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10/06/08 We continue our busy fall with a look ahead toward the on-air fundraiser. Celebrate 2008, which will be held October 23-30, will feature several exciting giveaways as we seek pledges from at least 625 KOSU contributors. Listeners can phone in for their chance to win tickets to the Tulsa Performance of A Prairie Home Companion and the
On Memorial Day, KOSU’s broadcast tower southeast of Nowata suffered major damage from a lightning strike. The antenna and feedline were badly damaged. Unfortunately, the weather hampered our efforts to make repairs. Our tower crew was grounded for several weeks because of ongoing thunderstorms and wind. Finally, the clouds parted, the winds calmed and the crew was able to scale the tower, remove the antenna, rebuild it and remount it. We were off the air for a full month and I want to thank all of our northeastern Secondly, we are planning a very special evening for public radio in Finally, I want to congratulate Rachel Hubbard on winning a first place award for excellence in broadcast journalism from Public Radio News Directors Incorporated. PRNDI honored Rachel for her series 4/25/08 More than 560 listeners stepped forward to become Founding Members of The New KOSU during the spring pledge drive. Each contributor, whether they're a first-time or returning contributor, is considered a "Founding Member" of a powerful public radio resource that features many new reasons to listen. Here's a sample of what Founding Members of The New KOSU are saying:
kel 3/27/08 During the past six months, we have been engaging our listeners to find out what they like and what they would change about KOSU. Through our town hall meeting, speaking engagements with community groups, our listener survey and through KOSU's new advisory board, the Champions Council, it has become quite clear that listeners want more diversity in the station's programming, and we are prepared to deliver. KOSU is launching a new program schedule to meet the changing needs of its listening audience. Phase one of The New KOSU begins Monday, March 31 with the addition of several public radio news programs, as well as the return of Friday and Saturday night jazz. The second phase of The New KOSU , which will launch May 10, will feature several program additions to the station's Saturday morning and afternoon lineup. The New KOSU will feature the addition of many of public radio's most successful programs. The new weekday lineup includes the following program additions: Weekdays 7:50 am Marketplace Morning Report Get a head start on the day with public radio’s premier financial news program. From the producers of the award-winning Marketplace, this 9-minute morning business news report is especially relevant in today’s economic climate. 9 a.m. The Writer’s Almanac This five minute radio gem is a listener favorite. Listeners across the country tune in each day as host Garrison Keillor recounts the highlights of that day in history and reads a short poem or two. 9:05 a.m. The Takeaway This brand new newsmagazine program, co-hosted by veteran journalist John Hockenberry, is co-created by Public Radio International and WNYC and editorial partners the BBC World Service, The New York Times and WGBH Radio Boston. The Takeaway, which was originally scheduled to launch March 31, has been pushed back until the end of April. So in the interim, KOSU will air BBC World Service from 9am to 11am. 11 a.m. - The Story This new program hosted by Dick Gordon fills in the picture of events in the news with compelling personal experiences. This interview program is designed to bring great stories to public radio in a way that will help listeners understand what is going on in their world and why it matters to them. 12 p.m. - Fresh Air Lunch with KOSU will feature one of public radio’s most critically acclaimed weekday news programs. Hosted by Terry Gross, Fresh Air opens the window on contemporary arts and issues with guests from worlds as diverse as literature and economics. 1 p.m. - Talk of the Nation Talk of the Nation links the headlines with what is on people’s minds, providing a springboard for listeners and experts to exchange ideas and pose critical questions about major events in the news and the world around them. 2 p.m. - The World This radio news magazine program features a mix of news, features, interviews and music from around the globe. Hosted by Lisa Mullins, it is the first global radio news program developed specifically for an American audience. 