WHEN RADIO FAILS TO PUT ITS BEST FOOT FORWARD • AN UNUSUAL NEW LPFM STATION

Last Friday 10/14 I tuned into C-SPAN 2 for the Hillsdale College/TALKERS Magazine Presidential Election Talk Radio Debate and it was truly embarrassing.  I am not talking about the content. It was the presentation that sucked. When radio fails at the basics (particularly on national television) it reflects poorly on all of us in the biz.

You can see it for yourself here: [link].

 

Hillsdale College, a small college located in rural Michigan near Battle Creek and TALKERS Magazine, the self-described Bible of Talk Radio, sponsored a panel in Washington, DC featuring several well-known commercial radio talk hosts. The stated purpose of the panel was to explore talk radio’s coverage of the 2016 Presidential election.

Michael Harrison

The panel was moderated by Michael Harrison, considered a knowledgeable, nonpartisan pro. Harrison is the publisher of TALKERS. Panelists were Thom Hartmann, Hugh Hewitt, Joyce Kaufman (WFTL, Ft. Lauderdale), Joe Madison (SiriusXM Urban View), Larry O’ Connor (WMAL) and Chris Stigall (WPHT). Other than Hartmann, a progressive/liberal who also has a growing presence on noncom stations, the panel consisted of personalities best known for their conservative and alt-right opinions.

My complaints have nothing to do with the points-of-view of the panelists.  It was the poor staging, inconsistent audio levels and rambling, often pointless discussion. At one point early in the session, one person on the panel – Joe Madison from SiriusXM – hijacked the proceedings to give a lengthy screed unrelated to the purpose of the session.

Harrison tried valiantly to get things back on track but within minutes it slid back into chatter. Part of the problem was that Harrison’s podium was behind the panelists and out of their line-of-sight. Also, Harrison’s podium was so short he had to awkwardly bend over to talk on his microphone.

Bottom line is that the session did not deliver what it promised. There was no actual “debate” or takeaways for the viewer or listener. I learned nothing.

The live event took place at Hillsdale’s Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, DC, a fancy name for a space that reminded me of my grandma’s dining room. Hillsdale should realize that the poor acoustics, dreadful lighting and lack of a stage showed they are not ready for prime time.

Again, here is my point: Hyped events that fail to deliver hurt the image of radio at a time when excellence is needed.

INTRODUCING “RADIO FREE HILLSDALE”

I guess I did learn one thing: Hillsdale College now has a LPFM station: WRFH – Radio Free Hillsdale. The station is at 101.7 FM.

WRFH signed on July 10, 2016, and according to Hillsdale’s press office, students are “eagerly waiting” to be on the air along with …an automation system [that] selects songs from a “Patriotic Music” catalog...going all the way back to even the colonial era.

WRFH is part of Hillsdale’s journalism program that “…is devoted to the restoration of ethical, high-minded journalism standards. Hillsdale proudly boasts that even Fox News has employed some of their graduates.

The station has a one-page website [link], has no social media, does not publish a schedule and provides no streaming audio. But it does …give students an opportunity to learn and practice broadcast journalism…[and] deliver weather forecasts and sportscasts through the day.

According to the website, Hillsdale students at WRFH also will gain the ability to:

• Operate ENCO DAD broadcasting automation software.

• Access news stories and sound bites from The Associated Press.

• Broadcast play-by-play coverage of selected Hillsdale athletic teams or a sports talk show.

• Use Adobe Audition, the industry standard in audio-editing software.

• Produce promos for station programming and public service announcements.

• Promote the station within the community and online.

• Connect with great internships and jobs around the country.

In other words, WRFH is a perfect place to get started on a career in conservative talk radio.

Scot Bertram

WRFH recently hired a station manager from commercial talk radio, Scot Bertram, morning co-host at WROK-AM, the local Rush Limbaugh repeater in Rockford, Illinois. Bertram said on his Facebook page [link]:

“It took an amazing opportunity for me to even consider leaving Rockford. As many know, Hillsdale College is a special place with a mission of ‘Pursuing Truth and Defending Liberty Since 1844’.”

There may be trouble on the horizon for Bertram if he nixes one of Hillsdale’s sacred cows, patriotic music. He told local media in Rockford:

“I’ve spoken with people, and the first thing to do is get rid of the patriotic music. I know people are getting sick of it.”

 

ARCHITECTS, SOUND DESINGERS PRAISE KEXP’s NEW HOME

Not only are public media folks in awe of KEXP‘s new $15 million dollar creative facility, the design industry has taken keen interest. A recent article in the trade publication Archpaper [link] praises the work of project collaborators SkB Architects, and WSDG-Walters-Storyk Design Group. Both firms are based in the Seattle area.

KEXP's new location before constrution

KEXP’s new headquarters is in the shadow of Seattle Center’s iconic Space Needle. But the designers faced challenges from the start. The structure was originally built as an exhibition hall for the 1962 World’s Fair. It was a bleak and dark environment, something designers knew they needed to change.

