, $30,000 was paid earlier in March, with an installment of $20,000 due by March 31.
STATION'S MONTHLY MINIMUM EXPENSES
ITEM AMOUNT STATUS @ 2/28/13
Monthly Harlem studio rent $ 5,000 Current
Transmitter/antenna rent $ 50,000+ Lawsuit for removal & rent due Nov. to Feb. ($200,000)
March transmitter rent
in 5 installments $ 10,000 Due w/regular rent payment April to August 2013
Wall Street rent arrears $ 20,000 Due at the end of each month until August 31
Salaries & health benefits $132,000 (excludes needed Program Director)
Storage $ 750
————
$217,750 (excludes phones, office supplies, postage)
(TOTAL CORRECTED 7/12/13)
Note: WBAI's grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (which last year was more than $300,000) is more than a month late because Pacifica's outside audit is seriously delayed – there is no projected date yet in sight.
Stay tuned for our next finance report covering: WBAI fund drive's significant shortfalls; several years of overdue payments to the network for station expenses and for shared national expenses such as contractual payments to "Democracy Now" and "Free Speech Radio News"; payout of legal settlements; and legal fees to various accountants and to lawyers, including the notorious union-busting law firm Jackson Lewis.
Recent Comments