Re: Owner: WOXO is community radio

["Dan Billings" <billings@suscom-maine.net>]

I worked at WOXO and consider Dick Gleason a friend.  Dick is a local,
working owner and does a good job running his stations.  He is also a
business person and uses technology and other means to keep his stations
profitable, just like the big owners.

I have also spent a great deal of time in the Oxford Hills area.  When I
first heard of the proposal for a LP station in the area, I had several
thoughts:

1.  The area is not as economically prosperous as southern and coastal
Maine.  How is a station going to be funded?

2.  The area is rural.  How many people can be reached by a LP station in
that area?

3.  The towns in the Oxford Hills area have come together and dedicated
their cable franchise fees to funding community cable TV.  As a result, the
station has fairly modern facilities and I think a full-time director.  But
the last that I knew, the station had a hard time getting volunteers to
produce local programming. Why would a local radio station be any different?

I am very skeptical of the long-term success of these so-called community
stations, outside of urban areas.  Finding funding and volunteers will
always be tough.  My guess is that few will end up as true community
stations.  The ones that survive will end up automated most of the time
featuring the niche programming favored by whoever controls the license or
run by churches or other non-profits who can afford to subsidize the
stations to promote their other activities.

-- Dan Billings, Bowdoinham, Maine