6 p.m. - Marketplace Award-winning Marketplace is public radio’s daily magazine on business and economic news “for the rest of us.” The 30-minute program-with an irreverent reporting style all its own-boasts the largest audience for any business program in the United States on radio, cable or network television. Previously unavailable in central Oklahoma, Marketplace covers financial news from your wallet to Wall Street. KOSU is also pleased to announce a new weekend music line-up, beginning Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5. Programs include: Friday Night 9 p.m. - American Routes American Routes is a weekly two-hour public radio program produced in New Orleans, presenting a broad range of American music -- blues and jazz, gospel and soul, old-time country and rockabilly, Cajun and zydeco, Tejano and Latin, roots rock and pop, avant-garde and classical. American Routes explores the shared musical and cultural threads in these American styles and genres of music -- and how they are distinguished. 11 p.m. - The Song is You with Bonnie Grice The Song is You with Bonnie Grice is a radio series unlike any other. Each week veteran broadcaster and interviewer Bonnie Grice invites her guests to dip into their musical memories and their CD collections and through unscripted conversation let the rest of us know how music has inspired, comforted or just been a part of their lives. What comes through for the listener, though, is a sense of person, a sense of place and time; a celebration of the power that music has over all of us. 12 p.m. - Jazz After Hours with Jim Wilke Wind down with the mellow vibes of "Jazz After Hours." Host and producer Jim Wilke delivers just the right mix of contemporary and classical jazz music while welcoming guests such as Ray Brown, Max Roach, Joe Henderson, Milt Henderson and many more. You'll also hear about upcoming tours, festivals, clubs and the best places to hear live jazz. Saturday Night 8 p.m. - European Jazz Stage The NEW European Jazz Stage with host Daniel Frankl. highlights international stars in vibrant settings -- Larry Coryell, Benny Golson, Roy Hargrove, The Neville Brothers, McCoy Tyner, Joe Zawinul -- And we'll bring jazz names you may not have heard: Han Bennink, Fay Claassen, and more. Don't let the consonants and accents faze you -- these musicians swing. 9 p.m. - Piano Jazz Since April 1979, legendary pianist Marian McPartland has welcomed a stellar line-up of jazz artists for one hour of conversation and improvisation on her Peabody Award-winning program. Each week, McPartland, with her engaging personality and improvisational savvy, hosts a variety of performers in her radio living room. 10 p.m. - Jazz Set Since 1992, NPR's JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater has been the jazz lover's ears on the world of live music, taking listeners to hear top artists performing on stages around the world. 11 p.m. - Night Lights Jazz Night Lights, hosted by David Brent Johnson, focuses on jazz from the 1945-1990 era—a timespan that, as Johnson notes, “weirdly parallels Miles Davis on record and the Cold War.” Covering artists such as Jackie McLean, Charles Mingus, and Nina Simone and themes ranging from jazz recordings of spirituals to avant-garde interpretations of the Great American Songbook, Night Lights also features many lesser-known talents of post-1945 jazz, such as saxophonist J.R. Monterose, trumpeter Freddie Webster and piano/singer duo Dick and Kiz Harp. 12 p.m. - Jazz After Hours with Jim Wilke KOSU is also adding several Sunday programs to its lineup, beginning April 6, including: Sunday 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. - Speaking of Faith Public radio’s weekly conversation about religion, meaning, ethics and ideas is hosted by Shawnee native Krista Tippett. Each week, Tippett probes the many ways in which religious impulses inform every aspect of life and culture, nationally and globally. Speaking of Faith fills an important and neglected need in American media by addressing the intellectual and spiritual content of religion head-on, illuminating the ideas and practices that form the headlines from the inside. 10 a.m. - To the Best of our Knowledge This two-hour program features in-depth interviews with nationally and internationally-known guests whose passion for new ideas challenge and engage. This Peabody-award winning interview magazine, hosted by Jim Fleming, is thoughtful and penetrating, and features fascinating topics and guests. 12 p.m. - This American Life This multiple award-winning, critically acclaimed program describes and document contemporary American life. Each week, host and producer Ira Glass chooses a theme through which he and a variety of writers and performers share stories in a range of styles: monologues, documentaries, short radio plays, found recordings and original works. The result is appointment radio: captivating narratives that are unrivaled on-air or online. Phase two of The New KOSU will launch Saturday, May 10 with the addition of Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me, Weekend America and the first run of This American Life. The New KOSU is designed to create new reasons to listen to public radio at Oklahoma State University. We are increasing our local service while bringing many of public radio’s most successful national programs to KOSU because we are committed to improving our service to listeners. We won’t satisfy everyone - after all, we have 168 hours in a week to program and literally thousands of hours of program choices. But after carefully considering the collective input of our listeners during the past six months, as well as input from our new advisory board, The KOSU Champions Council, and public radio’s premier consultants, we have done our best to create a schedule that is designed to improve our audience service For listeners who rely on KOSU for classical music, the station will continue to air nearly 50 hours of classical programming each week, including Performance Today, and we will offer classical music 24 hours a day, 7-days a week on KOSU-2, which will soon be known as KOSU Classical, available on HD radios and as a live stream at www.kosu.org. There are also other options available – in central Oklahoma KCSC 90.1 fm is an all-classical music station, as is KWTU 88.7 fm in Tulsa. So this is the new KOSU. We are making a significant investment in public radio programming on your behalf and in a few short weeks, we'll be asking for your financial support of these new programs during our spring on-air pledge drive because our ability to sustain and grow our programming services will continue to be directly tied to your investment in the station. Kel 3/18/08 KOSU listeners who participated in a recent survey are indicating a strong desire for more variety in the station’s programming. The KOSU Listener Survey asked radio patrons a series of questions about their current relationship with the medium in general and KOSU in particular. Survey respondents detailed their listening habits and format preferences, while providing input in an open-ended comment section on what they like and what they would change about KOSU. A total of 450 people participated in the survey, which was conducted from January 1 through March 15. For the past six months, we’ve been seeking input from listeners through the KOSU Listener Survey, our Among other things, the survey found that while participants are listening to radio up to four hours a day, many of them are spending less than one hour a day with KOSU. Listeners expressed strong support for the station’s current news programming and a desire for additional news offerings while favoring several particular music genres, including classical, jazz and folk. The most popular programs according to survey participants are All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, Car Talk and A Prairie Home Companion. The following is a sample of comments from survey participants: It (KOSU) is good, make it great! Add Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me and Whad’ya Know. I would definitely like to see much less classical music 9-Noon, Noon-3, 7pm-all night is way too much… Please bring back some jazz programming - late night would be great...after 9 or 10 pm. Also programming such as "This American Life." I hope KOSU remains a classical music station. KOSU programming makes living in a rural area palatable and connected to the wider world while enjoying the advantages of small college town living. I'll try to keep an open mind about changes! Would love to have an Thanks for asking and listening! This survey is one of many tools we will utilize to help us evaluate our current program schedule with an eye toward the future. We are taking our listeners’ preferences to heart as we create The New KOSU. Thank you! kel 2/20/08 One of the things I wanted to do upon my return to KOSU was to really engage our audience in a conversation about KOSU and the future. We've held a town hall meeting in Stillwater and more are planned throughout the state. We also asked our listeners to tell us about their relationship with KOSU - how and when they listen, what programs they prefer, etc. We also provided an opportunity for feedback through an open-ended question at the end of the survey. And what we're hearing back from our listeners is overwhelming. The bottom line - they are hungry for more news and information programming and they want more diversity in our music programming. It's reflective of the comments we've received through the years during our on-air pledge drives. Listeners are eager for new reasons to tune in. Already we're taking some initial steps to improve our audience service. I am extremely pleased to welcome Michael Cross as KOSU State Capitol Bureau Chief. Michael is a self-described news "fiend" and he's definitely in his element at 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. We are increasing our commitment to Capitol reporting by making the Capitol Bureau a year-round position. Previously, our capitol correspondents gathered their sound at the Capitol, but produced their stories at KOSU in Stillwater. Our new arrangement will improve our ability to provide in-depth, comprehensive coverage of the state Capitol. I am also excited about our newest local commentary. Duke Pesta's Classical