Annual Reports

2013 Annual Report

Embracing Change
 
cover of the 2013 Illinois Public Media annual report

Read the digital version of the 2013 Illinois Public Media Annual Report

Video and audio online bonus material

Introduction

Dear Friends,

Helping you make sense of your world is a primary mission for Illinois Public Media.

That world is evolving at a breathtaking pace.  Users of our public media service have access to more information than ever. With a click, touch or swipe, they can get answers to questions and connect to people across the globe. Our viewers and listeners tap new technology and devices that enable them to take news and entertainment with them wherever they go and access it when their schedule permits.

Yet as media and information become more pervasive in our lives, fewer traditional media organizations are surviving to help orient people to what is happening around them. Newspapers are folding, radio stations rarely have ties to the community and national news organizations have cut their number of reporting bureaus.

In this world of change, Illinois Public Media has kept right on producing strong, creative content to keep you informed, inspired and entertained.  But we’re changing too, embracing the evolution in technology to give you more ways to connect with us. We added streaming of our FM signal in the past year with the launch of our redesigned website, and began offering a free mobile radio app for our AM and FM listeners.

We’re also trying new ways to make the most of our budget by sharing administrative and technical resources. In September, I assumed interim general management duties at Illinois Public Media while continuing my CEO responsibilities at WTVP in Peoria. We’re looking for ways that the two operations can cooperate and collaborate for efficiency and cost effectiveness, and for creation of meaningful local programming.

In another cooperative venture, Illinois Edition of PBS LearningMedia, we are working with other PBS stations in Illinois to provide lesson plans and online resources for the more than 19,500 Illinois teachers who have signed up for the service to engage their students. We’ve also joined with an alliance of other public television stations around the country to share technical resources.

Enjoy this look back at the past year. Our WILL-TV production staff brought viewers an outstanding line-up of Illinois trailblazers on our re-launched Illinois Pioneers series, with one of the best interviewers we know, David Inge, posing the questions. We created and aired TV specials about Medicare 7, 8 or 9 founder Dan Perrino, the late film critic Roger Ebert, cooking with local foods, and a farm-to-table dinner at Prairie Fruits Farm.  We helped residents of Monticello create a video story about their town, We Are … Monticello for WILL-TV.

WILL-AM’s Focus and our news team addressed issues such as immigration and health care reform, home births, and the resurgence of meth in central Illinois.

We opened our doors for a children’s open house with PBS Kids entertainer Mr. Steve, invited the public to a preview party for Season 4 of Downton Abbey, and brought you screenings and discussions of great independent films with our Community Cinema series.  WILL-FM’s Live & Local with Kevin Kelly hosted performing artists from around Illinois for conversation and live music.

You helped make all of this possible with your generous financial contributions. Thanks to you, we raised funds for next year’s budget with fewer on-air pledge hours. We appreciate your support as we expand and improve our programs and services, in part by taking advantage of changes in the world of media and information.

We think change is a good thing—it challenges us to try new ways of doing things as we maintain the excellent public media service we’ve provided for 91 years. One thing that will never change is our commitment to quality content and service.

Chet Tomczyk
Interim General Manager

Take WILL radio everywhere with our mobile app

WILL Radio listeners can now listen anywhere by downloading our free WILL Radio app for smart phones and mobile devices. It’s a way to listen with one touch, either to a live stream or to programs that aired earlier in the day.

A new way to listen to WILL-FM

With the launch of our redesigned website on Feb. 14, we began streaming our WILL-FM signal over the Internet. WILL-AM began streaming in July of 2000, but WILL-FM streaming was delayed because of requirements that we report our playlists to rights holders for the music. To listen online, click on “listen” at the top of the page, then select either WILL-AM or WILL-FM and the player will pop up.

A new interim general manager

Chet Tomczyk took over as interim general manager at Illinois Public Media in September after former general manager Mark Leonard left for Nebraska Educational Telecommunications. Chet continued his responsibilities as CEO of WTVP in Peoria. The sharing of a general manager gives both public media operations the opportunity for collaboration and innovation.

