During 2011, the FCC approved expanded hours for BPRF and BPRF expanded its broadcast operations from two hours a day, five days a week to twelve hours a day, seven days a week. The FCC also reduced the broadcast hours of Simply Living on 102.1 FM creating space for BPRF's expanded hours.
By mid June, music licenses were in place and music became important content for the station.
The expense of ASCAP, BMI and SESAC music licenses was underwritten by First Bexley Bank and Mark and Judy Scurci.
Volunteer Ron Johnson has provided technical skills for maintaining and improving the studio to transmitter link (STL) sound quality and transmission reliability. He has also applied his technical talents to the computer facilities of BPRF. Ron also created and maintains the station’s first website at www.wcrxlp.com.
During late 2010, Arbitron reported that WCRX-LP was showing up in its journals and that organization offered use of its equipment to automate collection of audience data. BPRF agreed to the arrangement with Arbitron and the equipment was installed in the summer of 2011.
Arbitron is the major statistical source for radio audience-size estimates.
Studio arrangements have changed. The Whitehall garage that was the original home studio of BPRF for almost four years became unavailable in late winter and arrangements were made to move the studio to a Bexley location. After appropriate notice to the FCC, the station went silent on March 29, 2011 during the move to the Bexley studio. On April 28, 2011 regular broadcasting was restored and the FCC was notified that the station was no longer silent.
Educational mission
Intern Marcus Cole, Jr. is receiving class credit for his work at BPRF. Marcus is a junior at Columbus Alternative High School. His ambition is to be a sportscaster. His internship provides experience in station administration and broadcast production.
Intern Meredith Brown is a junior at Gahanna Lincoln High School. She has done literature drops in Bexley for fund-raising, clerical assignments and did a substantive analysis of the WCRX-LP autumn programming survey.
Candy Bennett began her work at the station as an intern from Columbus State Community College. Although her internship is concluded, her show continues as a regular feature on Bexley Public Radio.
Assistance to other nonprofits, editorial page auction
To help other nonprofits raise money, BPRF offers its editorial page to the highest bidder at charity auctions.
During 2011, the editorial page was sold at the Columbus School for Girls Galleria auction, St. Catharine Fun Fest silent auction and the Friends of the Drexel Theater silent auction. All of the proceeds of the auction are paid to support the event sponsors.
Station programming remains a mix of music, news and information.
BPRF regular programming is provided by a corps of twenty-four volunteers.
Aaron Putnam "Jazz Overdue." The name of Aaron's music program hints at his occupation as a librarian for the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Aaron produces a weekly program that airs each Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. He writes: "There was one major high-point of Jazz Overdue in 2011: finally being able to present the music to the public. My primary goal has always been to expose more people to the various forms of jazz that have existed throughout the years in a way that focuses on the music and not the personality presenting it. WCRX-LP has given me the opportunity to expand listeners' horizons by bringing attention to local and more obscure artists and the fruits of their labors while, in the same show, playing classics that many jazz aficionados hold dear."
Some of the artists that Aaron offered his audience for more recognition during the year included Hasan Abdur-Razzaq, Ira Sullivan, Air, Grant Calvin Weston, Herbie Nichols, Jack Walrath, Ron Miles, Heath Watts & Dan Pell, the Clusone Trio, John Carter and the Francois Carrier Trio.
Aaron continued "Additionally, I wanted to ensure that a listener could refresh his memory or hear what he missed out on. To fulfill these needs, I created jazzoverdue.blogspot.com to serve as a repository for the song listings. Station management requested that I withdraw this service until new media broadcast copyright licenses were in place. In the future, I'm hopeful that money will be donated sufficient for purchase of the all of the new media copyright licenses and that broadcasts will be archived online as well."
Amy Maurer "The Noontime Gardener." Amy writes: "The Noontime Gardener Show became more proactive in an effort to make listeners more aware of some of the environmental concerns that exist in our community.
"For the 'plant of the year' I chose an invasive shrub that is well entrenched in our older communities. Lonicera maackii is a member of the honeysuckle family and was once used as a hedge plant. It has escaped into our natural areas and is a major concern for those trying to preserve our native plants. By citing it's bloom time and describing it's blossoms and then it's fruits as they matured, I tried to instill a sense of civic responsibility in listeners each week as I reiterated it's devastating effects in the wild, and how easily birds can transport such seeds to farther places.
"I also kept listeners up to date on the Emerald Ash Borer as well as the more recently introduced Asian Longhorned Beetle which may reach our community also.
