WWOZ Board of Directors General Manager’s Report Wednesday, March 11, 2015
1. Membership. As of January 31, 2015, WWOZ has received $686,701 in donations for FY 2015, an increase of 26% over the same period in the previous year (September- January 2014), during which WWOZ members donated $545,716. During the current reporting period, 3,992 individual members donated to WWOZ, 1,639 sustaining members gave $80,000 (12% of all revenue), and approximately 2,182 out-of-state members gave $309,000 (45% of all revenue). In the month of January 2015 alone, WWOZ received $307,135 in donations, an increase of 24% over donations received in January 2014. WWOZ’s spring 2015 Membership Drive will end on March 13, 2015 with a live broadcast from Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
2. Underwriting. As of January 31, 2015, WWOZ has earned $156,453 in underwriting and sponsorship revenue for FY 2015, an increase of 36% over the same period in FY 2014 – from September 1, 2013-January 31, 2014, underwriting and sponsorship revenue totaled $115,356. Sponsor Services has secured $50,000 in sponsorship for the 27th Annual WWOZ Piano Night, taking place on April 27, 2015. Peoples Health has committed to a $10,000 WWOZ Piano Night sponsorship, and WWOZ has $5,000 sponsorship commitments from NOLA Motorsports Park, Roedel Parsons Koch Blache Balhoff & McCollister, The Theatres at Canal Place, First NBC Bank, Chevron, The Helis Foundation, The Sexton Companies, and Helen Brett Entertainment. WWOZ is thrilled to announce that LSU Health New Orleans has committed to a sponsorship of WWOZ’s live broadcast from the 2015 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. In addition to a $60,000 sponsorship, LSU Health New Orleans has pledged an additional $15,000 to be used for WWOZ’s first print and digital marketing campaign promoting the live Jazz Fest broadcast. Sponsor Services signed eight new underwriting agreements in February 2015: Winter Circle Productions for Big Chiefs: A Tribute to Bo Dollis, the New Orleans Ballet Association for Black Grace, the Colin McCuaig Wheeler Sober Living Project, Outback Presents for Nevilles Forever: A Celebration Of The Neville Brothers And Their Music, the Festival Internationale de Louisiane, The Shops at Essence, Southern Rep Theatre for Suddenly Last Summer, and Beaver Productions for Bob Dylan at the Saenger Theater.
3. Major Giving. As of January 31, 2015, WWOZ has received $93,000 from major donors for FY 2015, compared to the $93,396 received from September 2013-January 2014. In the month of January 2015, WWOZ received $39,650 in major gifts, compared to the $14,870 received in January 2014. On March 9, 2015, WWOZ received a $5,000 donation from The Almar Foundation, earmarked to support production of WWOZ’s syndicated radio program New Orleans Calling.
Page 1 of 5
WWOZ Board of Directors General Manager’s Report Wednesday, March 11, 2015
4. Swamp Shop. As of January 31, 2015, total FY 2015 revenue for the WWOZ Swamp Shop was $37,079.60. For the month of January 2015, Swamp Shop brought in $2,592.60, a 47% increase over January 2014. The Swamp Shop retail location in the Louisiana Music Factory accounted for 47% of January 2014 sales. On February 28, 2015, the WWOZ Swamp Shop and the Louisiana Music Factory co-hosted a live broadcast from the store to commemorate the one year anniversary of their moving to the Frenchmen Street location, featuring music by John Boutté, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, Little Freddie King, the Shotgun Jazz Band, and Eric Lindell.
5. Arts Council New Orleans Community Arts Grant. On February 13, 2015, WWOZ has been awarded a Community Arts Operating Support Grant in the amount of $21,760 by the Arts Council New Orleans for FY 2015. The grant award reflects a 21% increase over the $18,000 granted by the agency to WWOZ in FY 2014.