New generator part of national alert system

A new 350 KW generator installed next to Campbell Hall is part of a national emergency alert network created by Congress to enable public TV stations to send emergency alerts to local commercial mobile service providers.  It ensures a reliable emergency alert service if utility power is lost at Illinois Public Media’s studios. A PBS WARN (Warning, Alert, and Response Network) federal grant provided $325,881 for the generator, with an additional $30,000 provided by the U of I. The generator will provide emergency power for technical areas in Campbell Hall to maintain our program feeds to our FM and TV transmitters.

Illinois Radio Reader Move to Campbell Hall

In mid-June, more than 60 Illinois Radio Reader volunteers and IRR director Deane Geiken moved into Campbell Hall to join the rest of Illinois Public Media staff. The move, which involved reconfiguring every aspect of IRR’s operations, was completed with interruption to the service. The free service offers audio of news and information for blind and print-impaired people. In May, IRR raised $16,000—up $4,000 from 2012—from the Vintage Vinyl sale.

Volunteer videographers capture life in Monticello

Julie Glawe had never used a video camera when she decided to become a volunteer videographer to help tell the story of Monticello for WILL-TV’s first “We Are …” project in the fall. 

Julie filmed a story about volunteers for Piatt County Faith in Action, but she also shot footage for a story about agriculture in the area. Using a video camera she borrowed from WILL-TV, she became one of the project’s most enthusiastic volunteers, filming from the top of a grain elevator and talking a pilot into taking her up in a plane to shoot farm fields from the air. “I loved it!,” she said. “I totally got into capturing a story on camera.”

The projects “took some time and took some thought and it’s not that easy,” she said. “There’s a new found respect for those camera guys and the guys who tell the story.”

WILL-TV provided training and video cameras, and encouraged Monticello residents to make video stories that WILL-TV edited together into a program about the city. More than 130 people made a pledge of support to Illinois Public Media when the fundraising program aired on WILL-TV on Dec. 5.

After seeing the show, Brian Fulton, who videotaped several stories, said he was proud of the work the volunteers did. “I loved it. I was amazed,” he said.  “When we sat down in September and discussed ideas for the show, I questioned how it would come together and if the quality was going to be there. I was so impressed with the quality and particularly the quantity of the work we did.”

Mid-American Gardener

Mid-American Gardener host Dianne Noland and her panel of experts solicited video questions from viewers and answered them on the air. They added a “Did You Know?” segment and the “Mid-American Gardener Quiz,” a short 20-second multiple choice quiz, and made panelist “show and tell” segments a weekly feature.

Getting a behind-the-scenes look at WILL

WILL video production manager Jeff Cunningham discusses primary sources as they relate to TV production with students from Southside Elementary School. Throughout the spring, all fourth-grade students in the Champaign public school district took a tour of WILL as part of their social studies curriculum. Students learned about the ways that primary sources are used, from research for school reports to creating documentaries.

13 Illinois pioneers interviewed during successful season

Illinois Pioneers returned to WILL-TV in September, with retired WILL-AM host David Inge coming back to conduct engaging interviews with trailblazers from central Illinois. The impressive 13-show line-up included former Illini basketball coach Lou Henson, U of I early childhood education pioneer Lilian Katz, Wolfram Research founder Theo Gray, disability education advocate Tim Nugent,  Little Theatre on the Square founder Guy Little, former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar and renowned baritone Nathan Gunn .

Video bonus: Watch online to see any of the Illinois Pioneers interviews you missed.

Remembering Medicare Man 

A new WILL-TV special in August, Medicare Man: Remembering Dan Perrino and Medicare 7, 8 or 9, paid tribute to Dan Perrino and the Dixieland jazz band he founded, looking back at the group’s history with concert footage, new interviews with band members, archival photos and excerpts of previously taped interviews with Perrino.

Come and Get It! Your Family Dinner Favorites

In March, WILL-TV selected five home cooks to prepare their family’s favorite food in a special cooking show on WILL-TV. They were joined by host Lisa Bralts and experts including chef Alisa DeMarco of Prairie Fruits Farm, Thad Morrow of bacaro Restaurant, Hans and Katie Bishop of PrairiErth Farm, and Todd Fusco, who manages Corkscrew Wine Emporium and Buvons Wine Bar in Urbana.