"I spoke of Kudzu, an aggressive vine well established in the South, but not identified as yet in our area. There was an article in the Columbus Dispatch this Fall that stated that Kudzu has been identified here in Columbus. It had been growing in the University area for some time without ever being identified.
"With my information on these invasives I also gave contact phone numbers to call if listeners thought they may have spotted them."
Candy Bennett, "Take Your Places." writes “My program has been taking listeners behind the scenes to meet the people who are creatively expressing themselves through film, dance, comedy and sound. "Take Your Places!" airs Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. Listeners are introduced to the creative minds of Columbus and beyond. There is a wealth of creative talent in our city and "Take Your Places!" introduces both the performers and the individuals who are behind the scene.
”Guests during 2011 included actor Karl Novack; actor Phi Clarke; manager of Shadowbox Theater, Nicky Fagan; filmmaker Brook Douglas; stand-up comic Sumukh Torgalkar; Travis Irvine local movie director-producer; Amber Mikesell actress and producer; Liz Wheeler and Joe Bishara of Phoenix CATCO; comedian Brad Wollack guest discusses entertainment business; Torin Scott of Hands Off Productions; Chad Willet of Broadway to LA discussed pros and cons of joining an actor's union; interview with Indy race car driver Graham Rahal; Ben Bays, director of web series Aidan 5; media production guru Michael Tavares; interview of Anthony Chiles, president of MOFA; interview of Ron Sax Johnson and Jason Perkins the former CW Star on the media industry
”I am planning a roster of guests for the upcoming year that is exciting. In 2012 on "Take Your Places!" I will present to listeners new creative artists who are captivating their audiences through sound and sight.”
Dave Streamer "The Captain's Quarters." Dave Streamer writes: "The high point of the year for me was realizing a boyhood dream of being on-air at a local radio station. Playing jazz for my fellow Columbusites is really a thrill. Plus,being able to work with a true pro like Ron Johnson is fantastic. Thank Candy Bennett for recruiting him.. For 2012, I'm looking at more interviews, more emphasis on local jazz and blues artists and possible live remote projects and station promotional events. Again, thank you Bexley Public Radio for the opportunity to truly live a dream. Sincerely, Dave "The Captain." Streamer.
Dianne Garrett “Eastside Round-up”reported on Whitehall government news and cultural events on her show "Eastside Now." program. Examples included the city's acquisition of the Armory building, city budget, public safety, signage "overload," and strategic land use planning. She also added "Troprock" music to her show. She interviewed a number of musical artists including musician Loren Davidson, composer and musician Brent Burns, musician and composer Bob Karwin, Whitehall resident Christie Angelleti who is a singer, songwriter with a national audience and Dennis McCaughey band leader. Dianne presented regular PSAs for the Franklin Park Conservatory, veterans programs and services and Angel Food Ministries. Dianne also included news and events from the local animal shelter.
Frank Ingwersen "Late Morning Wall Street Update" includes current market activity and Frank's discussion of topics such as International Monetary Fund, derivatives and their use by speculators, financial institutions and various industries; convertible preferred stocks, exchange traded shares and how investors use them. Frank calls in his reports Monday through Thursday, depending on market activity, at 11:45 a.m.
Joe Contino covers sports on his " Joe Contino Show." Throughout the year, Joe's regular guest commentators were : Brian Inglis, Bill Roach, Steve Nevelos, Sal Leonetti, Lance Colstead. Beyond his coverage of sports, his memorable programs were Joe's January call-in from Germany and his comments on the German culture of coffee shops. Joe also discussed Columbus Italian festival planning and schedule; discussion of conversion of Joe's Hummer to natural gas for fuel.
Julia Bland and T. Wayne Gatewood began their Community Table Talk program in mid-October. Guests included Susan Staziak discussing personal finance, Jay Elkes offering insight on speaking outside the box, Paul Wills, CPA and president of the Whitehall Toastmasters club International, Larry Goldsmith and Eileen James discussing “elevator talk.”and Maria Scott discussing genealogy.
Kevin Kale, Manning and Napier did regular Friday Wall Street reports for first half of the year.
Kris Galloway's review of what is happening at the Jewish Community Center. Kris was rescheduled from a weekly report to occasional reports that included exhibitions from the Columbus Jewish Historical Society, details of a Jewish book fair and arts exhibit and the JCC Gallery Players schedule.
Laura Franks continued her quarterly "Bexley Consumer Price Index" reports and her irregular reports on stocks with dividend increases.
