STATION MILESTONES

Quite a few public radio stations are celebrating anniversaries this year. Today we are saluting a few of them.

KCLU, Thousand Oaks, California [link] has accomplished a lot during its first 25 years.   

When the station began operations on October 20, 1994, thE first broadcast originated from a tiny studio in dormitory on the campus of California Lutheran University. 

Today KCLU is a powerhouse just northwest of Los Angeles. According to Nielsen Audio, the station has over 100,000 estimated weekly listeners. KCLU has expanded its service to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Mary Olson, who helped launch KCLU, is still General Manager.

KCLU’s 25^th anniversary is being celebrated this week with events in Santa Barbara and Thousand Oaks.

Things kick off with a live edition of NPR’s Ask Me Another this Saturday (10/19) at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara. The event also features former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald. Also on Saturday KCLU is hosting a live taping of NPR’s Politics Podcast the Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

WYSU, Youngstown, Ohio signed on October 23, 1969 as a fine arts noncommercial station. The station was a charter NPR member in the mid 1970s.

WYSU is marking 50 years of service with several free events including a multi-media show – WYSU’s 50^th Anniversary at the Ward Beecher Planetarium” on the Youngstown State campus on November 17^th.

WRVO, Oswego/Syracuse, New York celebrated the big five-oh with an open house and a live taping of the nationally syndicated show Says You.

WMOT, Murfreesboro/Nashville, Tennessee turned 50 in October with a live three hour broadcast featuring indie-folk artist A.J. Croce, Memphis roots rocker Liz Brasher and soul country songwriter Adam Wakefield. 

The event was carried live on WMOT and streamed on VuHaus.

WDET, Detroit, Michigan turns 70 this year. 

Current and former employees appeared on WDET’s signature show Detroit Today to talk about how WDET and Detroit have changed and a few things that have stayed the same.

WWV, Fort Collins, Colorado turned 100 on October 1^st. WWV claims to be one of the world’s oldest continuously operating radio stations. The always-reliable WWV is operated by The National Institute of Standards and Technology.