Gasp examines current events through the eye of history. Dr. Pesta has an enormous following among students at Oklahoma State University and I know he will develop a loyal following at KOSU. In the coming weeks and months, we'll be developing other new reasons to listen. We are currently examining our current program schedule with an eye toward the future. Our goal is to create a trusted resource that is all about compelling stories and enlightening commentary, soothing music and engaging entertainment programs. But our ability to provide quality programming is dependent upon the contributions we receive from listeners and businesses. You can help by calling with your pledge at 1-800-228-4678 or online at kosu.org. Thank you. kel 12/3/07 Recently, KOSU conducted its first listening tour event at the Stillwater Public Library, and I want to thank all of those who braved a chilly evening to share with us their thoughts about the station. KOSU gathered feedback from listeners during the session and from a survey we asked the audience to complete. Here is a recap of what KOSU listeners said. I know people that listen to KOSU at night to put them to sleep. Keep as much classical as possible. Bring back Paula (Price) or find someone like her. We need a music director and a person with the mic who can teach us as we listen to classical music. You can hear talk radio, country, rock and roll, etc. But we have no options with classical music. I value KOSU. Your hard work and effort is showing. I would like to see other music genres - bluegrass, folk, blues! But news still comes first. Is Mountain Stage still available? I think improved content will drive more listeners and cash contributors than strategically placed footprints. If we are all over OKC and Tulsa, what does it matter if we duplicate their programming or can't compete? There are a lot of opportunities to improve content, and I think inexpensively with student talent. For example, as far as I know the Seretean records every performance in their hall. I believe a majority of these performances fall under public domain. This library, I think, goes back 20 years and would make an awesome hour of local programming. Need for more choice. Need to pose the idea of public funding for public radio to city/county commissioners. Some specific program suggestions: Thistle and Shamrock, People's Pharmacy, Parent's Journal, Fresh Air, Talk of the Nation. Have you investigated Zorba Pastor's For Your Health? It's both entertaining and interesting. Good science programming. Need to strengthen the Stillwater signal. I do care for music theory with my music. I think KOSU should do more public service announcements. The bottom question on page 4 makes no sense. The Met Opera and This American Life aren't mutually exclusive. You can run both. I've been asking for years for This American Life and I want KOSU to run it, but I would be furious if you stopped running the Met Opera. Why do you phrase the question as an either/or situation? Also, you should have Folk Sampler, Folk Salad and Mountain Stage, and Fresh Air and the Diane Rehm show. More classical music but 1. complete composition 2. modern music (i.e. compose from 1960 to today) KOSU programming makes living in a rural area palatable and connected to the wider world while enjoying the advantages of small college town living. I'll try to keep an open mind about changes! Monitor the quality of student production. Consider noon program like showtunes. -diversity in the evening instead of just Performance Today -get radio plays or short stories -get folk music on Saturday night -world music -produce an environmental program Really miss St. Paul Sunday and Selected Shorts, and Fresh Air. Why are some of the news items read by Gail Banzet cut off by the Morning Edition programming? Please fix this! Need more variety in programming as well. Thanks for asking and for listening! The KOSU listening tour event in Stillwater November 15, reaffirmed our belief that the station should be visiting with our listeners on a regular basis in locations around the state. We look forward to sharing time with listeners in Oklahoma City, Edmond, Tulsa, Bartlesville and other cities and towns in the KOSU coverage area in the near future. kel 10/29/07 As we conclude the Campaign for Your Radio Gathering Place, I want to say that I am thankful to be part of such a special place. KOSU is special for many reasons - first the radio station has a great working partner in Oklahoma State University, and I want to thank the OSU Regents, OSU President and System CEO Dr. Marlene Strathe, as well as the Vice President of Enrollment management and my boss Albert Colom. I look forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with the university as we move KOSU forward. Also, I am most fortunate to be part of a great team at KOSU, and it's a large reason why I decided to accept the challenge of returning to the station as Director. This is a dedicated