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Happy 8th b’day, KWBU (FM)
Today marks the eighth year that Waco public radio station KWBU-FM has been a National Public Radio/Public Radio International affiliate.
Listeners like me probably take the station too much for granted, but it was a pretty big deal at the time. I dug out my story announcing the event:
Waco airwaves will crackle with a new sound Saturday, and it’s not fireworks going off three days early.
It’s the sound of public radio, heard for the first time in the Waco market as KWBU -FM (107.1) switches to National Public Radio and Public Radio International programming, ending Waco’s status as the largest American city without a public radio station.
For Waco transplants who grew attached, if not addicted, to such programs as “All Things Considered,” “Morning Edition,” “Prairie Home Companion” and “Car Talk” in other cities, Saturday represents the end of their listening drought. And for Waco natives who know radio only as a source of music or national talk shows, KWBU -FM and its new station manager Brodie Bashaw aim to demonstrate an alternative.
Some of the programming airing that first year has left - “Marketplace,” “Talk of the Nation,” “Echoes” - and the station’s on a different frequency (103.3) than the one on which it started (107.1), but, by and large, KWBU continues to offer much of what it did that first year. That’s praiseworthy, given the fact that the Waco station has had to grow its financial support from listeners each year simply to match increasing programming costs.
So, here’s a happy KWBU birthday wish to (station manager) Brodie Bashaw, Brazos Valley Broadcasting Foundation president Polly Anderson and their crew. It’s not quite the same thing as a pledge, but sincere, nonetheless.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: TV/Radio
Comments
By Evil Clerk
July 3, 2008 4:59 AM | Link to this
We should all collectively pour one out for the loss of TotN.
I love NPR dearly, but I still wish it didn’t have to come at the expense of the college radio station, which I have fond high-school memories of. Never perfect to be sure, but certainly a welcome buzz on the airwaves.
By Joe
July 15, 2008 7:36 AM | Link to this
I hated when KWBU switched to NPR. I grew up listening to KWBU play all of my favorite music. I was introduced to alternative/indie bands on KWBU. The student DJs were funny and I enjoyed the different music shows.