1-17-2013
As the station pushes forward to raise $600,000 to be able to operate, the FCC approved its request to go from commercial to noncommercial educational status. WMVY is in the process of being sold by Aritaur Comunications to WBUR. Aritaur is donating the mvyradio's assets, incuding content and equipment to the non-profit Friends of mvyradio which is administered by Public Radio Capital. So far the group has raised $480,000.
WMVY, which has been a mainstay of the Island for nearly 30 years and an internet success, is entering the final stretch in its Save mvyradio fund raising campaign, with nearly 3,000 listeners already pledging more than $480,000 towards the $600,000 goal. The effort, led by station staff and mvyradio?s many supporters, is aimed at saving the independent sound.
Program Director PJ Finn said, ?We are incredibly grateful to our listeners for digging deep and helping us save this independent, one-a-kind station. We?re grateful for the generosity of every single listener who has stepped up and pledged, but we?re not there yet. While we are confident we can make it, we do need to close that gap and time is running out.?
Friends of mvyradio would operate "mvyradio" as an online radio station, keeping all its current local programming, music and online content in place. At the same time, Friends of mvyradio would continue to seek a return to the FM dial. The $600,000 goal is what?s needed to cover the first year of operating expenses. With time running out, the staff is moving into the final phase of the pledge drive. Once the sale is cleared, the transfer is expected to happen within 10 days.
The average pledge from listeners is $140. The largest single-day collection happened on January 9, netting over $85,000, thanks to listeners and a generous, anonymous donor who matched every pledge that day, dollar-for-dollar. A second day of matching, on January 16th, netted another $60,000.
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