WCNY ANNOUNCES NEW MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN – 20,000 IN 2010
Central New York’s Public Broadcasting Station Emphasizes
Need for Community Support

SYRACUSE, NY, (January 22, 2010) – WCNY is devoting the 2010 calendar year to a new member campaign.  The goal is to reach 20,000 members by December 31, 2010.  At the start of 2010, there were approximately 16,000 viewers and listeners supporting WCNY with member dollars.  The national average for membership at each PBS station in America is 7% of total viewer households and WCNY is currently around 3%.

Member dollars support valuable services that WCNY provides including quality programming, community support such as educational outreach programs, services for the visually impaired, meeting space for non-profit organizations, social service provision via community partnerships, quality local public affairs coverage, and fundraising specials like the Help for Haiti relief effort on January 18 that raised over $63,000 (broadcast in conjunction with WSTM and WTVH).

“There is a significant number of people watching WCNY and receiving our valuable programming and services,” said Robert J. Daino, President and Chief Executive Officer of WCNY-TV/FM and Chair of Association of Public Broadcasting Stations of New York. “The goal of this campaign is to convert them from just viewers to members, making them a part of the WCNY family.”

A basic membership at WCNY costs $52, or a dollar a week. New members receive benefits including: the CNY Connected magazine, the opportunity to bid on all WCNY televised auctions, and Classic FM web streaming.  Additional membership levels and benefits are also available.

For more information, visit www.wcny.org/membership or call 315-453-2424.

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About WCNY
WCNY is a private, tax-exempt, nonprofit organization, and member-supported affiliate of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) founded in 1965. WCNY serves a 19-county viewing and listening area. WCNY broadcasts television programming on “Main Channel” 24.1 in Syracuse, WCNY2, and digital channels: Your TV 24.2, Cinema 24 – 24.3, and WCNY-HD – 24.4. All channels are carried by 33 cable carriers including Time Warner. WCNY is also the only station in our broadcast area that offers true HD 24-hours a day. WCNY-FM, the only classical music station in Central New York, is broadcast on WCNY-FM, 91.3 in Syracuse, WJNY-FM, 90.9 in Watertown, WUNY-FM, 89.5 in Utica, and is broadcast over the World Wide Web at www.wcny.org. Our visually impaired audience can access “Read-Out,” a radio reading service. WCNY offers educational videos online. We also produce original programming that inspires, educates, and entertains, and offer award-winning video production and media consulting services to the public.