6. New Media. WWOZ redesigned the main landing web page for the WWOZ Swamp Shop, introducing an orderly, modular design and enhanced use of merchandise photos. The first live development version of the new responsive WWOZ web site is online, and can be viewed at: http://wwozui-theme.c4publish.com. WWOZ will again stream live video of the in-studio musical performances during the membership drive. Traffic on WWOZ.org on Fat Tuesday 2015 was up 10% over Fat Tuesday 2014. WWOZ.com’s server upgrade was completed on February 27, 2015.
7. New Orleans Calling Live from Basin Street Station. WWOZ hosted its fourth and fifth videotaped live music events at Basin Street Station, featuring performances by and live interviews with Leroy Jones & the Johnny Vidacovich Trio on February 25, 2015, and Sharon Martin & the Mario Abney Sextet with special guest Kaliq Woods on February 26, 2015. The next two Live from Basin Street Station events will take place on March 25 & March 26, 2015, with artists as yet to be determined.
8. In-Studio Guests.
February 2, 2015: Jasmine Ratliff, Josh Hozer, Clemens Gubernath, Mario Abney February 3, 2015: Krystina Maria Schindler, Will Thompson, Johnny Siegel, Dave Barksdale February 4, 2015: Tom Hays February 5, 2015: Bobby Hjortsberg, Darryl “Dancin’ Man 504” Young, Tom Mayes, Gary and Carol Gross, Rebecca Gaillot, Evan Christopher February 6, 2015: Joshua “Jams” Marotta February 7, 2015: Gerald Murphy, Ann Lambert February 9, 2015: Brooke Anderson February 11, 2015: David Roe, Jeremy Smith, Juan Pardo, Dave Jordan, Bronwen Freeman February 12, 2015: Carly Plotkin, Anna Aitken, Douane Waples, Caleb Windsay, Gaynielle Neville, David Roe, Ranger Ric
Page 2 of 5
WWOZ Board of Directors General Manager’s Report Wednesday, March 11, 2015
8. In-Studio Guests (cont).
February 13, 2015: Ian Smith, Abigail Whittington, Nelda Smith, Alexandra Scott, Avon Lambert, Jenn Ocken, February 19, 2015: Jasmine Ratliff, Michael Torregano February 20, 2015: Alex Owen, Gary Negbaur, Jimmy Carpenter, Sharon Menard February 23, 2015: Kristin Diable, Jennifer Montgomery, Jenny Hamilton, Ryan Shapiro, Michael Cerveris, Ashley Kingman February 25, 2015: Kevin Stewart, Libra Lagrone, Meredith Harris February 26, 2015: Eris Walsh, Sean Johnson, Greg Hicks February 27, 2015: Marco Benevenuto, Wess Anderson, Julie K. Odell, Tim Beasley, Sam Craft, Aron Lambert, Wil Blades, Tarik Thornton
9. Live Broadcasts.
February 28, 2015
WWOZ Swamp Shop and Louisiana Music Factory Anniversary Celebration Louisiana Music Factory, New Orleans Featuring Eric Lindell, John Boutté, Shotgun Jazz Band, Lost Bayou Rambler, and Little Freddie King
10. Upcoming Live Broadcasts.
11:00am-7:00pm, Friday, March 13, 2015
WWOZ End of Membership Drive Live Remote Kermit Ruffin’s Mother-in-Law Lounge, New Orleans Artists TBA
Saturday, March 21 & Sunday, March 22, 2015:
2015 Congo Square New World Rhythms Festival Presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation Louis Armstrong Park, New Orleans Artists TBA
Page 3 of 5
WWOZ Board of Directors General Manager’s Report Wednesday, March 11, 2015
11. Press.
The Times-Picayune/NOLA.com: “Raiders of the Lost Ark or Streetcar Named Desire? Both classics return to big screen, plus more local movie events” Mike Scott, March 10, 2015
“[Indywood Theater] will also team with WWOZ for two screenings of director Les Blank's 1973 documentary Hot Pepper (5 and 7 p.m. Sunday, March 15), about zydeco king Clifton Chenier.”
