RIP WMUB
I remember feeling very alien when I first came to Richmond in 1985. This place and its people are very different than rural Texas where I grew up.
I grew up with Houston Public Radio playing in the background, and WMUB provided an instant reminder of home. The station, operated out of Miami U. has undergone lots of changes over the years, from playing primarily jazz to becoming a talk radio station, and there have been many times when the young college news readers would grate on my nerves. But there was plenty to love about the local station.
All to be gone come March 1st, when the station becomes a repeater for Cincinnati Public Radio:
(OXFORD, OH, January 22, 2009) - Miami University and Cincinnati Public Radio (CPR) are actively negotiating an operating agreement for CPR to manage WMUB, in order to continue to provide public radio services to listeners of WMUB while addressing the university’s projected budget deficit.
WMUB has broadcast from Miami University for 58 years. However, due to its rural location and signal strength, it has not been able to achieve the audience and listener pledges that urban-based public radio stations receive. Consequently WMUB receives more than $500,000 in annual direct subsidy from the university plus more than $300,000 in indirect support.
Link (Press release).
