TAMMY TERWELP MOVES TO PARADISE • RADIO WHERE OTHER PEOPLE PLAY HAS ITS CHALLENGES

Tammy Terwelp

Tammy Terwelp has seen a lot of America since she graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1993. 

Beginning January 28, 2019, she will call the Roaring Fork Valley home as the new General Manager of Aspen Public Radio [link]. 

She told Spark News In an e-interview:

I’m really looking forward to being a part of such a cornerstone Roaring Fork Valley institution where I can continue my public service.

The mountains are where my soul sings and to be able to do what I love in one of the most beautiful places on earth is a great honor.

Terwelp has made a wise choice because Aspen Public Radio a/k/a KAJX is well established, has an intense local following and is fiscally solvent. 

But still, the local population is less than 20,000, not counting the 30,000 to 40,000 out-of-town visitors.

Both commercial and noncommercial stations often have difficulty making a “go of it” in the places most other people come to play. Folks from other places frequently bring their media habits with them, plus home is just a tap of the finger away. Visitors have different shopping patterns than locals. Add it up and you’ve paradise on a minimum wage budget.

However, Aspen Public Radio is an exception. Since the station was established by Isaiah (Sy) Coleman in 1981.  KAJX began as a translator that repeated Wyoming Public Radio.

In 1988 Coleman successfully filed with the FCC to upgrade operation to full station status. KAJX added KCJX as a repeated in Carbondale.

According to CPB Compliance repotrs on KAJX’s website, in calendar year 2017, Aspen Public Radio had revenue of $1.48 million, a nice number for a station in a market many times the size of Aspen.

Revenue from members in 2017 was $560,000 (38%), cash revenue from underwriters was $303,000 (21 %), 252,000 from CPB (17%) and $56,000 (4 %) from net profits from events.  Aspen Public Radio also claimed it received $58,000 in trade-out revenue. Trading for underwriting credits is an important way to include companies and organizations that can’t afford to purchase underwriting time.

Aspen Public Radio’s main format is NPR News/Talk programming with a dab of Classical and Jazz music for extra spice. Colorado Public Radio’s News and Classical channels, plus KUNC, have translators in the market but it appears residents prefer the hometown voice.

The station has found a great way to reach folks visit9ng from out-of-town: they join the high profile events. 

Aspen Public Radio has a close working relationship with the Aspen Institute, particularly the Aspen Ideas Festival. 

They broadcast from the festival and host an archive of Ideas Fest event audio [link]. 

Prior to getting the gig in Aspen, Tammy Terwelp was GM of KRCC in Colorado Springs for over three years. Previously, Terwelp was at WESA in Pittsburgh, WBEZ in Chicago and WTTW, the PBS TV station also in Chicago.

Colorado College, the licensee of KRCC is in the process of search for a new GM [link].

THREE MORE STATIONS IN PARADISE THAT ARE SUCCESSFUL

KKCR, HANALEI, KAUA’I, HAWAII

Kaua’i Community Radio [link] is located on the island of Kaua’i, Hawaii’s fourth largest island. KKCR operates several repeater stations and translators that blanket the island. Tourism is the island’s biggest employer.

The station has an eclectic program schedule that is chopped into blocks of spoken word, contemporary music and hours of Hawaiian music to please the hippie inside of you. Mahalo!

But there are challenges in paradise. The overall economy is small and there is a limited number of potential underwriters.

Kaua’i Community Radio makes it happen because of their aggressive solicitation and member support. The not only monetize the on-air service, they monetize the online Hawaiian music flow and they an impressive online store [link].

KAZU, PACIFIC GROVE CALIFORNIA

KAZU – NPR For Monterrey, Salinas and Santa Cruz – is a survivor. 

Not that long ago, there were two NPR News stations in the market. 

Now there is only one: KAZU [link]. 

KUSP in Santa Cruz challenged KAZU for a couple of decades but they went out of business because of their pitiful in-fighting. 

This small market left no margin for error.

KAZU succeeds because they are brilliant at the  basics. 

The station is a university licensee that apparently is not draining any cash from the school’s operating budget. 

Plus, California State University at Monterrey Bay provides the station with a work space just minutes from the ocean. You hear it from there.

WERU, BLUE HILL, MAINE

WERU {link] originates its programming from Blue Hill on the Atlantic Ocean. 

The picturesque shore community is just a couple of miles from Bar Harbor, Maine, the home where Hawkeye Pierce was from on M*A*S*H.  

Hawkeye's playful vibe matches the good time -- celebrate life -- ethos served by WERU

: