WFIU-WTIU Community Advisory Board Meeting
In the Kelley Dining Room, DeVault Alumni Center, and via Zoom
Thursday, February 1, 2024, 12:00 p.m.
Joan Curts calls the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m.
Welcome & Introductions
Attending: Sharon Sung Andrews, Michele Bergonzi, Tom Bunger, Joan Curts, Pamela Davidson, Lauren Dexter-Burns, Nicole King, Lynn Schwartzberg, Adrian Starnes, Judy Stewart, Nathan Watson. Staff: John Bailey, Eric Bolstridge, Mary Ducette, Becky Jessmer, Amy O’Shaughnessy, Joan Padawan, Kevon Wilson, Marianne Woodruff, Lisa Robbin Young.
Absent: Sally Gaskill, Cullen McCarty, Martha Nice.
Approval of November minutes
Public Comment
No members of public are present to comment.
Advocacy Update
John Bailey offers an overview of the lobbying efforts with which WFIU and WTIU are associated, most notably the late-February Capitol Hill Day, organized in this region by IPBS and participated in by Indiana public broadcasting managers and lay leaders, including Pam Davidson and Lynn Schwartzberg.
Engagement Update
Mary Ducette discusses the recently formed Engagement unit within the Radio-TV Content Group. The unit is soon to become fully staffed and is formulating a strategy. That strategy includes staging events in communities outside Bloomington and getting content into libraries, into schools, and in public viewing venues. Mary anticipates encouraging CAB members to become more involved in event support.
State of the Stations Report
John Bailey leads a broad discussion of the health of Radio-TV and its role in the public media ecosystem:
According to Development Director Amy O’Shaughnessy, WFIU-WTIU Development raised $2 million in philanthropic support in fiscal year 2023, with a goal of $3 million for FY24. At the halfway point in FY24, Development as a whole was at 54% of the goal. WFIU had met 64% of its goal; TIU 58%. Corporate Development has been weathering a tricky business climate. Amy has secured a number of significant outright and planned gifts from major donors.
Federal and state funding were currently stable, if not slightly growing, but as always are vulnerable to shifting political winds.
Audience reach is flat on terrestrial radio and, industrywide, declining sharply on linear TV. Radio streaming, especially via smart speakers, is on the rise. Web visits and social media engagement are enjoying modest growth.
CAB Working Groups
John Bailey notes that some of the working groups proposed early in 2023, shortly after the joint CAB merger, have not met, and asks the CAB about not just how the committees should be restocked following the loss of several board members last year, but also the extent to which they would prefer to be involved with special projects. Joan Curts, Lauren Dexter-Burns, and Nathan Watson suggest that WFIU-TIU leadership consider how they need to make use of the CAB and to bring the board a fresh recommendation regarding committee structure.
Other business
Joan Curts proposes a collaboration between WTIU/WFIU and the IU Alumni Association on a group tour of the American West, possibly tied in with the Ken Burns Buffalo documentary.
Adjourn
1:11 p.m.