Much of the credit for a plan to revamp Pittsburgh's oldestpublic radio station from jazz to news belongs to Marco Cardamone,those who watched the idea take shape said.
Just don't expect Cardamone, an Internet entrepreneur with apassion for music, business and nonprofits, to agree.
"It's not me. It's a whole bunch of people," Cardamone, 56, ofMt. Washington said during a recent interview, while strumming anacoustic guitar in the South Side offices of Merging Media, hisdigital media services company. Playing guitar, it seems, is hisstress reliever.
He did so May 25, between interviews with reporters, afterannouncing the intended format change for WDUQ 90.5-FM. To calm hisnerves, Cardamone said, he picked up the Fender guitar signed byBritish singer-songwriter Beth Orton that was leaning against a wallinside the WYEP Community Broadcast Center.
"I have a great love and appreciation for jazz," said Cardamone,playing even while talking on the phone, "but I am not a great jazzguitarist."
Cardamone is board chairman of 91.3-FM WYEP and its subsidiary,Essential Public Media, which is buying WDUQ. Neither position ispaid.
"A lot of times, you see suits and you don't feel comfortable,"said Joe Nolan, chef at Bridges Restaurant in the Oakland HolidayInn and once a chef for the Cardamones' closed restaurant, CafeAllegro. "Not Marco. He's one of those guys you can talk to. He's aregular guy."
When it buys WDUQ for $6 million from Duquesne University,Essential Public Media intends to scrap the jazz-heavy format for anearly all-news lineup. A nonprofit group will be formed to run the90.5-FM station, separate from WYEP.
A public comment period for the sale will end Thursday. Thechanges will begin July 1, if the Federal Communications Commissionapproves and assigns the station call letters.
Several people who helped shepherd the deal said they doubt itwould have happened without Cardamone, whose team included WYEPGeneral Manager Lee Ferraro and board members Harris Jones and LindaMcClintock, as well as officials with Public Radio Capital, a publicmedia consultant in Boulder, Colo.
Leaders from several foundations began talking in February 2010about creating an all-news station, as part of a multiplatformjournalism approach to address issues such as the environment,education and politics. PublicSource, a foundation-backed onlinenews initiative, will begin July 1.
Cardamone and his team emerged as potential WDUQ buyers a yearago, after the foundations secured a temporary option to buy thestation.
"Typically, when something important needs to happen in thecommunity, it happens because the right leader appears at the rightmoment," said Grant Oliphant, president and CEO of the PittsburghFoundation. "A lot of people contributed, but it couldn't havehappened without Marco."
Backbeat
Cardamone grew up in Mt. Lebanon, one of four children of Lou andMary Jean Cardamone. In 1955, his father co-founded what became MarcUSA, a national advertising agency based in Station Square.
At age 8, Cardamone began studying jazz guitar under the lateBill Clydesdale, a respected guitarist and teacher. Cardamone playedjazz guitar for 15 years before trying other styles, includingclassical. He and his wife, Paula, compose and record music at theirhome or in his office.
"A lot of people probably find that ironic," said Cardamone,noting that many jazz fans upset about the new 90.5 might be unawareof his musical background.
"I was surprised at that," said Joe Negri, one of Pittsburgh'sbeloved jazz artists and a member of Jazz Lives in Pittsburgh, whichlobbied to save as much jazz as possible on the station. It willbroadcast jazz each Saturday, from 6 p.m. to midnight.
"I don't think the jazz community is going to support themthrough pledge drives," Negri said.
Begun in 1949, WDUQ has played more than 100 hours each week.Armitron ratings released in April showed WDUQ had 149,300 weeklylisteners, compared with 107,600 for WYEP, an adult albumalternative station, and 79,500 for WQED-FM 89.3, a classicalstation. The most popular local commercial station, 91.6 KISS, had736,500 weekly listeners.
Evan Pattak, president of Jazz Lives, is adamant the formatchange will strip part of the city's cultural heritage. "Weemphatically asked them not to do this," he said.
Cardamone said passionate jazz fans sent him e-mails and postedsometimes virulent messages online. He got hate calls, he said,including one on a Sunday morning at home.
