By Ted Shen
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When Bill Florian started WNIB in 1954, the FCC granted licenses for free. But those days are long gone; the Florians paid $1 million for WNIZ in 1983. And the 1996 Federal Telecommunications Act (one of Al Gore’s pet projects) loosened the rules for the number of radio stations a company can own, triggering the lust of deep-pocketed national radio chains for full-power independent stations in Chicago and other major media markets. In the consolidation frenzy that’s followed, chains have been gobbling up local independents–particularly those with desirable FM signals–and as with so many other markets in the booming 90s, the sums paid for such stations have been astronomical. “A station in LA was just sold for over $200 million,” says Minkow. “That’s what the economics demand right now. The ‘NIB sale is definitely the priciest ever for an independent in Chicago.”
Yet the decision to sell was an agonizing one. Sonia Florian says she was concerned by the advent of “other means of getting classical music, from satellites to the Internet.” With no children, the couple have no one in line to take over the stations, a factor that weighed heavily on her mind. “Should anything happen to one of us, we would be forced to sell. And that’s not a good position to be caught in.” This fall she underwent an emergency surgery, which friends believe might have deepened her worries. An even greater fear, she admits now, was the prospect of an economic slowdown. “We’re likely to have a recession in the next year or so. If we waited, we might not get this kind of offer until 2003. Who knows? Classical broadcast might be obsolete by then.”
With their big payoff the Florians plan to launch a charitable foundation for the arts, environmental causes, and animal shelters (a testament to their love for cats and dogs); according to Sonia, the possible beneficiaries include “organizations that helped us by placing ads on the station during the lean years,” and she names Lyric Opera, Light Opera Works, and Music of the Baroque as some of those music presenters whose offerings she’s enjoyed. According to Valerie Lies, president of the Donors Forum of Chicago, if the Florians were to endow a foundation with $100 million, they’d control one of the largest private philanthropic institutions in the city, with an annual budget of at least $5 million. “I feel sad giving up classical broadcasting,” says Sonia, “but there are other ways to make a contribution to the local community.”
