East Village Radio To Sign Off After 11 Years

The rising cost of operation is forcing New York City's East Village Radio to sign off after 11 years of broadcasting, with live programming scheduled to come to an end on May 23rd. The news comes despite the station's popularity, which has only increased over the years since its launch in 2003; the station reportedly counted over 1 million listeners worldwide at last tally. Their popularity, ironically enough, is the driving force behind the station's decision to shut its doors. EVR CEO Frank Prisinzano detailed the issue during a recent interview with East Village blog EV Grieve:

"Every time we get a new listener, it costs us more money with licensing fees and Internet costs," East Village Radio CEO Frank Prisinzano said in a phone interview. "After doing some projections, we see that it is going to be very, very difficult for us to continue to break even."

The station ends live programming after Friday, May 23. The stable of eclectic DJs, with shows covering nearly every genre of music, will have the chance to broadcast a farewell show in the days ahead. (In addition, the station is releasing all of the archived shows to each DJ so that he or she can shop around for a new gig or syndication.)

Popularity hasn't been an issue with East Village Radio, who counted more than 1 million listeners worldwide a month (this after starting as a short-lived 10-watt FM radio station in April 2003). However, under the Congressional Digital Music Copyright Act of 1998, Internet broadcasters must pay a digital performance royalty for every listener.

"We pay a higher rate for royalties and licensing than Pandora pays. We live in a world where these behemouth music-streaming services keep going in for more capital," said Peter Ferraro, the general manager/head of programming at East Village Radio. "It's almost like we are being penalized for our growth.

"It's very difficult for an independent medium music company to survive in a world where Apple is paying $3.2 billion for Beats by Dre."

The difficulties forcing EVR to close its doors also shed light on many of the lesser-known issues affecting internet broadcasters, especially those operating in the realm of commercial free radio. Though making the decision to shut the operation down was undoubtedly difficult and likely bittersweet, Prisinzano and EVR General Manager Peter Ferraro seem to have found some comfort in the decision to avoid compromising the station's integrity by handing all or part of the operation off to an investor who may not understand the delicate balance associated with EVR's vision and success:

"I don’t want to give up the integrity of the station. The only way that I really see it continuting is by bringing in another benefactor who would take over part of the station. I really don't want to do that. Pete and I understand the neighborhood. We want to run the station. I don’t want to sell it out," Prisinzano said.

Said Ferraro, "If another media or VC company came in, I don’t know if they would have understood the nuance of being local but global. There was a certain localness that we feel proud to be part of. But the mission has always been to amplify that out to the world, but to have it point back to the neighborhood."

Though East Village Radio is slated to cease operations on May 23rd, EVR's heads plan to offer each of the station's selectors the opportunity to play a farewell show. Learn more about East Village Radio, the upcoming changes and listen live via eastvillageradio.com.