WFCR to Expand Programming & Presence in Springfield

Station manager Martin Miller took a lot of flack for cancelling WFCR's Saturday night folkie programs. Although the shows attracted only about 4,000 listeners, the area's folk music community was up in arms.

A protest group called WFCR Democracy Task Force eventually coalesced. Its mission to "to contribute to making WFCR a lively and interesting radio station, dedicated to carrying out its stated mission by involving and encouraging the active participation of the WFCR listening community." There were Amherst town meeting resolutions and a petition, but judging by the group's website, which hasn't had anything new for over a year, the forces of democracy have dispersed.

WFCR may not have been the most interesting of public radio stations, but it has certainly been serviceable, providing the best of National Public Radio programming and plenty of music. The station now offers three program streams on the internet. In the last couple of years, the station added an AM channel, WNNZ 640, which broadcasts various news and call-in shows; WFCR HD 2 (available on the internet) offers classical music and some programming with WNNZ news; and WFCR broadcasts classical music, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, MarketPlace, and Fresh Air. That's a lot of good programming. (The station also offers an all folk music station in Amherst).

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports that WFCR now plans to expand its presence in Springfield building out space in the building that houses WGBY (Channel 57).

The new Springfield studio will enable the station to cover Hampden County better, and may spark more collaboration between the region's two public broadcasting outlets, said Martin Miller, WFCR's general manager.

"Having those facilities will allow us to do more programming, and listeners will notice the difference," he said. "And that's the point of this, not just to have a new place but to have production facilities to do programming."

An estimated 45 percent of WFCR's listeners live in Hampden County or Connecticut.

The original plan was for a new WFCR building near UMass, but the money didn't materialize, Miller said. The new plan is to renovate the longtime WFCR space in Hampshire House on the campus and to build the new Springfield studio.

"We need more space to do our production work and fulfill our mission to the community," Miller said.

WFCR will lease 1,145 square feet on the second floor of the WGBY building, starting around October. There will be a fully equipped control room, a studio large enough for interviews, and space for two staff members and two interns, Miller said.

"Our goal for next year is to have at least one reporter in Springfield every day," he said.

The station plans to hire a Spanish-speaking reporter for the Springfield bureau, Miller said. WFCR is also planning a pilot for a daily or weekly news-culture-public affairs show this fall, he said.

The two public broadcasting stations have already collaborated in a training project for Latino youth from Springfield and Holyoke and on the "My Source" branding and outreach campaign. A WFCR news reporter hosts a talk show that appears on Channel 57.

--Mb