University postpones any WTJU changes

The University of Virginia is “resetting” the process of bringing major changes to WTJU, the university’s beloved but struggling non-commercial radio station.

The university had planned to roll out several fundamental changes to WTJU (91.1 FM) in early July, but changed course Tuesday and announced that the “new WTJU” won’t be introduced until this fall.

“We’re resetting the process to bring you and your ideas to the table while not losing sight of those three key goals of increasing listenership, student involvement and revenue,” according to a statement sent to the WTJU community Tuesday by Carol Wood and Marian Anderfuren, of UVa’s Office of Public Affairs, and Burr Beard, the station’s newly appointed general manager.

The changes being planned for WTJU include a reorganized programming schedule that is marked by blocks of genres, such as rock or jazz, as well as the introduction of playlists, or requiring DJs to play songs out of a rotation.

The changes sparked outrage by many longtime WTJU DJs, several of whom announced late last week and Monday that they would be quitting the station in response. Some worried that their longtime shows would be cut under the new schedule. Others said requiring DJs to play four songs from a rotation each hour would diminish the station’s personality and unpredictability.

UVa is launching a blog today — which will be linked from WTJU’s home page at wtju.radio.vir ginia.edu — to give WTJU community members an official place to voice their opinions about the coming changes to the station and other key issues.

“The blog will remain open until July 23, with a target launch date of ‘the new WTJU’ on Aug. 23,” the statement said. “Any business plan will be delayed pending the outcome of this process. As we said yesterday, the WTJU community is passionate and we want to draw on that passion.”

The UVa officials included a letter from WTJU’s former general manager, Chuck Taylor, about the changes on the horizon. Taylor led WTJU from 1993 until his retirement on Jan. 1 of this year.

Taylor urged the WTJU community to listen to Beard’s plans for the radio station and consider them carefully because “the station’s future depends on it,” he said.

Taylor goes on to encourage the WTJU community to lend its support to Beard to increase listenership, fundraising and ensure the station’s survival amidst difficult economic challenges.

“Burr has 30 years of experience just as I do,” Taylor writes, “but his has the advantage of time being spent at several stations. He also has the advantage of a fresh look and is the station’s BEST BET to survive even another year. He’s coming to a station in a broadcast market that is about as competitive as it gets: you’ve got program variants of WTJU offerings upwards of eleven radio stations with WNRN and ‘the Corner’ having the biggest impact. ‘Serving your audience’ includes understanding the area market. Corrections or changes to programming, when done creatively and with accumulated knowledge and feedback, is the key to moving forward.”

UVa will still hold an all-station meeting Thursday about the coming changes to WTJU. Also, a town hall meeting for anyone, including members of the community, will be held July 12 at a time and location to be determined.

This article was edited to correct the date of the town hall meeting.