Lea Edmondson ("Miss 411") read local news from Bexley News and other local newspapers during the early months of 2011.
Marian Lupo and her program "You Have the Last Word." cover state and local politics, public policy issues and cultural topics of interest. Marian especially covers cultural events and public policy matters of value to the disability community. Examples of areas that she regularly gives attention to include election fraud is discussed with local activist Karen Hansen as guest; Dr. Masoner was a guest and discussed Bexley's Jeffrey Mansion park; public finance and politics are touched on by guest Phil Volcraft and a regular guest identified as "Financial Trader;" several programs discussed a proposed auto race track for the old Cooper Stadium ballpark and the track as a source for noise pollution; Mary Rinehart, trustee of the Franklinton board discusses vertical sky garden concept, David Donofrios, Sierra Club representative spoke on urban noise pollution; Marian also discussed Senate Bill 5 and union-busting; Dr. Brenda Bruggerman demonstrated and discussed a device for deaf called ""clear captions;" Scott Listner provided a the guest interview for Marian on Americans With Disabilities Act. Another guest was Perry Schaefer who discussed election fraud; Channel 6 personality Barbara Plety was a guest who discussed education and the importance of unions to teachers and education system; poet Jim Ferris was interviewed as was Dr. Lundeen, physician indicted for his pain management practice; George Anne Haviland spoke about the promotion of access for disabled athletes to participate in endurance sports events.
Mel Greenball "Mel Greenball and Local News." and "Open Microphones, Open Minds" guests include David Hayes, MBA, author of book on how decisions are made; Dr. Bob Wagner comments on school choice and other educational issues; other topics discussed by Dr. Wagner included taxes, currency and gold; an AIPAC event at OSU ; local Bexley city council and school board issues and library cultural events schedule; Financial Times piece on Islamic finance; promotion of global warming dialogue between Dr. Bob Wagner and Bob Fritakis; local Bexley news charter revision commission, police beat reports, kosher caterer doesn't seek re-certification; Federal Reserve report on financial problems of local governments; Federal Reserve report on Municipal bankruptcies and articles by Marilyn MacGruder Barnwell on public finance; Federal Reserve study on whether commodity prices predict inflation
Mel's continued his signature reviews of horse-racing’s Triple Crown: Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
Michelle Jones continued her monthly report on activities and programs at Lifecare Alliance. Big Wheels, Big Night event; Meals on Wheels, Impact Safety, CA Catering establishment, Carries’ Cafe, exercise for seniors, senior prom dance; Summer fan donation project are all activities reviewed by Michelle
A new program Nancy Segal “Fun with Phoetics” was added in the fourth quarter featuring Nancy Segal.
Nancy Segal describes her program: “This Fall saw an amazing launch of Fun with Phoetics.
“October 15th the program began with Darrah Coulter discovering Phoetic mysteries in a long forgotten Christmas photo, revealing her father's reflection embedded in the mirror she had never seen before! April Rhoden explored the hidden connections to her grandmother's drum majorette black and white, while we delighted to find the image of the Divine Feminine sacred triangle as a recurrent theme in her many childhood baton twirling photos.
”All Hallow's Eve saw Megan Bixel's most moody, evocative photos, especially the blue-washed Raggedy Ann and Andy with her little brother in red wigs on the kitchen floor. Megan returned in December, only to realize she had chosen to 'play' the classic rag doll because even at the tender age of 3, she intuited there was something more behind and beneath the famous painted-on smile. And the photo of her as a six year-old dressed as a ghost she believed would win her the Best Costume contest actually bequeathed a prize all its own: the image of Megan reenacting a pure Otherworld sequence...with her grandmother and little brother looking on.
“ Guest Barbara Vogel ushered in Thanksgiving week with black and white photos from Thanksgivings past. She shared with our listeners her artistic style of photographic-art on display in the public art gallery in Springfield, as well as her technique employing diffusion and wax emulsions and how that synchs up with Phoetic imagery.
“Finally, Cindy Riggs brought FWP 2011 full circle December 17th with unexpected guest Mona Hett. How amazing! Mona's Phoetic bent zeroed in on the not-so-hidden image of Adult Cindy foreshadowed in the background of her eight year-old 'power photo' visiting the steam engines. And we all shared a good laugh about the parallels of Cindy's work today--ghost busting the ice at Nationwide Arena for the Bluejackets to begin their winning streak again--identical to her phoetic truths at three in the photo she entitles 'Fearless;' none other than standing firm on the ice and in a blue jacket! Phoetics' magic struck again..
