Sheldon Foundation Gives $20,000 to UB for Digitization of WBFO Studios

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation has awarded a $20,000 grant to WBFO 88.7 FM, the National Public Radio affiliate operated by the University at Buffalo, to be used in the digitization of its studios.

The project will involve the replacement of obsolete broadcasting equipment as well as the improvement of delivery systems for WBFO and its repeater stations, WUBJ 88.1 in Jamestown and WOLN 91.3 FM in Olean, according to Carole Smith Petro, associate vice president and WBFO's general manager.

"The digitization of the WBFO studios, once complete, will enable us to reach new audiences and provide a higher quality, more consistent signal to our current audiences. WBFO's studios will be the most technologically sophisticated radio facility in Western New York and the Southern Tier," Petro said.

WBFO has received a federal $50,000 grant from the PTFP (Public Telecommunications Facilities Program) to allow the station to switch to a digital broadcast format during spring 2003. The total cost of the project is $250,000.

Past support from the Sheldon Foundation helped WBFO establish WUBJ 88.1 FM in Jamestown in 1993. Supported by grants totaling $130,000 from four Jamestown-based foundations, including the Sheldon Foundation, WUBJ increased its "primary grade signal" seven-fold in 2001 to serve approximately 24,000 additional persons in the Southern Tier.

"As a result, WUBJ has increased NPR accessibility and visibility, developed a regional membership base and provided Southern Tier-based news reporting, too," Petro said.

Miles Lasser, executive director of the Sheldon Foundation, said the board of directors approved the grant out of its desire to continue the high-quality news and programming that WBFO/WUBJ provides.

"We have been impressed with the excellent news coverage and entertainment programs

that come to us through WBFO/WUBJ and we are eager for WBFO to offer its programs to more audiences," Lasser said.

WBFO is a major public service of the University at Buffalo and is Western New York's only FM National Public Radio (NPR) station.

The grant from the Sheldon Foundation is part of The Campaign for UB: Generation to Generation, now entering its final phase. The drive has raised more than $208 million of its $250 million goal.