Layoffs bring end to independent weather on WILL radio and television
Citing budget constraints, Illinois Public Media announced it would end its in-house weather forecasting and eliminate a total of nine positions.
Staff were notified of the decisions on Thursday.
The elimination of the weather department signals an end to independent weather forecasting for WILL Radio and WILL-TV. Staff will share weather information with listeners from reports from the National Weather Service.
Providing the weather to the public costs about $140,000 a year, $40,000 of which is underwritten by businesses, according to Illinois Public Media.
“We are proud of our long tradition of weather coverage. Ed Kieser, Mike Sola, and their staff have for years dedicated themselves to making sure our listeners knew when severe weather threatened as well as bringing them day-to-day forecasts. But now that in-depth weather information is available on the Web and elsewhere, we believe that our limited resources must be applied to other areas,” said Illinois Public Media General Manager Mark Leonard in a statement Thursday.
A reorganization plan for Illinois Public Media, which includes WILL-AM 580 and WILL-FM 90.9 and WILL-TV also will bring changes to both the AM and FM radio stations. WILL-FM will become a dual-format station on April 1 as news shows will be added. WILL-AM staff will focus more on in-depth coverage of local issues.
Illinois Public Media has been operating with a deficit during the current fiscal year after it lost $110,000 in funding from the Illinois Arts Council. Its annual arts council funding has declined by more than $280,000 since 2006, according to Leonard.
“We’re cutting deeply enough with these changes that we hope no more cuts will be needed next year,” he said in a statement. “In the past, as our state funding decreased, we’ve relied mostly on attrition to downsize and automation to cut costs. Most of these changes have been invisible to the public. But now we have to make changes that viewers and listeners will notice.”
WILL-FM’s weekday morning music show host Vic Di Geronimo will move from early morning to a 9 a.m. to noon slot. Other FM shows, including Live and Local with Kevin Kelly, Prairie Performances, Afternoon at the Opera, Classics by Request and Classics of the Phonograph will continue at their current times.
On WILL-AM, David Inge and Celeste Quinn will continue to host weekday local talk and news shows. But the 10 a.m. to noon morning show will be named FOCUS beginning April 1. And the Afternoon Magazine will air from noon to 1 p.m. That show will be followed by Fresh Air, which will also air at 7 p.m. At 2 p.m. WILL-AM will air a new one-hour agriculture and business program hosted by Illinois Public Media agriculture director Dave Dickey and Closing Market Report host Todd Gleason.
Leonard will appear on WILL-AM’s Focus 580 at 11:06 a.m. Monday, Feb. 15, to talk with listeners about the changes planned.
Sure, Mr. Leonard, we can find weather forecasts lots of places, but the problem is finding reliable forecasts. They're in short supply around here. Don't you think it's interesting that the Talk to Ed or Talk to Mike programs are packed with callers even though you can find forecasts all over the web? I'm not saying Ed and Mike are always right, but at least they were a different voice than the National Weather Service, which you can pretty much bet is always wrong. Wow. This surprises me. It strikes me as throwing the baby out with the bath water, but I'm not in the forecast or broadcast business. Good luck to all of you.
This is a bad move. I realize times are tight, but WILL is a gem. Having moved to St. Louis last summer, there is nothing like it here in terms of original programming. What's next, no more local interview shows? Focus 580 and the like are top-notch. I too would jettison overpaid, underachieving administrators for these long-time employees who do fine work. Grrr!
This is a shame. Sure, I can get weather forecasts on the web, just like I can listen to my beloved This American Life on the web. However, what I can't get on the web is the calm, reassuring voice of Ed Kieser telling me the tornado is heading towards Melvin or Guthrie or Champaign (and get your butt to the basement). The web isn't available when the power goes out (unlike my battery radio). The web isn't a friend or a member of this community.
If you are as angry as I am about this, start making calls - call the station, the President's office, the Guv!
I really hate the thought of sitting in my basement through tornado warnings without Ed or Mike on the radio giving reliable and very local information about how things are developing. You can't get that online...
The closing of the weather department at WILL is a terrible loss for our community. It will be greatly missed by farmers, local businesses, and many others. It is interesting the priorities of a university and a community. Coaches make millions (some do anyway), jerseys and trinkets rake in untold bucks, yet things that really make a difference in our day-to-day lives are taken for granted. It's shameful, really.
This was one of the worst possible decisions to be made by WILL. I suppose we can get the weather from the internet and I suppose I can get my news and NPR coverage from the internet too.
For year we were reminded how valuable the weather department was and we responded with contributions. I had never contributed to local radio until coming here and I proudly have a monthly deduction from my check for this service. Weather was one of the prime reasons. I guess the general manager from Seattle did not value the weather service seeing it as a frivolous hold over from college radio of the 1940s.
The next time (soon) we need weather coverage during tornado season you will know how we need this information.
I suggest we email Mr. Leonard to tell him what we think. mleonard@illinois.edu
I also believe we should let management know they should rethink Mr. Leonard's tenure as general manager.
For people who are in communications, I have been disappointed at how badly WILL management has handled this - at least publicly. The statements by Mr. Leonard that people can get weather from the web and on the radio by Jay Pierce that he has weather broadcasting experience and gets forecasts on his phone, etc., it's not just insulting to the weather guys who lost their jobs, it's insulting to the listeners who pledged year after year after being reminded what a *unique* service the weather is ... I mean ... was.
Mr. Leonard's pretty new. Maybe he didn't listen to pledge drives and hear the talk about supporting the weather staff. Listeners were told it was special and we believed it. For years, our family pitched in once a year to support the weather broadcasts and enjoyed the tornado shows we went to.
I get the economics of it, but this matter could have been handled with a lot more tact and grace than it was. They should have just said, "We're in the process of figuring out how to best supply weather information with our reduced staff." Not the funny business about oh, check the web, or Jay PIerce can work all day and night and save us from tornados, blah, blah, blah.
I feel sorry for the other 7 people too, but at least their soon-to-be-former bosses didn't come out and say ... in so many words ... how replaceable they are.
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