“We are thrilled to have such wonderful, exciting guests and anticipate many recurring visits with them in the coming year.”
Peter Simon added Blues music to the station's offerings during the first quarter of the year. He also interviewed local attorney Marc Fagin on Middle East turmoil and Ohio Senate Bill 5..
Robyn Jones reported on Bexley city council and city hall. Topics included new rules for executive sessions of city council, proposed term limits, proposals for auditor's position (appointed or elected), Bexley swimming pool, city finance and budget.
Sax Johnson and his "Mid-afternoon Music Showcase" features local musicians with interviews and presenting their music on air. The program is broadcast Monday 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday Noon to 3:00 p.m. Local musicians who were interviewed during 2011 and had their music featured are:
Dr. E - Elaine Richardson - Local musician and recording artist; Dominick Farinacci, Cleveland musician, national and international recording artist both as a soloist and associated with Wynton Marsalis; Marcy Vaughn-Forte - local musician and recording artist; Mike Harris - local musician and recording artist; Chris Powell - former Motown recording artist, Rick James Stone City Band member, associated with Beyonce Knowles and other groups, and founder of the local non-profit STARS program; Gene Walker - legendary jazz saxophonist with a number of CDs.
Other local artists and groups whose music was featured during the year include: Gussie Miller, former locally educated musician and national recording artist both as a soloist and with Marcus Miller; Urban Jazz Coalition, local, regional, national jazz recording artists with multiple CDs; Dave Powers, local musician and recording artist; Dwight Lenox, local musician and recording artist; FoMoDeep, local recording musical group; Bobby Floyd, local jazz musician and recording artist with multiple CDs; Duane Tribune, local musician recording artist, (solo and member of Urban Jazz Coalition); Camille Betton, local musician and recording artist; Lawrence Welton, local musician and recording artist; Linda Dachtyl, local musician and recording artist; Meilana Gillard, local musician and recording artist; MetalBaby Band, local recording musical group with trombonist Jason Branscum and saxophonist Colin Martin; NuCorp Band, local recording musical group; Pete Mills, local musician and recording artist; Randy Mather, local musician and recording artist; Fusion, formerly Steel Wheel Band, local recording musical group; and Suade, local musician and recording artist.
Culture correspondents.
Courtney Winterberger, student at Capital University, reported on her trip to India
Dan Mikletz continued his reports with several vignettes about life in Eastern Pennsylvania.
Longtime culture correspondent Joanne Tornes of Homer, Alaska, continued her occasional reports on life in Alaska. She was also joined by he sister Ginger Tornes, also a resident of Homer, Alaska in keeping the WCRX-LP audience informed about life in Alaska. As a courtesy to Joanne and Ginger's family and friends in Bexley area, BPRF made regular condition updates on Alaska's Redoubt volcano which always threatens life in Homer, Alaska.
Paul Peltier reported from New Hampshire on prices of seaford at the docks and in local restaurants.
Other program content
Volunteer David Meckler produced several interviews for the station. Of note was his interview of Steve St. Martin, an OSU professor emeritus and recognized expert on soybean culture. David also interviewed Mary Rose Molinaro who is a local jazz singer and a student recruiter for the OSU Horticulture and Crop Science College.
Heartland Institute provided audio content challenging accepted wisdom about global warming.
LibreVox recordings of children literature were broadcast: Anne of Green Gables, Louisa May Alcott's "Jack and Jill," Lucy Maude Montgomery "Rainbow Valley" and "Wizard of Oz"
LibreVox recordings of adult literature that were broadcast included "Moby Dick" "Oliver Twist" and “Max Carrados, Detective.”
Newspaper copyright licenses were continued or renewed by Bexley High School Torch, Bexley News, Eastside Messenger, Ohio Jewish Chronicle and The New Standard.
The Old Farmer's Almanac renewed its permission for the station to use the Old Farmer Almanac on-line weather reports, forecasts, and editorial content.
For national and international coverage, BPRF was licensed by the international newspaper, The Epoch Times. This weekly newspaper publishes regional editions in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Remote live broadcasts of election contests.
Prior to November elections, the Franklin County Consortium for Good Government held "Meet the Candidates" forums at Torat Emet and Jewish Community Center. The JCC session covered Columbus candidates and issues and was broadcast live during BPRF's regular broadcast hours. Fifty-four people attended the JCC session. One hundred and fifty-eight people attended the Torat Emet session. The forum at Torat Emet was in the evening after BPRF's regular broadcast hours. BPRF requested TNN for permission to broadcast the Torat Emet session. As an incentive, BPRF offered to publicize the live broadcast as a co-production of BPRF and TNN. TNN agreed to that description and gave BPRF permission to broadcast the Torat Emet session live.