New Wave/Tulane University: “Full of praise for Mahalia” Hannah Dean, March 10, 2015
“Jerry Brock of local radio station WWOZ-FM built upon this theme by adding that as a gospel singer who grew up in a city as racially charged as New Orleans, Mahalia Jackson personified the idea of resistance through beauty in the local and national African- American community.”
The Times-Picayune/NOLA.com: “WWOZ’s spring membership drive offers reunion and renewal for listeners, staffers, volunteers” Dave Walker, March 6, 2015
“Love was in the airwaves during the first day of the spring membership drive for WWOZ FM-90.7. Also social aid, of a sort. Also pleasure.”
“Streaming video (including in-studio pledge performances) now gets prominent play on the station’s densely populated website, WWOZ.org. The station boosted its broadcast signal strength last year and is in the process of adding a second music feed to stream and broadcast via HD radio. There will be, as usual, live broadcasts of performances at the French Quarter Festival and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival….”
“Chicago, New York City and San Francisco lead the list of top-streaming cities beyond the New Orleans area. Moscow comes in at No. 7, so no surprise that Russia leads all countries beyond the United States in streaming WWOZ, ahead of Canada, England and Japan.”
“About half of the station’s supporting members reside outside of the New Orleans area. WWOZ on-air hosts hear from listeners all the time who say the stream is a link to a life they’ve left behind or a way to relive a great visit to the city.”
“Average streaming traffic doubles during Jazz Fest (and stays strong on the weekdays between Fair Grounds days). WWOZ’s streaming audience more or less tripled, to about 13,000 listeners, on Fat Tuesday.” Page 4 of 5
WWOZ Board of Directors General Manager’s Report Wednesday, March 11, 2015
11. Press (cont).
The Times-Picayune/NOLA.com: “Solange, Marilyn Manson and other musicians who have lived in New Orleans” Alison Fensterstock, March 2, 2015
“And of course there’s the Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli, who co-owns the R Bar and Bud Rips, and the Pogues’ Spider Stacy, who more than once has lent his impressive vinyl holdings and DJ skills to WWOZ’s periodic Sunday cocktail-hour ‘Private Collections’ series. (That’s why, if you wondered, Stacy turned up as a character on HBO’s Treme.)”
Esquire.com: “The Politics Blog: Out on the Weekend” Charles P. Pierce, February 27, 2015
“Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: ‘Big Butter and Egg Man’ (Sweet Emma Barrett). And, yeah, I pretty much still love New Orleans.”
The Times-Picayune/NOLA.com: “Mahalia Jackson tribute concert, discussions free and open to the public at Tulane on March 7” Alison Fensterstock, February 25, 2015
“At 3:30 p.m., Tulane music professor Dr. Matt Sakakeeny will be joined by LSU’s Dr. Joyce Jackson, Rev. Dwight Webster and WWOZ radio co-founder Jerry Brock for a panel titled ‘Mahalia’s Life and Legacy in New Orleans.’”
Gambit /BestOfNewOrleans.com: “New Orleans podcasters broadcast to the world” Jeanie Riess, February 16, 2015
“Action Jackson of WWOZ’s Takin’ It to the Streets has the kind of voice that could make a solitary dictionary reading sound like the greatest party on earth. Fifteen years ago, as a radio personality on Q93 FM, Jackson started talking about his own Super Sunday plans, and people started calling in and asking for more information. Four years ago, he launched Takin’ It to the Streets on ‘OZ, a radio show and podcast dedicated to the behind-the-scenes stories of the second line, collecting tales from the presidents of the New Orleans Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs and Big Chiefs of Mardi Gras Indian tribes.”
WGNO-TV/WGNO.com: “What exactly is the Mardi Gras Mambo?” Kenny Lopez, February 16, 2015
“News with a Twist’s Kenny Lopez got the scoop from David Kunian of WWOZ FM on what exactly is the ‘Mardi Gras Mambo?’ According to Kunian, the song is just a song, and not a dance. He said that the song is actually a rumba and not a mambo. Page 5 of 5