Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Where can I hear the station?

Dayton Public Radio broadcasts at 600 watts on FM-88.1, Dayton, and can be heard from Vandalia down to the I-275 loop around Cincinnati. It goes east and west from Springfield, Ohio, almost to Richmond, Indiana. The signal can also be heard on FM-89.9, Greenville, at 50,000 watts. That signal reaches from Richmond north to Fort Wayne, east to Piqua extending to the northern part of Springfield and back into Tipp City and Troy. We also broadcast on the Internet at www.dpr.org.

 

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Where are the actual broadcast towers?

WDPR broadcasts from a tower at 3901 Guthrie Road, in what is commonly called the "tower farm." Other towers in this farm include but are not limited to Channels 22 and 45. WDPG broadcasts from a tower on the northeast side of Greenville, just off the eastern bypass at 5209 Horatio-Harris Creek Road.

 

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What does "member supported" mean?

Dayton Public Radio is a community licensee, meaning that the license is owned by the Board of Trustees. There is no university or public television station affiliated with this radio station.

Financial support is generated from several sources but membership is by far the most important source. In addition, much of our support comes as in-kind contributions of goods or services from organizations and individuals in the community. Seven of our hosts are volunteers.

 

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What are on-air fundraisers?

Twice a year, we take time from our regular programming to ask our listeners to support what they hear. On-air fund drives are simply the most efficient and effective way to attract new members.

The fall fund drive is typically called Celebration and occurs in September or October, lasting about 8 days. The spring fund drive is called Campaign and is about 8 days in mid-March or April. Fifty weeks a year, we play classical music all day, every day.

 

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How can I be sure that the money I give is well spent?

We are very careful with each gift to Classical 88.1. Feel free to examine our most recent IRS Form 990 for an exact explanation of where your dollars are used.

 

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Why do you say you don't have commercials when I hear businesses mentioned all the time?

We are an educational non-commercial frequency and as such we cannot have commercials. We can receive gifts or grants intended for program support. This is called program underwriting.

The FCC requires us to acknowledge such program gifts or grants on the air. Such acknowledgements cannot be promotional in nature, nor may they include any inducements to buy, or any calls to actions.

In its simplest form, this means that we can mention:

• an underwriter's name
• address
• phone number
• Web site
• a brief statement of their services

but we cannot:

• use any qualitative language (such as "beautiful sweaters, quality pianos, comprehensive financial advice")
• make any statements that can't be verified ("the biggest selection, the best value")
• ask listeners to do anything ("buy now . . . , come on down . . . , see for yourself . . . ")
• mention price, sales or other inducements to buy

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Where else does funding for the stations come from?

• We apply for and are often awarded foundation grant monies.
• We do not receive funding from Culture Works. We do exchange moral support, information and good will with them.
• We receive funding from three government sources:
  1. Arts organizations allocation from the Montgomery County Commissioners funded by sales tax receipts in Montgomery County. Please consider shopping in Montgomery County!
  2. eTech Ohio allocations for both WDPR and WDPG (that amount has been cut 4 times already this year)
  3. Corporation for Public Broadcasting allocations which are based on a fraction of what we are able to raise independently in the community

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Who was Clark J. Haines?

Clark J. Haines lived a vital and energetic life devoted to music and the teaching of music. He had a full career in music and administration with the Kettering City Schools and additional careers with Grace Methodist Church, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus and the NCR band.

In 1980, he and others began asking why Dayton was the largest city in the U. S. without its own public radio station. By 1985 they had obtained a broadcast frequency and WDPR-FM signed on the air on November 11.

In 1998 we instituted the Clark J. Haines Society to recognize Clark's enormous contributions to this station. Clark Haines died on June 23, 2001. He will be missed by the many in this community who benefit every from his vision, his kindness and his enthusiasm.

 

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Why can't I get your station at my house in Yellow Springs (Bellbrook, Waynesville)?

WDPR broadcasts at 600 watts from a tower in West Carrollton. FM broadcasting operates according to what is called "an unobstructed line of sight" ratio. The higher an antenna is on the tower, the further out the signal reaches - as long as nothing gets in the way.

In our case, there is a ridge that runs roughly along I-675 and blocks our "line of sight" into these communities. Our number one station priority is to improve this access.

Occasionally we are asked why we just don't "turn up the power." The FCC regulates broadcast power quite closely and what we have now is all we are licensed for in the Dayton market. The FCC is very careful to be sure that stations that are geographically close and located near one another on the broadcast dial do not interfere with each other and distort the reception for both stations.

 

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How many people listen to the station?

In our metro service area of Montgomery, Preble, Greene, Clark and Miami counties, we serve 37,500 unduplicated listeners weekly. (Source: Arbitron/Radio Research Consortium, Inc., MSA Persons 12+, Monday-Sunday, 6a-12m, Spring 2005. Arbitron data are estimates only.).

When our total service area is measured in spring and fall, it usually adds 7-8,000 more listeners to the total.

 

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Who at DPR should I talk to about . . .

A great idea	Anybody! We love great ideas.
My membership	Membership Services Manager Helena Carter
Programming	General Manager Georgie Woessner or Program Director Shaun Yu
A complaint	General Manager Georgie Woessner
A marketing possibility	Development and Marketing Director Jill Bishop
Underwriting a program	Account Exec. Nick Wilson Account Exec. Jon Castonguay