re: Ratings

[Eric Aiese <aiese@fas.harvard.edu>]

At 12:36 AM 1/23/02 -0500, you wrote:
> >The story I heard (which may not be completely accurate) was that when
> >Harvard put WHRB on the air they decided at the time that it was more
> >economical for them to provide their station with a commercial license so
> >that they could solicit their own income rather than to provide them with a
> >certain amount of regular funding (from student activities funds, or
> >wherever) as most other colleges do.
>
>I'm not as familiar with 'HRB's history (where's Rob Landry when we
>need him?), but...
>
>That story could be true, but it could also have been the case that the
>students who started 'HRB wanted their station to be free of Harvard's
>direct influence/control, and thus decided on a commercial license (as
>well as a separate corporation) to keep themselves as independent as
>possible.

That's more or less the case.  We are a commercial station, although we 
consciously keep a very low inventory.  Technically, we're not affiliated 
with Harvard, only in that we are operated by students and are located in a 
university property.  We cover Harvard sports, commencement, and some other 
university goings-on, but otherwise, we have relatively little to do with 
the university.  But as an independent corporation, we do not receive any 
funds from Harvard.

Eric

Eric Aiese                      eric@whrb.org
President
WHRB 95.3 FM / Harvard Radio Broadcasting Co.
389 Harvard Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-495-8138
www.whrb.org