February Black History observance.
Again this year, BPRF offered two features in observance of Black History Month.. The station provided coverage of the Swann Gallery auction of paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures of African American artists. Swann Gallery is located in New York City. This is the fourth year of coverage of this auction on BPRF. BPRF also broadcast the LibreVox recording of The Autobiography of Frederick Douglas during February.
Station automation.
The station has sampled automation software for programming. The station is presently training some program hosts to use the software. The software will help the station take advantage of the early morning hours.
Audience growth: Arbitron
The addition of more music to broadcasts has increased the number of listener calls to the station. The station is beginning to be defined by listeners as the jazz station in Columbus.
Arbitron equipment has been added to assist in making estimates of audience size. Arbitron is the dominant data gathering service and statistical agency for measuring and estimating radio audience-size.
Audience growth: Listener contacts with station
Telephone calls and correspondence from listeners has increased
Autumn listener survey.
Each autumn, the station mails a survey to a sample of Bexley addresses. The purpose of the survey is to learn programming interests of Bexley residents. The response rate of completed surveys returned is always high.
Nineteen percent of the surveys were returned with completed answers.
In music preference categories, Classical, Broadway hits and jazz are the three highest music categories. Blues, Country, Urban Contemporary and Hip Hop received the least interest. In terms of news and information, the strongest interest was in Bexley local news and information on personal finance.
Administrative matters.
During 2011, there were three efforts to change control of the station. Two were friendly proposals, one was hostile.
The two friendly proposals involved change of location from Bexley to another suburb where the BPRF signal strength is strong and the business community is progressive in its desire to support local projects, particularly local news coverage.
Updating Emergency Announcement System (EAS) equipment at Bexley Public Radio
Presently, BPRF uses an analogue EAS device to comply with federal emergency announcement requirements.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have adopted rules that require all broadcasters (radio and TV, and cable) to use digital equipment. The equipment has to be purchased and installed by June 30, 2012.
The cost for the digital new equipment is $3,800.
In mid-September, BPRF contacted seven realtors and proposed that they donate funds to cover purchase and installation of the digital EAS equipment.
In exchange for their donations, BPRF proposed to broadcast underwriting notices for the realtors during morning drive-times for a six month period.
Legal Matters
Three sessions of staff training on the prohibitions of partisan political content.and related topics. The presentations included both the FCC limits and IRS limits on political activities for LPFM stations and tax exempt organizations.
The dispute with Simply Living about sharing broadcast hours was decided by the FCC. Simply Living’s hours were reduced and BPRF’s hours were increased to fifty percent of the broadcast hours.
The FCC also determined that Simply Living could transfer its broadcast license to another nonprofit without obtaining BPRF’s consentl despite language creating that right that had been approved previously by the FCC.
Preparations for the re-licensing of BPRF's in 2012 have begun. A volunteer has been recruited to manage compliance with FCC requirements and local legal talent has been engaged to provide advice on the process.
BPRF management established two more working committees: the Bexley Comedy Writers Guild and the Ohio Public Media Cooperative. The existing Community Program Advisory Committee continued its second year of operation under the leadership of Chairwoman Laura Franks. Regular monthly meetings of these committees are scheduled. Admission is charged with some exceptions.
Station finance
The number of donations from individuals continues to decrease. The decrease might be attributable to the single fact that the station did not solicit individual contributions during 2010 and during 2011 only 200 solicitations were delivered on two streets in Bexley. The good news is that the average dollar amount of contributions increased in both 2010 and 2011. While BPRF has fewer donations, the donations that are received are larger than in previous years.
Comments that accompanied one family contribution this month is
“Dear Bexley Public Radio Foundation staff and volunteers: Thanks for everything in 2011. The community events with entertainment featuring Ken and Mary and the Restoration Rag/Jazz Band were enjoyed by many thanks to your PSAs. We also appreciate the increasingly rare opportunity to hear independent pubic radio in central Ohio. We wish you continued success in the new year. R.L. and P.L.”
Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP,Local Power Radio
Jazz 102.1 FM
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Website www.wcrxlp.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com
Bexley Public Radio Foundation is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation or WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.
Design is copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation. Text is copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation
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