9 Aug 2006

3 Groups Create Fund for Public Radio

The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 9, 2006; 6:55 PM

WASHINGTON -- Public radio stations could soon have new benefactors who can invest directly in the stations through the creation of a fund for public radio.

Three groups _ the Ford Foundation, the Calvert Social Investment Foundation and Public Radio Capital _ said Wednesday that they plan to give individual and institutional investors a way to invest directly in public radio stations, with a target of raising $15 million over the next six to 12 months.

The Public Radio Fund already has $4.5 million committed in loaned funds from the Bethesda, Md.-based Calvert Foundation, which collected the money from individual investors nationwide, and $1.5 million from the Ford Foundation.

The creation of the fund is, in part, a response to growing concerns about overconcentration of media ownership in the radio industry.

"The Public Radio Fund is a rare opportunity for socially aware investors of all kinds to band together behind grassroots, alternative independent media," Timothy Freundlich, Calvert's director of strategic management, said in a statement. "This is a major new initiative that brings together the leaders in the world of public radio financing, socially responsible investing and foundations."

Marc Hand, a managing director of Public Radio Capital, said the fund will help public broadcasters nationwide "gain access to capital on an affordable basis, and move more quickly and aggressively when an opportunity to compete for a valuable channel comes on the market."

Investors, institutions and individuals will be lending money to the fund at interest rates of 0 percent to 3 percent for three-year notes, and 0 percent to 4 percent for five-year notes, said Susan Harmon, another managing director of Public Radio Capital. The money will then be loaned to public radio institutions.