WNED's Acquisition of WBFO

Dear WBFO listeners, friends, and supporters,

I'm pleased to let you know we are announcing today that WBFO 88.7 will become part of the WNED family of public radio and tv stations. The University at Buffalo has agreed to a sale with our colleagues at Western New York Public Broadcasting Association for a price of $4 million that will take effect upon FCC approval in the next several months.  This includes the licenses to operate WBFO 88.7 Buffalo, WUBJ 88.1 Jamestown, and WOLN 91.3 Olean. With this purchase, the two largest public broadcasting organizations in the region are joining forces, which will strengthen the NPR programming that you know and love on WBFO, and make a more efficient use of the resources provided by donors and taxpayers.

This announcement is the culmination of many months of discussions between the two organizations and members of their respective boards, trying to find ways to strengthen public radio, and align the support from the community in a way that could offer the best in international news coverage, regional journalism, programming and online services.   It reflects the clear trends in public broadcasting faced with shrinking federal dollars, and mergers that have already taken place in other markets such as Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Houston, and Nashville. Our work here in Buffalo in looking ahead has been thoughtful, and it reflects the strategic direction that will keep public radio strong well into the future.

It's important to reassure you that the programming you love on WBFO will continue through this transition period, and WBFO (and our Southern Tier stations) will remain as our region's flagship NPR station, with the news and award-winning journalism that we all love. The programs such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and much, much more will continue to be there for this community under the familiar stewardship of our neighbors at WNED.

Here's a link to the official press release, and we'll have more on our WBFO.org website, Facebook and Twitter in the future. 

Finally, let me thank you for your wonderfully strong support in the past, and urge you to continue supporting WBFO financially in the future. This NPR station will need you - your voice, your enthusiasm, your pledges - to make WBFO into an even better public radio station.  Thanks for all you do for YOUR NPR Station!