Video bonus: Watch bacaro chef Thad Morrow and his young son, Gus, make braised chicken thighs with balsamic vinegar.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0vVjjqcIBA&feature=youtu.be

A farm-to-table chronicle

From June to October, WILL-TV followed the arc of a farm-to table meal that began—and ended—on the farm, Prairie Fruits Farm north of Champaign-Urbana. Videographer Tim Meyers and producer Lisa Bralts showed viewers how the fruit orchard, at one time lush with blackberries, peaches, pears and apples, dwindled with each weekly U-pick. The vegetable gardens were transformed as the deep greens and bright reds of basil and tomatoes gave way to the hardier fall crops. They created a documentary that aired on WILL-TV in December about the creation of the meal, which was also a fundraising dinner for Illinois Public Media.

Community Cinema moves to Spurlock for 2013

Illinois Public Media’s Community Cinema series moved to the University of Illinois Spurlock Museum in the fall, with screenings and discussions of films from the PBS Independent Lens series. In October, this crowd watched Los Graduados/The Graduates about efforts to keep Latino students in school.

Illinois Edition resources inspire learning

As Molly Delaney raced across a muddy farm field, she saw Peoria science teacher Emily Dawson enthusiastically waving a small yellow box. Attached to it were a parachute and a shredded weather balloon. “We found it! We found it!” Emily shouted.

Molly, Illinois Public Media’s educational outreach director, was part of the WILL team joining Peoria public TV station WTVP in hunting the box and balloon. They had almost given up after hours of searching.

Earlier in the day Emily and her Peoria Riverview Grade School students launched the balloon near Peoria, inspired by a PBS video made available to teachers and students on Illinois Edition of PBS LearningMedia. Students researched and planned the launch, then analyzed and reported on data collected during the balloon’s 100,000-foot flight.

The small yellow box contained cameras that captured footage of the weather balloon’s flight to the edge of the atmosphere, revealing images that showed the curvature of the earth, the blackness of space, and an overhead shot of the crowd that gathered to watch the balloon’s ascent.

This was one of many success stories heard during the past year from teachers who are using Illinois Edition, a cooperative project of public TV stations in Illinois, in their classrooms. Help us spread the word about this innovative resource, available at illinois.pbslearningmedia.org.

Video bonus: Watch coverage of the weather balloon’s flight.

Book Mentor Project by the numbers

  • 103 volunteer book mentors from the community
  • 5,000 books provided to 720 families yearly
  • 100% of Champaign County Head Start families reached
  • 42 early childhood classrooms in program
  • Who are our book mentors? Let us introduce you to four of them.

George Willhite, retired editor

 “After I go in and read to the kids, I always leave more energetic than when I went in. The kids just absorb everything. They’re adorable. If I had to spend all day in the classroom with them, though, I’d be exhausted!”

Jessica Holmes, credit union employee

“I just really enjoy the kids and the teachers. These kids are our future. They’re going to be the presidents, doctors, lawyers, bank tellers, mail carriers and other workers. Reading was so important to me as a child so I enjoy sharing books with these kids. If I had to give up some of my volunteer work, the last thing I would give up is being a book mentor.”

Jay Barr, attorney, and Raina Dyer Barr, post-doctoral researcher in education

“When the kids in the classroom see me coming, they’re really excited to hear the story and do the activity. I hope we’re showing the kids that we like to read, that it’s fun, and that maybe we can influence them to like reading, too.” Raina

Veterans find Uni High students to be eager interviewers

Vietnam veteran Steve Allen didn’t talk much about his years in combat when he returned from the war. “When we came home, the atmosphere wasn’t conducive to speaking of being a veteran. There were places that were actually hostile to us,” he said. An infantry commander in Vietnam, he began reconnecting with members of his platoon after the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., in 1982.

When University Laboratory High School students asked to interview him about his military service for a WILL radio documentary, he didn’t know what the 12- and 13-year-old students had heard about the war and learned in their textbooks. “But those kids were wonderful,” said Allen, who is retired from his work as a school guidance counselor in Newman, Ill. “They were open and sincere, and I think they were truly interested and willing to learn.”

