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Return to Issue of Aug. 2, 2010

Garrison Keillor's appearances at Blossom Music Center are always favorite WKSU-FM events.

For most people, Jan. 1 is the first day of a new year. At WKSU-FM, however, we celebrate a fresh start on July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. Despite a year that seemed gloomy at times, we finished on a very high note after a call to listeners helped us meet our membership goals and gave us firm footing for the future. Looking forward, we are excited about several new programs WKSU-FM will launch in September (stay “tuned” for details) and about our ongoing digital conversion project.

The station is now broadcasting high-definition radio signals over all of its towers – providing most of Northeast Ohio with a crisp, clean sound and additional content. These new digital transmissions also allow “tagging” of songs so that those listening on HD radios can see information, such as artist and song title, scrolling across a screen as the music plays.

One of the greatest benefits of HD radio is that it creates the ability to air more than one signal over the same digital channel. Similar to TV, radio is taking advantage of the exciting possibilities of digital transmission to expand our offerings to listeners.

WKSU-FM is on the leading edge of this revolution!

A few months ago, we became only the second station in the country to add a fourth HD-radio channel. Now – along with WKSU-FM’s general mix of programming on HD-1 – listeners throughout the region can enjoy HD-2, the music stream from FolkAlley.com; HD-3, all-day classical music; and the new HD-4, a channel devoted to public radio news and information that includes stories from the award-winning WKSU-FM newsroom. HD radios are becoming more common as an option in new cars and many affordable desk units can be purchased through the WKSU-FM website.

If you don’t have an HD radio, all of our broadcast channels are available as streaming content online through your computer – or smartphone! As a matter of fact, any day now WKSU-FM will be releasing a new iPhone app that will make it even easier to hear the station. Developed by the same in-house team that created the Folk Alley Player for iPhones, the free WKSU-FM app reminds me of transistor radios and their ability to make radio portable. Only, the Internet means that geographic barriers no longer exist. You can hear WKSU-FM anywhere!

All of this connectivity makes the quality of our broadcasts even more important. We consistently hear from listeners new to Northeast Ohio or vacationing elsewhere about how much they value the news and music produced by WKSU-FM. That opinion has been reinforced by the stack of awards staff members have brought home from recent competitions. So far in 2010, WKSU-FM have been honored with two Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio and Television News Director’s Association; 12 awards – including nine first-place – from Ohio Professional Writers (the state chapter of the National Federation of Press Women); seven plaques (seven first-place) from Ohio Associated Press Broadcasters – who named WKSU-FM’s Vivian Goodman the Reporter of the Year; and nine Excellence in Journalism Awards (six first place) from the Press Club of Cleveland.

So, raise a glass of your favorite beverage to toast a successful year for WKSU-FM. We wish you all a happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Al Bartholet
Executive Director WKSU-FM

Return to Issue of Aug. 2, 2010

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