PRIMA BOARD CALL
May 15, 2019
Meeting convenes at 230 pm. ET
Paul Maassen
Neenah Ellis
Myrna Johnson
Dan Skinner
Richard Miles
Welcome to Richard Miles, new board member, GM of WBAA in West Lafayette, IN
Paul congratulates WYSO on independence move.
Reaction to the fly-in/PRIMA conference?
Station compact feedback:
Myrna – the conversation was good, open minded, some were holding back
Myrna thinks the new model should be revenue plus audience –
Paul – without the biggest voices in the room there were limitations to the discussion.
Richard Miles – some themes that were clear throughout. Wonder what’s being said off the record. It was polite, unanimous, homogeneous.
Paul – I think people are fatigued or numbed by the whole thing, tho there is obvious interest. Are enough interested? Is it too confusing? Should the mega stations pay more? What percentage of your budget goes to pay fees? The NPR model corrects for that.
Myrna – let’s help the smaller stations through CSG review. And maybe the larger stations shouldn’t get CSG money. Half the stations are pretty small.
Paul – CSG revamp could really be helpful to small stations in conjunction with fee restructure.
There were attendees from the CSG review panel. The question comes up: if you give more money, are you propping up bad business practices.
Myrna: CSG should look at spreading the money appropriately. NPR should play a role, but I would start with CPB dollars and make sure the smaller communities are strong.
Paul: collaborative fundraising with NPR – some of the megastations are saying “don’t talk to our donors”
Paul – lots of turnover in that department at NPR. It hinges on the major markets.
Post-mortem – the combined meeting: It was timely and it worked, the discussions were good for our group.
Next conference: Maybe we could say – “bring someone else from your station” – look at that for next year.
SUPER REGIONAL October 16-18 in New Orleans
PRRO
Planning begun. Dean Baquet, executive editor of NYT will be the keynote speaker on Wednesday Octobet 16.
What should be on the agenda?
Paul will send the draft agenda to the board. PRIMA board members in attendance could meet for dinner.
No June call, next board meeting in July 17.