Comments on: Support Community Radio

by: Roy

Thu, 15 May 2008 15:19:19 +0000

Jonathan, you’re barely making sense at this point.

You claimed the station has never fallen short of any goal it set for itself. That’s false. Rants about two letters received in the ’90s or people failing to call in during a late night show are non sequiturs.

by: Jonathan Steinke

Thu, 15 May 2008 04:33:18 +0000

A volunteer who gets a letter from KDHX jubilantly proclaiming “We succesfully reached our goal! Thanks to everyone who helped support us–we couldn’t have done it without you!” can’t really assume the station DIDN’T reach its goal. In neither of the letters I received did it ever state KDHX made x amount short of its pledge goal but was still very grateful for the financial support of its listeners. Okay, perhaps I could’ve inquired about it with staff or other volunteers at the time as to the pledge goal that was reached (or the shortfall, for that matter) but wouldn’t it have been more virtuous for those responsible for the bookwork and disseminating that information to the listeners to err on the side of honesty?

I’m a member and write for the blog of WFMU out of New Jersey. On their site’s main page, on the last day of their last pledge marathon, the progress tracker reached $600,000. The station manager and everyone involved were overjoyed and thanked the listeners with a level of gratitude that absolutely knocked the wind out of me. Their goal? A million bucks. THAT’s honesty. They, of course, reached the million goal AFTER the actual marathon was over but, hey, it’s ‘FMU. Whaddya expect?

And, yeeeah, I DO know what I’m talking about with regard to the phone-bank situations back then because (survey says) I was THERE. One night of the second pledge drive with which I helped, I signed up to phone bank for a show called Radio Diablo, which ran from midnight to 2 a.m. The poor sap didn’t get ONE call. I didn’t even get a call from a DRUNK. See, I took a “whole station” approach to the pledge drives, not a “Well, he always passed his show’s goal before, so HIS show MUST be better” approach. Wouldn’t YOU feel like two cents if nobody signed up to phone bank for YOUR show? Doesn’t matter to me if somebody else thought the show sucked; it matters to me that it was just as integral to the survival of the station as the listeners’ contribution money and that other people ought to have helped give a crap to ensure that.

by: Roy

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:36:30 +0000

Correction: I wrote: “before 1966, myself included.” Um, that should have been: “born after 1965.”

Jonathan: Sorry about your anger towards KDHX, but you really have no idea what you’re talking about.

You say that KDHX has never “fallen even slightly UNDER any pledge goal set for it.” Really? And you know this how? You’re as wrong about that, as you’re wrong about the dedication of the hundreds of volunteers who’ve kept KDHX going for 20 years. Such a selfish lot!

by: Jonathan Steinke

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:19:31 +0000

Back in the late 90’s I volunteered for a couple years (I’m gonna say ‘97 and ‘98 but it’s been so long ago) phone-banking for pledge drives. Let me just say I could not believe the unmitigated selfishness and pretentiousness of many of the volunteers and programmers signing up for shows their friends were DJ’ing but hitting the bricks when a show came up that had nobody else signed up to phone-bank. That proved to me right there how ‘dedicated’ they were to their precious community resource. I wouldn’t doubt this still happens today.

Also, the ridiculous brow beating to which listeners are unwitting participants during on-air pledge hawking is kinda slimy. I used to hear juvenile phrases used like “Don’t wait for the other guy to call!” and pitching for 90 minutes! Besides what possible rationale there could be for the nerve-wracking huckstering despite KDHX’s never having fallen even slightly UNDER any pledge goal set for it, there’s simply no rationale for calling it “non-commercial” any longer if this is how the station wants to put itself out there. Count me out.

by: Roy

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:12:59 +0000

Hi Jim. Sorry for taking so long to reply. Demographic data on KDHX isn’t clear, but I can say this:
At least half of the programmers were born before 1966, myself included, which would make us post-Boomer.
I would guess that most of the contributing members of KDHX are over 30. Again, that’s hard to say for sure. I do know the station is attempting to reach out to younger audiences; all of the forces you mention–internet, iPods, satellite radio–are challenges. The station is working on drawing on those forces, rather than succumbing to them.

by: Jim Haygood

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:28:39 +0000

Roy, what can you tell me about the demographics of KDHX listeners? The deejays at our community radio station (in NYC) are primarily Boomers; my impression is that the bulk of listeners are also. Last weekend, we attended a house concert by a talented, thirtyish folk singer, whom you’ve probably played on your show. Except for two college-age couples, the audience was entirely Boomers, along with a few seniors. Maybe that derives from the genre?

I wonder whether, during the dismal Clear Channel/Infinity era of braindead radio, followed by the rise of the internet, MP3 downloading, and satellite radio, the under-30 generation tuned out permanently from broadcast radio. I mentioned KDHX to my son at Wash U. and he said he’d heard of it. But he did a little bit of late-night deejaying at the campus radio station, and would be more aware than the average student of what’s on the broadcast dial.

What’s your take?