group of professionals who have burned the candle at both ends to bring quality radio to you. But they do it because they are passionate about this place. It's not just a job for them. It's a way of life and I want to recognize each of them for their dedication. So I extend a special thank you to KOSU General manager Rachel Hubbard, Financial Coordinator Hannah Barbara Fulton, Chief Engineer Dan Schroeder, Development Specialist Don Crider, and Reporter Gail Banzet. Also, I want to commend KOSU Real World Radio students Paul Repak, Jeremy Harris, Allison McCartney, Alexandra Kinkinska, and Nehal Divekar for their work in front of the microphone and behind the scenes to bring public radio to you. Talk about dedicated, our community pitch partners and volunteers have hung in there with KOSU through the years ... and I am grateful to have the opportunity to renew so many friendships with long-time listeners and new listeners to KOSU. So many special thanks to our Community Pitch Partners including Jim Barnes, Melanie Bayles, Dr. Bob Darcy, Carrie Hulsey-Greene, Dr. John McGuire, Gary Shutt and Evan Tonsing. As well as our community volunteers who answered telephones and gathered pledges during the drive. Thank you so much Jim and Joyce Barnes, Melanie Bayles, Amy Blose, Kara Burley, Celeste Campbell, Dustin Crawford, Dr. Bob Darcy, Carol Evans, Sharon Ford, Brooke Guyot, Rick Hendricks, Bill Henley, Katie Letzkus, Lynne Murnane, Ramesh Sharda and Tom and Jill Westbrook. And now it is time to look toward the future, and it will have its share of challenges as we work to sustain our expansion in Tulsa and improve your listening experience. As I've told the staff, and as I'll share with you, it's going to take flexibility, determination and creativity as we move forward. We'll begin in just a couple of weeks -- with a listening tour event in Stillwater. We're inviting you to come to the Stillwater Public Library Thursday, Nov. 15, and share with us your thoughts on the future of KOSU. Our mission is to be the most trusted radio resource for Oklahoma and you are our most important working partner. So thank you. I look forward to visiting with you soon. kel 10/15/07 In good times and bad, we know that people give because you meet needs, not because you have needs. - Kay Grace It has been a while since I participated in a KOSU on-air fundraiser. One of the things I enjoyed most about past pledge drives was visiting with listeners about their public radio station, and that is the primary reason why I am so excited about my first fundraiser since returning to KOSU as Director. I'm already hearing from long-time contributors and hope to hear from more of them during the pledge drive. I also look forward to welcoming new members to the KOSU family. We are calling KOSU's 2007 fall fundraiser The Campaign for Your Radio Gathering Place. After all, that's what thousands of listeners do each week. Through KOSU, they come together for a shared learning experience based on common values, including diversity in thought and artistic expression and civility in public discourse. Some of us gather around KOSU as we wake. Others join KOSU collectively during their work commutes or at the end of a long day. Morning, noon and night, KOSU is here for you. As we launch The Campaign for Your Radio Gathering Place, I am ever mindful of the fact that there would be no KOSU without listener support. These dedicated individuals give because we provide a service that is important to them. For many people, KOSU is a major source of local, national and international news and information. For others, KOSU is a constant companion for classical music. And still others pledge on behalf of our entertainment programs, including A Prairie Home Companion, Car Talk, The Splendid Table and Sound & Spirit. These people have invested their time to listen as well as their money to support public radio. For many of them, KOSU is the most trusted radio resource in Oklahoma and we will do our very best to live up to their standard. Having said that, KOSU does face ongoing cost increases for programming services -- more than $200,000 this year -- as well as a myriad of less obvious expenses. For instance, KOSU spends more than $50,000 each year on electricity for KOSU's transmitter sites. We also pay $2,000 a month for NPR's satellite uplink, and there are other ongoing costs associated with our computers and recording equipment. In fact, during my first week on the job, one of our primary servers went down. It took a new computer, lots of software and hours of manpower to fix the problem. It is all part of the cost of doing business in radio and it is not cheap. A significant public radio resource such as KOSU requires significant financial resources. Through The Campaign for Your Radio Gathering Place, we will do our very best to deliver a quality listening service that is a relevant part of your life. But KOSU's listening and Internet services are