Documents submitted to FCC reveal KUSF sale details

Reporter Jennifer Waits continues her deep dive via Radio Survivor into the Federal Communication Commission's look at the controversial sale of student station KUSF to the Classical Public Radio Network (CPRN).Waits found several interesting details in the reams of paperwork submitted for the FCC's inquiry. As the acquisition process got under way, the broker and Public Radio Capital, 10 percent owner of CPRN, "predicted protests and recommended that KUSF be taken off the air when the sale announcement was made," Waits writes. "Not only were they afraid of on-air comments about the sale, but they also wanted the appearance of 'finality' surrounding it." The FCC also is looking at the public service operating agreement between the two entities.

Pubmedia "too focused on a narrow demographic," Ikeda says

Ken Ikeda, co-managing director of Public Media Company (PMC), says he is "deeply, deeply concerned" that public media is not connecting with more diverse audiences. In a short video on ITVS's Beyond the Box blog, Ikeda says that public media currently is "too focused on a narrow demographic,” and with few exceptions, very few people have taken risks to try to diversify the primary audience. It's not a lost cause yet, he says, but demands more attention.

Lickteig taking helm at Weekend All Things Considered

Steve Lickteig is returning to NPR after executive producing The Bob Edwards Show on Sirius XM, according to NPR. Lickteig takes over as e.p. of Weekend All Things Considered on Aug. 31. Previously, Lickteig had been an NPR producer from 1998 to 2006 working on Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Talk of the Nation. He was with Edwards' show for five years, four of those as e.p.

KIXE's Smith resigns after one year as general manager

Philip Smith, g.m. of KIXE in Redding, Calif., has resigned after a year in the job. Board member Marlene Grant confirmed to the local Record Searchlight newspaper that Smith's last day was Aug. 4. Smith told the paper that his mother-in-law has Alzheimer's disease and her physical health had recently taken a critical downturn. Board member Mike Quinn, who owns Redding station KLXR AM 1230, is taking on the g.m. post temporarily. "We are in an interim place right now, and we have things we are working on," Grant said.

Smith made headlines twice in his short tenure: When he canceled Democracy Now! (and later reinstated it, after station members voted overwhelmingly to bring it back) and when he pointed out that the Republicans' push to defund public broadcasting would hurt rural stations located in predominantly conservative areas.