Boston Globe Item on WERS LMA Proposal

[Shawn Mamros]

>Boston Globe business columnist Steve Baily periodically 
>writes a column called "Boston Sampler".  Today's (04/07)
>column (second items) reports on a proposal by Greater
>Media's Peter Smyth to LMA a classical music format on
>non-comm WERS 88.9 Boston after WCRB goes bye-bye.  Emerson 
>College turns down the prospective TEN-MILLION DOLLAR offer! [...]

WERS is an integral part of Emerson's academic program, to a greater
degree than that of any other college station in the area.  For
Emerson to LMA away WERS would take away an important academic
resource (not just an extracurricular one) from Emerson students.

I'm not at all surprised that Emerson turned it down.  If anything,
I'm somewhat surprised that Greater Media approached them with the
offer in the first place.  Granted, WERS has the strongest signal
of any of the college-hosted non-comms (excepting WBUR, which really
doesn't count); maybe that was a key motivating factor.  Or the
fact that Smyth is on Emerson's Board of Trustees made him feel
that he had an edge with his fellow board members.

One wonders if Greater Media might approach any of the other colleges
in the area that have stations.  Some of their boards might be more
receptive to such an offer.  (I wouldn't be, though... ;-)

-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros -at- mit dot edu