WDUQ could owe CPB if sold to commercial outlet

Duquesne University could be forced to return nearly $7 million in federal funding if WDUQ-FM (90.5) is sold and made commercial rather than remaining public. The funding would be equal to 30 years worth of grants from the Washington, D.C.-based Corporation for Public Broadcasting. $1.8 million of that was distributed in the last six years.

In an interview appearing in last Friday’s Tribune-Review, Duquesne president Charles Dougherty said, “That money’s all been spent on the operation of the station over a period of years, so they received value for their investment. We don’t see that they have any claim on the future of the station.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the CPB said, “As stewards of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting, CPB does have an interest in seeing the licensee maintained as a public broadcasting operation. It is too early for CPB to speculate about possible outcomes for the station, but CPB could request any or all of WDUQ’s federal funding be reimbursed.