By Thomas R. Collins
Palm Beach County public radio station WXEL President Jerry Carr is retiring from the station he has piloted for 13 years.
Carr ushered WXEL’s TV and radio operations into the digital age and led the station through repairs after Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
“It’s been a phenomenal ride,” Carr said. “No question about it.”
Carr will depart on March 31. His contract actually ran out at the end of the year, but was extended with Barry University, which runs the station. The interim president will be chief financial officer Bernie Henneberg.
Carr leaves with the potential sale of WXEL still up in the air. Barry University announced four years ago that it intended to sell the station, but the sale is still undone.
A sale to a New York buyer was shot down by the Federal Communications Commission and a potential deal with the Palm Beach County School District never materialized.
Barry spokesman Mike Laderman said nothing new has arisen on the sale front the past two months. He said Carr’s departure doesn’t lend any urgency to the sale efforts.
“We do not wish to rush into any decisions,” he said by e-mail. “Time is our ally, as we look to do what is in the best interest of all parties involved — WXEL’s employees, the communities the stations serve, and Barry University.”
The Community Broadcast Foundation, a group of local residents, is making a bid to buy the station, but nothing much has happened on that front, either. Carr, who has long been the public face of the station, has been reluctant to discuss the sale, saying that it’s being handled by the university and that he isn’t a part of the dealings. He admitted to avoiding media calls on the topic in the past.
He said that the board that ultimately oversees the station after it is sold should understand its fund-raising role. The Barry University board now, he said, is composed of university officials, not fundraisers.
“I think in the long run, in the long-term, it will be very beneficial for the station when there is a new board of directors and they accept the responsibility that their mission is to raise funds to operate the station and to oversee without getting involved the operation of the station,” Carr said. “That’s what it’s designed to do. That’s what every public broadcasting board is supposed to do.”
That said, the financial stability of the station is good, he said, contrary to the view that Barry wants to sell WXEL because it is troubled.
“That’s not the case at all. We’re doing nicely, thank you,” he said.
As he spoke, he said, a TV pledge drive was running ahead of its goal. All of the radio and TV drives have met their goals, he said. “I can’t complain,” he said. “The foundations have been good to us. Our donors have been good to us.”
Laderman said Carr quickly met the station’s goal of adding new local programming, and kept at it for a dozen years.
“His knowledge and understanding of the Treasure Coast, Palm Beach and South Florida audiences, as well as his overall experience, will certainly be missed,” he said.
Carr, who worked in the for-profit broadcasting business before coming to WXEL, said he will still work on programming and might serve on WXEL’s board after retiring. He said he’s enjoyed his time in the non-commercial business more than anything else.
There have been problems, including a four-year haggle with an insurance company for $625,000 in roof repairs after Wilma and having to raise $7 million — above the normal operations budget — to move from analog to digital. “It’s been an interesting time — there hasn’t been a day or week that hasn’t offered a challenge, but that’s what this is all about,” Carr said.
“I’m one of the lucky ones in that I thoroughly enjoy getting out of bed in the morning and coming to work.”
Comments