The Dallas City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to transfer management of WRR-FM (101.1), the city-owned classical station, to public television and radio operator KERA, ending a tumultuous yearlong process that saw the station face a possible sale.
Under the deal, WRR will be run by KERA, but owned by the city. WRR will remain a classical music station, but switch from a commercial to noncommercial format. It will operate from its Fair Park studios for at least the next seven years.
“We’re so honored to be selected to take over management, and continue a great, free, accessible classical service for the people of Dallas and for all of North Texas,” said Nico Leone, president and CEO of KERA, after the vote. “And we’re excited to be able to get to work.”
In public comments, a total of 10 WRR supporters and representatives from KERA, WRR and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, speaking both in person and virtually, urged the City Council to vote yes. Speakers repeatedly emphasized the importance of WRR in making classical music accessible to Dallas listeners, online and on the radio.
Amy Bishop, director of marketing and promotions at WRR, told vignettes about the significance of the station for listeners. A grandfather listens to WRR with his grandson, who has autism, because the child responds well to the music. A woman rocks her baby to sleep at night listening to WRR. A couple’s son picked up the trumpet, with hopes of playing in a mariachi band, after hearing trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis on the radio.
“This radio station and the music it plays appeals to the hearts and imaginations of every age, every color and every nationality,” Bishop said.
“You can put a price on a radio station,” she added, but “you cannot put a price on the community enrichment that comes with keeping WRR if you just give it and KERA a chance to show you.”
Rachael Glazer, president of Friends of WRR, which supports the station, said the “loss of WRR would be a catastrophe not only for the city’s arts mission, but for its equity and inclusion goals.”
“I will simply say I love WRR,” said listener Ellen Beadling, her voice breaking. “I want it to stay as it is, classical.”
Most of the 14 council members then verbally expressed their support, with some sharing that they are KERA subscribers. Council members said they received hundreds of emails from residents in support of WRR.
KERA will sign a seven-year contract, with two chances for eight-year renewals. These time frames are tied to license renewal requirements from the Federal Communications Commission, and will allow the city to review WRR’s financial situation.
A 1978 mandate required WRR to broadcast City Council meetings, but the station hasn’t done so since 2020. The council revoked the mandate in approving KERA’s proposal.
Other terms of the deal require KERA to air public service announcements every day on WRR or KERA’s other platforms to promote arts organizations and city programs.
After eight years of WRR running a deficit, Dallas started looking for new management last June. The Office of Arts and Culture received proposals from the Dallas Symphony Association and KERA before recommending the latter.
Even though her organization came in second, Kim Noltemy, president and CEO of the Dallas Symphony, believes KERA will help realize WRR’s potential. “With KERA’s successful track record, we can all expect to see great improvements at the station,” she said. “We will definitely be a supportive partner in their success.”
The most vocal advocate of a sale was Adam Bazaldua, who represents District 7, where WRR’s studios are. He previously told The Dallas Morning News he thought a sale would allow the city to bolster its Arts Endowment and increase access to audio streams of public meetings.
Bazaldua, the only council member to appear virtually at the meeting, seemed to walk back his earlier comments after hearing from WRR supporters.
“We would absolutely be missing the mark in making a decision to think there’s a dollar amount that could be more valuable than continuing to allow this [station] to [contribute] to the arts community,” he said.
WRR is valued at about $13.5 million and the city would have used $5.6 million from a sale to pay off station debt.
Now that the proposal is accepted, KERA can begin having conversations with WRR staff. “We haven’t been able to sit down and talk with them” because of the procurement process, said Leone, KERA’s head. “So we want to start by listening to the experts, the community, the audience and arts organizations. We’ll develop a plan together for how to grow WRR and make it sustainable.”
KERA said it expects to assume management of WRR by December.
