WYBC one step closer to acquiring WNHC

By Anika Singh

LIZ OLINER/YH Eight days after a judge rejected its disclosure method, Buckley Broadcasting withdrew its $650,000 bid for WNHC on Wed., Mar. 11.

In a hearing on Tues., Mar. 3, bankruptcy court Judge Albert S. Dabrowski rejected a method of disclosure supported by Buckley Broadcasting. A week after this rejection, Buckley Broadcasting withdrew its bid on WNHC.

WYBC, as well as a number of Willis Communications' creditors, had objected to the disclosure statement, under which the competing bidders would have had to enter a time brokerage agreement (TBA). The TBA mandated that the bidder operate the station for a period of 60 to 90 days before an official transfer of ownership had taken place. Dabrowski believed that such an agreement would be "unfair" to other potential bidders on the station.

Another disclosure statement, drafted by Willis Communications attorney Andrew DiPietro and approved by the WYBC Board of Governors, is expected to be filed with the court in the next few days. According to Ken Devoe, SY '69, chairman of the Board of Governors, WNHC President and General Manager Edie Rozie, DiPietro, and members of the WYBC Board of Governors met on Fri., Mar. 13. Devoe believes that the new plan is "in the best interests" of all involved, and said that he hoped that the process would be left to the court. "At this point, we just want to get it done," he said. The details of the newly proposed disclosure statement were not made public.

Following the submission of the statement, another hearing will be scheduled for its approval. Until a specific plan is approved, the table is open to bids on Willis Communications and WNHC. According to DiPietro, two undisclosed entities, in addition to WYBC and Buckley Broadcasting, have expressed interest in acquiring WNHC. Moreover, although Buckley Broadcasting has formally withdrawn its bid, DiPietro said that he expects to hear from them again.

Richard Buckley, president of Buckley Broadcasting, denied any intention to resubmit a bid at the present time and expressed frustration with the court proceedings. "This has taken 10 months and we're back to square one; it should've taken 10 minutes," he said. Buckley added that unlike WYBC, his company would have maintained WNHC's current programming schedule.

Rozier continues to voice concerns about WYBC's intention to devote a substantial portion of WNHC airtime to student programming. "Yale has no interest in serving the black community; that's what I'm interested in," she said. "Their concern is making money." Rozier maintained that she would support any company wishing to acquire WNHC if they were committed to serving the New Haven community. However, WNHC cannot submit a disclosure statement without a buyer, and only WYBC has put forth a formal bid.

Although a WYBC takeover would create airtime for student DJs displaced last December by format changes, the station's General Board continues to voice concerns. In a series of resolutions passed by the General Board on Wed., Feb. 25, the Board opposed "entrance into any contract of financial arrangement which impacts, directs, or includes stipulations...which entails major financial commitments or the purchase of another station(s)" until the Board approves such an arrangement.

Many individual members of the Board have stated that they are not in favor of such an arrangement. Christine Michelopoulos, TC '98, former format head for the "Frequency" programming, cited the proposed takeover as another example of how WYBC has become more commercially-minded. "That's not the point of a college radio station," she said. She also had doubts about student programs being aired on an AM station. "What we want," she explained, "is one radio station, one WYBC, one FM station."

In response to these concerns, Program Director Emad Abdelnaby, DC '99, whose resignation was called for by the General Board, stressed the importance of long-term planning. "The difference between the Board of Governors and the General Board is that the General Board doesn't have the long-term interests of Yale Broadcasting in mind," Abdelnaby said.

As to concerns about WNHC remaining a community-oriented station, although he could not specify what the program schedule would look like, Abdelnaby said that airtime would be split between student and community programming.

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