The Friends of Delmarva Public Radio will be meeting this afternoon with the President of Salisbury University Janet Dudley-Eshbach and the University’s Provost Diane Allen with a proposal to take over management of the station.
Meanwhile, the Salisbury Daily Times reports that the Salisbury University Foundation which holds the license has – in the newspaper’s words – backed off discussing the issue at its board meeting today.
The group suggests hiring a general manager to oversee the station’s transition and hand day-to-day operations over to the Friends group.
That agreement would have to be renewed after three years.
Jason Curtain, the foundation’s assistant executive director, issued a statement saying that the Friends proposal will be considered along with other options and thanked the group for its interest.
Earlier this year a proposal by the consulting group Public Radio Capital offered up a stripped down classical music format for WSCL and changed WSDL from NPR News Talk to adult-album alternative music.
That sparked a backlash resulting in the creation of the Friends of Delmarva Public Radio and numerous letters to the editor supporting the station’s continued operation.
Caruthers Hall where the station is located is slated to be torn down before the summer of next year.
The paper reported that the university and its fundraising arm should set aside a total of $250-thousand to $500-thousand to relocate the studio and purchase equipment.
Hehman with the Friends of Delmarva Public Radio told the paper that while the University has raised a lot of money over the last several years…for some reason none of it was earmarked for Delmarva Public Radio.