directly tied to your support. Our goal is to raise $160,000 by October 30. You can be a champion for KOSU today by helping us ignite the power of public radio. Call 1-800-228-4678 or pledge online at http://www.kosu.org/. kel 10/8/07 I must be having fun because time is indeed flying -- already I am in my fourth week on the job as KOSU Director. I have been busy reconnecting with various leaders of the Oklahoma State University community as well as my colleagues in public radio. I have also been working closely with staff to outline our agenda for 2008 and beyond. As part of that effort, we have been evaluating and updating KOSU's mission statement, while crafting a vision and values document. Together, KOSU's mission, vision and values will serve as the cornerstone of our commitment to bring you the best radio service we can with the financial resources that you provide. Our Mission
KOSU is also examining its current program schedule to identify strengths and weaknesses that must be addressed in order to sustain the Oklahoma Public Radio network. With regard to our fourth key, financial, we are preparing for the upcoming fall pledge drive, titled The Campaign for Your Radio Gathering Place. Details of our campaign and how you can help are coming soon. KOSU also has begun planning initiatives to increase member value and to improve our signal strength in north-central Oklahoma. Finally, we are working with Oklahoma State University to increase opportunities for students. Through these and other initiatives, made possible by your generous financial support, we will ignite the power of KOSU together. kel 9/17/07 There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again. Margaret Elizabeth Sangster During the summer of 1990, I was a new graduate of the journalism school at Oklahoma State University, my wife had just given birth to our first child and I was looking for a job. Sure, I had several part-time radio gigs during college, but now I was ready to pursue a full-time career in broadcast journalism. I had planned it all out - first a stint as a reporter in a small market, then on to Dallas and eventually, the networks. I had staked out my future - and public radio wasn't part of the plan - until I met Paul Sund. Sund was the news director at KOSU in 1990 and the station had already developed a solid reputation for radio journalism thanks to folks like Paul, Kurt Gwartney, Don Hoover, Doug Mitchell, Jennifer Reynolds, Kelly Ogle and Susan Lavery. In fact, just a few years before my arrival, Don and Jennifer had won the radio equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize -- the duPont Columbia award. At that time, KOSU was the only university station to ever win the award. I was intrigued by the success of this small public radio service at OSU. It could be a good place for me to cut my teeth before moving on, I thought. So I pursued an open reporter's position and was offered the opportunity to join the staff in August 1990. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. During a 13-year association that included roles as a reporter, news director and program director, I discovered the value of good storytelling at a time when the 10-second soundbite was already the rule on commercial airwaves. I learned that public radio strives to treat listeners as citizens first, not consumers and that KOSU supporters are very passionate about their radio station. Together, we saw a lot of history unfold - The first Gulf War, the Oklahoma City Bombing, the 1999 tornado outbreak, the 9/11 attacks and the OSU plane crash. I also had the great fortune of celebrating the lives of dozens of Oklahomans who helped shape our great state through the Voices of Oklahoma series. I grew from a cub reporter to a national award-winning radio journalist, sharing the Oklahoma experience locally through KOSU, nationally through NPR and globally through www.kosu.org. As rewarding as my work in public radio was, by 2003 I began to feel the need for a new professional challenge while meeting the demands of a growing family. I accepted an offer to serve AARP as Associate State Director in the Oklahoma office, and it has been a tremendous experience that helped prepare me for my dream job - my version of the New York Yankees - the role of KOSU Director. KOSU faces many challenges in the months and years ahead. Our success in growing the station's listener and supporter base will ultimately be determined by our ability to be flexible, creative and determined. My objectives are simple - to create a virtual gathering place that celebrates diverse thought and artistic expression, to reconnect with the communities we serve and to create new reasons for people to embrace KOSU as Oklahoma's most trusted source for news and music. There's a lot to accomplish and I can't wait to get started. Truly, there's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again. kel |
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