WBFO 88.7 Records Most Successful Membership Drive

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- WBFO 88.7 FM, the National Public Radio affiliate operated by the University at Buffalo, recently completed its most successful fall membership drive, raising more than $250,000.

Almost 1,300 telephone and Web-site-generated pledges from Western New York and Southern Ontario listeners were recorded during its eight-day fall on-air campaign.

More than 500 new members joined the station, and 400 existing members participated in a challenge grant to encourage new and lapsed members to call in a donation.

"We are simply elated by this tremendous response by our loyal listeners," says Carole Smith Petro, associate vice president and general manager. "Their generosity clearly shows that WBFO is counted among the region's most valued cultural and educational assets."

WBFO's membership totals almost 7,500. Nearly 100,000 listeners in Western New York and Southern Ontario tune in to WBFO each week.

A major public service of the University at Buffalo, WBFO has been broadcasting from the Main Street campus for 44 years, and has served Jamestown and Olean for the past nine years.

WBFO 88.7FM is Western New York's only FM National Public Radio (NPR) station. It reaches an audience of almost 100,000 people through its main signal in Buffalo and through repeater stations WUBJ 88.1 FM in Jamestown and WOLN 91.3 FM in Olean. WBFO offers a depth of programming not available elsewhere in the community, including NPR/PRI news and entertainment programs, local and regional news, public and cultural affairs programming, and jazz and blues. In addition to the national acclaim the station has received for its jazz programming over the years, WBFO is the only radio news department in Buffalo to earn Associated Press awards in each of the past seven years. WBFO also is home to the longest running blues program in Western New York and Southern Ontario. WBFO has been voted "Best Radio Station in Buffalo" for five years in a row by the readers of Artvoice.

For more information regarding WBFO, visit the station's Web site at http://www.wbfo.org.