Terry Hairrell, who was drafted and served in Vietnam in 1967-68, had a similar experience. “I guess it made me feel important that the younger generation wanted to know what a bunch of old guys, men and women, went through,” he said. He found the students were particularly interested in a soldier’s everyday life in Vietnam. “I told them about how we would rig plastic explosives to heat up our C-rations,” he said. “They seemed really interested in that.”

The students’ hour-long documentary, From the Frontlines to the Home Front: Inside Views of the Military 1940-2012, along with a series of shorter reports, aired on WILL Radio in November. Students invited the public to a special interactive discussion about the changing military at the Champaign Public Library where participants listened to parts of the students’ interviews and discussed issues raised by them.

Uni teacher Janet Morford said students get a great response each year when they conduct interviews for an oral history project with WILL Radio. “The richness of every project comes down to the incredible conversations these interviewees are willing to have with these young students,” said Morford, who helped the students produce the pieces, along with WILL’s Dave Dickey.

Audio bonus: Listen to the students’ radio stories and documentary online.

Stratton student leaders help teach classmates

Illinois Public Media staffers were back at the Stratton Leadership & MicroSociety Magnet School in Champaign for a second year, helping a new group of students learn reporting and video production skills.

This school year, three students who mastered skills last year are helping teach classmates who are new to the project. Fourth grader Michael Gbor is the student manager of Stratton’s TV production studio. He’s fielded questions like how to set up the cameras and how to make sure subjects are framed correctly in the camera lens. “Sometimes, they forget to push ‘record,’ ” he said.

Third grader Waylon Demkov and fourth grader Fatima Ramirez are assistant managers.

WILL’s Henry Radcliffe, who works with Stratton students two days a week in the TV studio, said he’s appreciated having the student managers to field basic questions, leaving him free for more in-depth instruction. IPM’s educational outreach director, Molly Delaney, is back at Stratton teaching media literacy, with tailored lessons for each grade level.

Video bonus: Watch one of the students’ newscasts.

Illinois Public Media News goes for depth and context

Scott Cameron, who joined the staff in July as director of news and public affairs, talks to the public affairs team in the newsroom.  The team concentrated on depth and context during the past year. Sound-rich coverage and follow-up reports about the tornadoes that struck Gifford in November reflected the approach. So did a Focus program on grain bin safety that followed the accidental death of a Sidney man. The survivor of another accident described his experience to listeners. “What could have been a short segment turned into a story about people’s lives and experience in a way that got people to call in with their own experiences,” Scott said. A partnership with CU-Citizen Access resulted in a multi-media story about the resurgence of meth in central Illinois, with video from the project becoming Illinois Public Media’s first local news segments on PBS NewsHour Weekend.

Live and Local is a stage for Illinois artists

Dean Karras, who organizes the Pipers’ Hut Irish music series in Champaign-Urbana, says getting one of his artists on WILL-FM’s Live & Local with Kevin Kelly helps build an audience for concerts. But it’s just important to him that it makes good Irish music available to people listening on the radio. “For me, it’s all about the music,” he said. “But Kevin’s show does bring people to the concerts. He has the potential for reaching people that aren’t on any mailing list I can ever create.”

From chamber ensembles to the blues, Live and Local reflects the diverse musical interests of east central Illinois. The program features conversations with the artists and a healthy sampling of their music, frequently played live in our studio.

During the past year, Kevin hosted Pipers’ Hut artists Wee Banjo 3, Open the Door for Three, and Sarah McQuaid, among others.  He brought in performers from the Champaign-Urbana Folk and Roots Festival, the Champaign/Urbana Singer-Songwriter Collective, the Little Theater on the Square in Sullivan, the Champaign-Urbana Theater Company, and many others. In 2013, Kevin featured more than 180 Illinois artists or performing arts groups with interviews and/or live music.

