Industry News

Penn State to Shutter Non-Com WPSU-FM

According to a report at TribLive.com, Penn State will shut down its public radio station, WPSU-FM at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. The report says trustees voted against a proposal to transfer its operating assets to public radio WHYY-FM, Philadelphia. WPSU has depended on annual subsidies of atimg least $3.4 million from the university to operate the station. TribLive reports, “Penn State officials said they proposed transferring the operating assets of WPSU to WHYY and provide a $17 million subsidy structured to decrease over five years, to give WHYY an opportunity to help WPSU reach a financial break-even point and continue broadcasting across central Pennsylvania.” That proposal was not accepted by the trustees. See the TribLive story here.

Industry News

TALKERS News Notes

PodcastOne Extends A+E Deal. PodcastOne extends its agreement with A+E Networks for the exclusive sales and distribution rights to five true crime podcasts: “Cold Case Files,” “I Survived,” “American Justice,” “City Confidential,” and “Ancient Aliens.” PodcastOne co-founder and president Kit Gray says, “Whether it is a limited series or a weekly production, we provide premiere podcasting services for companies and networks who have been hesitant or lack the internal resources to adapt existing programming into a podcast. By leveraging our strong infrastructure and expert technology within the medium, we can offer tailored services to bridge the gap between television and the world’s fastest growing media platform, podcasting.”

MPR Adds Trustees. The Board of Trustees of Minnesota Public Radio welcomes two new members. Sarah Karon, board president of the Library Foundation for Sarasota County and District 5 Town Commissioner in Longboat Key, Florida, and Dr. Brian Harrison, political scientist and author, were recently elected to the board. MPR CEO Jean Taylor states, “We’re delighted to welcome Sarah and Brian to the MPR Board of Trustees. Both of these new Trustees have great passion for service to their communities and are huge fans of public media. At the same time, they will each bring incredible expertise, perspective, and a track record of success in their own right in the areas of philanthropy and inclusion. Their presence and engagement will make an already strong board even stronger.”

Denes Hosts Warshaw and Parenti on Podcast. Benztown president Dave “Chachi” Denes talks with Connoisseur Media founder and CEO Jeff Warshaw and Radio Ink president and publisher Deborah Parenti on the two current episodes of his podcast, “Chachi Loves Everybody.”