During an Oct. 4 public meeting on the pending sale of university-owned WBFO-FM to WNED, listeners called for preservation of weekend music programs and local coverage, according to the Buffalo News and ArtVoice, an alt-weekly that questions whether Buffalo will be well-served by the sale of the city’s flagship NPR station on 88.7.
WNED, a public TV and radio operation owned by community licensee Western New York Public Broadcasting Association, plans to tailor WBFO’s appeal to Canadian audiences, a service strategy that has been very successful for its public TV station.
The Buffalo News estimated that 80 people attended the session in WNED’s studios in downtown Buffalo “with the enthusiasm so great for local public broadcasting that the scheduled 60-minute session ran more than 80 minutes.” Many attendees called for an end to rebroadcasts of talk shows, and for more time slots devoted to local music and news.