In September, a number of artists from the University of Illinois Krannert Center’s Ellnora Guitar Festival appeared on the show, giving listeners a sneak preview of the popular festival. Bridget Lee-Calfas, advertising and publicity director for Krannert, said it’s clear to her that Live and Local is serving a need in the community with in-depth, well-researched, timely coverage of the region’s diverse music scene. “We receive regular positive feedback when our staff and artists are featured, and appreciate the way the program embraces the full spectrum of artistry.”

Bob Pearse, who plays in the band Strings Attached and also organizes open-air music at Kickapoo Landing, has appeared on the program and arranged for other bands to appear. “I’m always impressed by Kevin’s mastery of the medium. He makes you feel at ease and asks questions on wide-ranching topics.”

Why WILL-FM Classic Mornings host Vic Di Geronimo loves his job

“Anybody in the community can get excited about the music I have to share.”

“I have a relationship with the listeners. Since I’m here in the community, they can call me, email me and tell me what they like.”

“It’s a challenge each day to create a special and unique program with the audience in mind.”

From Vic’s listeners:

I just feel like he’s my personal deejay. He gives so much information about the programming he has lined up. He finds out all about the artists and the music. It’s such a joy to hear him talk about it.

Virginia Helmke, Bloomington

I appreciate the splendid selection of interesting classical compositions that Vic plays during his program. I can scarcely list all of the new compositions he has brought to my attention over the years, and I studied classical piano for years in my youth.

Mark Micale, Monticello

Central Illinois classical groups featured on Prairie Performances in 2013

  • Sinfonia da Camera
  • Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana
  • Champaign-Urbana Symphony
  • Eastern Symphony Orchestra
  • Jupiter Quartet
  • The Prairie Ensemble
  • Illinois Symphony Orchestra
  • Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra
  • Illinois Chamber Orchestra
  • Prairie Voices
  • U of I Symphony

WILLAg By the Numbers

  • 330: Hours a year of agricultural news and analysis
  • 21: Different analysts featured on WILL-AM ag programming
  • 2,602: Subscribers to Illinois Public Media’s agricultural eNewsletter
  • 410: Producers and agribusiness people attending Illinois Public Media’s sold-out All Day Ag Outlook Meeting in March
  • 20: Evening Illinois Public Media Ag Outlook Meetings across Illinois, Indiana and Iowa
  • 800: Number of Twitter followers for WILLAg’s Todd Gleason and Dave Dickey

WILL Ag takes outlook meetings to Iowa and Missouri

Because of growth in Internet listening, WILL agricultural programming is drawing listeners far outside WILL-AM’s over-the air coverage area and beyond the signals of WILLAg’s commercial radio affiliates. So in 2013, Commodity Week and Closing Market Report host Todd Gleason and ag director Dave Dickey decided to offer agricultural marketing panels to a larger area as well. Todd went to Everly, Iowa, and Estherville, Iowa, for two meetings sponsored by longtime underwriter The Andersons grain group. In December, University of Missouri Extension sponsored a WILLAg marketing panel in Sikeston, Mo.

Ken Smith, general manager of The Andersons grain assets in Iowa, said partnering with WILL for the meetings resulted in a valuable experience for customers. “What Todd does very well is elicit conversation among a very well-informed group. The panel discussion made for a more conducive learning environment, and the producers appreciated being able to ask questions—they weren’t just listening.”

With travel expenses covered by the sponsor, he was able to travel farther to represent WILLAg, but still cover costs, Todd said. “What was really neat at the two Iowa events was that we had WILLAg listeners in each meeting, people who were listening to us on the Internet already, and of course this gave us a broader exposure. We were able to say to those who weren’t listeners, ‘We’re here and you’re able to listen to us every day.’ ”

Providing expertise on the Iowa panels were Elaine Kub of Mastering the Grain Markets in Elkhorn, Neb.; Sue Martin, Ag & Investment Services, Webster City, Iowa; Jacquie Voeks, Stewart Peterson, Champaign, Ill.; and Mike Zuzolo, Global Commodity Analytics & Consulting, Atchison, Kan.

WILLAg conducted 17 other outlook meetings in their traditional coverage area in Illinois and Indiana. Todd and Dave also increased their number of Twitter followers in 2013 to a combined total near 800. “Twitter lets us reach out to our listeners and supporters with breaking news that moves the commodity markets as well as information about agricultural commodities that we become aware of,” Dave said.

