Pittsburgh's news and information public radio station fell short of its goal for its first listener fundraising campaign, officials said Monday.
90.5 Essential Public Radio, known as WESA-FM, raised $243,800 through pledges from 2,261 members, the station announced. Station officials wanted to raise $250,000 in a 10-day pledge drive that ended Saturday.
"We're very pleased with the results and look forward to continuing to build momentum," said marketing director Suzanne Meyer.
Essential Public Media, parent company of WESA and sister station 91.3 WYEP, bought the former WDUQ from Duquesne University for $6 million and began broadcasting a revamped format on July 1, replacing mostly jazz programming with nearly all news and information shows.
It broadcasts six hours of jazz on Saturday over the airwaves and around the clock on its website.
Lee Ferraro, general manager of WYEP, issued a statement saying the company set a goal in line with 2008 and 2009 numbers because of the format change and the recent sale.
"We're very pleased with the totals," Ferraro said. "This is a success from both a monetary and listenership perspective."
Essential Public Radio officials hope to cover 60 percent of the station's $2.5 million annual budget with proceeds from three fund drives each year.
WYEP concluded its seven-day fall campaign drive on Thursday. Station officials said they reached goals by collecting $84,000 from 758 members.