Shannon Gaffney, SkB cofounder and co-lead designer on the project told Archpaper:

“We wanted to bring the outside in. Circulation was a challenge and required striking the right balance between openness and decompression, public and private. It was like a puzzle.”

Gaffney said the designers were particularly pleased with KEXP’s public gathering space, a 4,500-square-foot area with a coffee shop and showroom.

By weaving together public-private elements in the new space, KEXP is able to connect more closely with its listeners while the public can hear (and watch) musicians, meet friends, study, have an espresso, and peek into the daily workings of an indie public radio station.

The public gathering space is open and light-filled, pulling together exposed silver and white ductwork with turquoise accents, low-key stenciled concrete floors, and roll-up garage doors. It’s an effect that transforms the area into an indoor plaza and public extension of the courtyard to the east.

Many of its materials were donated. This includes the dark wood paneling, sourced from Puget Sound, that frames the glass-windowed DJ looking into the space. When not being used for live concerts, the gathering space converts into a lounge.

Another room that is receiving ample attention is KEXP’s 50,000-item music library. Gaffney says the library embraces KEXP’s spirit of public-private partnership.

Funding for the KEXP complex was raised by an on-air campaign and augmented by foundation, corporate, local entrepreneur and local government support. KEXP began broadcasting from the new digs in December 2015. The grand open was in Spring 2016. English singer-songwriter-guitarist Robyn Hitchcock was the first artisit to perform at the new KEXP. The first song he played was Viva! Sea-Tac.”  Viva KEXP!

Here is a photographic tour of KEXP’s new home:

Entry and outside view

 

Master Control

 

"The Green Room"

 

Performance studio

NEW NONCOM STATIONS BRING “MUSIC DISCOVERY”& DIVERSITY TO PORTLAND & OMAHA

PORTLAND RADIO PROJECT ADDS FULL-TIME SIGNAL

Portland Radio Project (PRP) is now on-the-air 24/7 via KSFL-FM 99.1 FM. Initially launched as an online station in 2013, PRP and another noncom organization were granted a LPFM construction permit in 2014. The FCC stipulated that each of the two organizations would have 12 hours to program each day.

As time went by, PRP thrived and the other noncom org, Portland’s Q Center – a gay and lesbian outreach organization, wasn’t doing well. So Q Center transferred their 12-hours per day to PRP. The FCC approved the consolidation recently. Now 99.1 FM is PRP, all day and all night.

91.1 is not a typical LPFM facility. A combination of good planning and good luck is allowing 91.1 to reach a considerable portion of the Portland metro. Take a look at PRP’s coverage shown on the right. 100-watts combined with a great transmission site can cover a significant area of a major city. Some locations experience terrain interference but KSFL is a player based on it’s area served.

PRP’s format is hard to categorize.  Much of the music is Triple A but there is ample time for folk, blues and jazz. The station’s mission is to give voice to local musicians, nonprofits and businesses. This means there are also quite a few talk shows on PRP, so they aren’t a “pure” music station.

AN FM DIAL WORTHY OF PORTLANDIA

PRP joins one of the most eclectic noncom FM radio menus in the nation. On the left is a new Portland noncommercial dial guide. It is hard to find another city with this much variety.

KOPB, KQAC and KQAC are the biggest players with major noncom formats. 

KBOO was one of Lorenzo Milam’s first independent community stations. Though some of KBOO’s programming is still “old school Pacifica,” KBOO apparently isn’t hung up on Pacifica’s ineffective governance system.

And PRP has an on-air competitor: Triple A leaning KXRY – Xray FM [link]. Xray has been around longer and is operated by radio pros, so it will be interesting to see whether the market can support both stations. I wrote about Xray in my first post for this blog, September 29, 2014 [link].

 

But wait, there are more unusual LPFM stations in the Portland area. 95.1 KISN-LP calls itself Good Guy Radio [link], a flashback to a legendary Top 40 station that rocked Portland back in the 1960s.

Then there is a one-of-a-kind LPFM: 100.7 KQRZ-FM by and for Ham Radio enthusiasts [link]. KQRZ has four hours of Ham Radio News every day.  The rest of the schedule is filled with “crooner” music such as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.

Get your fix of Slavic treats (I’d like an order of Sarma, please) on 102.7 KIEV-LP a/k/a Slavic Community Radio.

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MIND & SOUL RADIO SIGNS ON IN OMAHA

Last Monday (10/10) Mind & Soul Radio, KXNB-LP 101.3 FM [link] signed on in Omaha.

Mind & Soul Radio is Omaha’s first African-American community station. (Many people don’t know that Omaha has a sizable Black population.) The new KXNB features news and music, including classic hip-hop, R&B and Gospel other genres. One of the founders of Mind & Soul Radio is Michael Scott, a former TV anchor. Scott does weekday morning drive, mixing music with news and callers.

Another founding volunteer, Doug Paterson, told the Omaha World Herald [link]:

“This has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  I’ve been fortunate to have worked with several start-up theatre companies…[but KXNB] brought a kind of unique urgency…to respond to needs in North Omaha. KXNB will be an entirely fresh  voice in Omaha radio.