Many of the Twitter followers are outside the traditional WILL listening area. “It gives us another way to reach into places our signal doesn’t go and gives us new contacts,” Todd said.

What producers say about WILL Ag

 “WILL is the only place I can get multiple points of view on the markets multiple times per day.”

Tim Reinhart

 “WILL provides more and varied marketing information than canbe obtained from any other source. I really appreciate WILL’s dedication to agricultural programming.”

Pete Marron

“I use many sources of ag info, but of all, WILL is the most important to me.  I value all points of view.”

David Anderson

WILL vacationers travel to Iceland, England, Ireland and aboard Civil War Train

In 2013, 125 Friends of WILL joined Illinois Public Media tours, including Iceland in July, English gardens with Mid-American Gardener host Dianne Noland in July, the Civil War Train in September and England and Ireland in September. Their support of WILL through the trips helped make your favorite programs possible. Above, Dianne’s photo of Great Comp, a lovely seven-acre garden in Kent.. (At right) WILL travelers in Iceland.  At left, WILL travelers in Iceland.

Words in the Wind celebrates 5th year

It was Words in the Wind times two in 2013 as veteran actors staged their concert-style readings of children’s books twice, at Champaign’s Faith United Methodist Church and again at  Urbana’s Station Theatre with a more informal presentation. The shows raised about $1,000 for Illinois Public Media’s Book Mentor Project.

Rick Steves offers advice on world travel

More than 600 people from across central Illinois packed the I Hotel to get travel tips and insight from author and travel show host Rick Steves at our event March 14. After signing autographs, Rick hurried across campus to the WILL-TV studio to ask for support during our fundraising drive.

Exploring mobile devices at family technology event

Kids and parents posed with Buddy from PBS KIDS’ Dinosaur Train, plus tried the newest PBS learning apps on various mobile devices at Illinois Public Media’s Dino-Mite Devices family technology event in April at the Champaign Public Library.

Mr. Steve engages kids and families

Entertainer Steve Roslonek, who is PBS KIDS host Mr. Steve, used participatory songs with clever stories to hold kids in rapt attention at a PBS KIDS Open House at Illinois Public Media’s Campbell Hall in October. PNC brought their Mobile Learning Adventure exhibit for the occasion and storytellers entertained families on Friends’ Plaza.  We also sponsored Mr. Steve’s appearance at Springfield’s Sangamon Auditorium.

Awards

Associated Press Awards
WILL reporters and contributors won four awards in the downstate radio division of the 2012 Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association Journalism Excellence Contest, including best sports report and best hard news feature. Students at Urbana's Urbana University High School won 2nd place in the Best Series or Documentary category for their WILL-AM reports on the counter-culture era in Champaign-Urbana.

WILL awards include:

BEST SPORTS REPORT:  “Labor Strife in Professional Sports,” a Focus program hosted by Craig Cohen with Michael LeRoy, professor, School of Labor and Employment Relations and College of Law, University of Illinois. Travis Stansel was the producer.

BEST HARD NEWS FEATURE: “SCOTUS Health Care,”a story by Craig Cohen, Sean Powers and Jim Meadows about the impact in Illinois of the U.S. Supreme Court’s health care ruling.

BEST NEWSWRITER:  2nd Place: Sean Powers for a group of news stories on a variety of topics.

BEST SERIES oR DOCUMENTARY:  2nd Place:  “Beyond the Tie-Dye: Counterculture in Champaign/Urbana 1965-1975.” WILL's Dave Dickey, producer; University High School teacher Janet Morford, producer; and student producers Aishwarya Gautam, Shruti Vaidya and Sarah Joy Yockey. Students interviewed 16 Champaign-Urbana residents about their experiences during the period.

Girl Scouts Woman of Distinction
Illinois Public Media's educational outreach director, Molly Delaney, was honored by the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois, along with four other women, as Women of Distinction. Molly was recognized in the STEM education category.