"I'm a lover of jazz and a lover of what I have heard on WDUQ foryears. But that's me on a personal side," Cardamone said. "On theprofessional side, I'm interested in saving a public radio stationand have it be a sustainable business."
Being a businessman
Operating successful businesses is something Cardamoneunderstands.
After graduating from Boston University, he spent about a decadein New York City working in television and computer animation. Hereturned to Pittsburgh in 1986 to help his family open Cafe Allegro,a popular South Side restaurant that enjoyed a 22-year run.
In 1988, he started Electronic Images, a media company he soldnine years later for $65 million.
"He's an innovative thinker, and he has a sense of humor, buteven socially when you talk to him, he always speaks thoughtfully,"said Frank Sacco of Brentwood, a former restaurant owner who recallssocializing with Cardamone and his wife at Cafe Allegro. "In thosedays, he was pretty humble, and he had already sold a company fortens of millions, and you never would have known it."
Cardamone and business partner Barney Lee in 1999 bought ClubCafe, a South Side nightclub and recording venue. A year later, theyfounded Merging Media. Clients include Comcast, Panasonic and RiteAid.
Although his past isn't his favorite subject to talk about -- "Ihate this story," he said -- Cardamone recognizes the links betweenhis business ventures and his role in heading a team to acquire andchange WDUQ.
"Everything we do kind of prepares us for what we are about todo," Cardamone said. "The entrepreneurial process can happen in thefor-profit world, but the principles of entrepreneurship can alsoapply in the nonprofit sector with public organizations."
Those traits were not lost on the people who worked on thisprocess with him.
"Marco appeared on the scene, and he had a way that I think isuniquely his -- a vision to see how all these pieces could fittogether," said Bobby Vagt, president of The Heinz Endowments. "Thisis not about a radio station. This is about an entity and a processto provide information to the community and to give them the toolsto engage in issues that are important. He recognized that earlyon."
Anatomy of a deal
The deal hit a low point in October, when the heads of severalfoundations gathered at the Pittsburgh Foundation's Downtown officeto tell Cardamone and his team that they thought Duquesne's askingprice of $12 million for WDUQ was too high. They wanted out.
"That was a real tough moment," Oliphant recalled.
Cardamone thought they were at the end. "I think it was a true no-go moment for us. There were so many stop-go moments in this deal,but that was a pivotal one."
They took a break for a few weeks. Then, Cardamone's teamreconvened and devised a last-ditch effort to buy the station. Theysecured $6 million, mostly through loans, and persuaded Duquesne toaccept the offer.
The foundations since contributed $3.5 million in grants, andmight give more.
"I don't want to lionize him, but I don't want to diminish therole he played, either," Vagt said. "You talk about the genius ofMarco. He said what will work, and what you see is what we havetoday."
Through the years
1949 -- Established as first public station in WesternPennsylvania.
2009 -- Duquesne University quietly begins trying to sell WDUQ.
January 2010 -- Duquesne publicly announces it wants to sell WDUQ-FM, aiming for $10-$12 million. Supporters and staffers formPittsburgh Public Media, a nonprofit group with a goal of buyingthe station. Group hires Public Radio Capital, a Colorado-basednonprofit, to help broker a deal. Duquesne rejects their bid inspring.
February -- The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, the Richard King Mellon Foundation and others meet to discuss finding a buyer to transform WDUQ into an all-news format as part of a new, multiplatform local news initiative. In May, the foundations buy a 60-day option for WDUQ.
June -- Marco Cardamone and WYEP team privately emerge aspotential buyer.
September -- The Pittsburgh Foundation announces intent to start PublicSource, an online news site focusing on local issues, with $500,000 in grants.
January 2011 -- Duquesne board agrees to sell WDUQ license for $6million to Essential Public Media, the WYEP group.
May -- Essential Public Media and Duquesne file for ownershipchange with Federal Communications Commission. Richard Mellon KingFoundation, The Heinz Endowments, Pittsburgh Foundation and WYEPput money toward purchase. Essential Public Media announces plannedprogramming change from mostly jazz to mostly news. Station wouldpartner with PublicSource.
July 1 -- Target date for Essential Public Media to beginoperating the new 90.5 FM station. The FCC will assign call letters.
Source: Tribune-Review research
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