Paul A. Funk Recognition Award
Todd Gleason, host of WILLAg’s Closing Market Report and Commodity Week, won a College of ACES’ Paul A. Funk Recognition Award for staff excellence. He was recognized for innovation and creativity in information technology and communication services, in part for his hosting and reporting for Illinois Public Media’s agricultural programs.

2012-2013 Community Advisory Committee

Thanks to our Community Advisory Committee for their help during the past year in gathering information and opinions about community issues and needs; heightening community awareness of WILL and its services; advocating for broad-based support of WILL; identifying and encouraging new sources of funding for specific projects to improve or expand service to the community; and reviewing and advising on legislation designed to improve the quality of public telecommunications.

Fiscal 2013 financial report

Illinois Public Media enjoyed a positive year in fundraising with $2.6 million in private support from members and local businesses. The increase in private funds provided financial stability in a year when state funding continued to decrease and federal funding was flat because of sequestration.

Noticeable changes in the budget:

  • Non-recurring funds from the University of Illinois increased to provide a portion of start-up costs for a joint master control project, a portion of labor costs related to a federal grant for an emergency generator, and the cost of moving Illinois Radio Reader to Campbell Hall.
  • The percentage of our budget spent for local programming and production increased as we expanded the number of local programs we produced in 2013, and the percentage spent decreased for broadcasting, development and promotions, and management and general.

 

Operating Revenues for 2013 and 2012
Operating revenues: 2013 2012
University Funding  2,043,891 2,165,034
Membership Contributions  2,402,102 2,140,394
Program Underwriting 369,302 355,110
State Grants 195,723 229,141
Other Grants 67,658 40,118
Community Service Grants and other Federal Grants   1,339,090 1,333,180
Other income  97,389 105,442
Total operating revenues 6,515,155 6,368,419
Non-operating Revenues for 2013 and 2012

Non-operating revenues

 2013 2012
Indirect Support 2,964,163  2,417,705
Other 1,371,149 1,619,093

 

Total Revenues for 2013 and 2012
Total revenues 2013 2012
  10,850,467 10,405,217
Operating Expenses for 2013 and 2012
Operating expenses 2013 2012
Local Programming and Production 3,992,688 3,724,676
Broadcasting 1,566,056 1,671,702
Promotion and Development 2,405,580 2,474,032
Management and General 1,040,754 1,060,304
Other 563,919 521,038
Total Operating Expenses for 2013 and 2012
Total operating expenses  2013 2012
  9,568,997 9,451,752

With appreciation

UNDERWRITERS

WILL thanks the underwriters who make our programs and outreach project possible. Each of these businesses contributed more than $5,000 during the past year.

  • Agrigold Hybrids
  • Archer Daniels Midland
  • Busey
  • Auditory Care
  • C-U Mass Transit District
  • Champaign Telephone Company
  • Common Ground Food Coop
  • Community Blood Services
  • Corkscrew Wine Emporium
  • Farm Credit Services of Illinois
  • Friar Tuck
  • Heel to Toe
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
  • M2 on Neil
  • Rental City
  • Subaru of Champaign County
  • The Meredith Foundation
  • Wooden Hanger

2012-2013 GRANTS

Illinois Public Media

  • PNC for Book Mentor Project: $90,000 over three years
  • Independent Television Service (ITVS): $2,500 for piloting an online video screening tool
  • Corporation for Public Broadcasting for emergency generator as part of Warning, Alert and Response Network (WARN) project: $325,881

Illinois Radio Reader

  • Illinois State Library, $29,232

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PARTNERSHIPS

  • College of Education (PBS LearningMedia)
  • Department of Journalism in College of Media (CU-Citizen Access, student internships)
  • Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Department of Theatre, Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Hometown Heroes, College of Education (Book Mentor Project)
  • School of Earth, Society, and Environment (Environmental Almanac)
  • Sousa Archives and Center for American Music (Medicare Man: Remembering Dan Perrino and Medicare 7, 8 or 9 documentary on WILL-TV)
  • Spurlock Museum (Community Cinema)
  • University Laboratory High School (The Changing Military Oral History Project)

Illinois Public Media
WILL radio.tv.online
College of Media

Campbell Hall for Public Telecommunication
300 N. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801-2316
217-333-7300
will.illinois.edu