College radio. Does Fairfield University’s radio presence stray too far from this commonly accepted archetype so often seen in movies and at universities like Emerson, Harvard and Brown?
Will Ferrell had a radio show in “Old School” and the little fat kid who refused to shower had one in “Wet Hot American Summer.” People listened and it looked like they were having a great time.
Central staffers like Steve Sennett, the station manager, and Chuck Christy, the program manager, acknowledge the fact that students are, as a whole, apathetic and unenthusiastic with regards to what WVOF is broadcasting on its FM airwaves.
“Our listeners are very limited on campus,” Sennett said while sitting in the BCC in front of the studio. As we sat, four or five students sat nearby listening to their iPods. Meanwhile, there was perfectly good music coming from the speakers nearby, right above the WVOF door.
True, the answer may be as simple as that: students don’t need the radio for the most part.
Technological advances such as the MP3 player, the laptop and even the walkman have made musical independence easily available to anyone with $50 and a couple double A’s.
Rich Falcone ’08 agrees.
“With things like iTunes students listen to what they want when they want to, instead of listening to something unexpected on the radio,” he said.
If the WVOF central staff can help it, this year will reel in more on-campus listeners, or it will at least reel in a little more notoriety.
DJ Halo, a community member at the station, offered an interesting perspective during his show “Subways and Sidewalks” late Tuesday night.
“People won’t listen just because they go to Fairfield; it’s the DJ’s own responsibility to promote their own show,” he said.
While they realize they cannot easily make the station’s ratings rise, the central staffers are planning for a shift of focus toward higher quality music, events and web material, as well as enhancing relationships with clubs like the Ham Channel and The Mirror, as well as students.
Last year, their main focus was on-campus concerts and it basically ended there. Those concerts brought performers to the student body that were unrecognizable at best and below the popular mainstream radar that most students exclusively abide by.
Sennett acknowledges that it will always be difficult to get people to go to these shows but with help from his new advisor, Dave Grazynski, he plans to improve planning and attendance for this year and those to follow.
Tonight is the first in a series of “Levee Revival” events headed up by the radio station. The plan is to bring some life back to the Levee and back to the station’s events.
While working closely with the Levee, WVOF will broadcast live from tonight’s concert/events and give away prizes in a trivia question-and-answer format.
In an effort to “fun you up,” Sennett pledges to wear the WVOF Gorilla costume for a solid week if attendance at tonight’s event, or any future events, surpasses the venue’s capacity.
Look for upcoming shows broadcasted live from Las Vetas, Chef’s Table and of course more from the Levee and other on-campus events.
According to Grazynski, the staff is fully aware of the full amount of hours in a week, because that’s exactly how many hours are available on their web-broadcasting schedule.
While sitting with Grazynski in the web studio room he said, “This is such an un-tapped resource on campus right now. We’re probably the only ones to be in here for the next 3 days.” This is another goal of the station; to help the number of shows on the web to grow and to help the number of listeners to grow.
Literally nobody has signed up to broadcast a show on the web, because for some reason it is less attractive than FM.
Grazynski cleared up this misconception by insisting that there is a much greater capacity for listeners on the web. The FM shows reach as far as the middle of Bridgeport, and that’s when the sunspots don’t interfere. The web shows, on the other hand, get regular hits from places like Hong Kong and Australia.
“It’s an obvious contrast between who regularly uses radios in their dorms and who regularly use computers,” said Grazynski.
Grazynski worked at WEBE 108 last year and is currently bringing his experience from there to the station.
“We have equipment that commercial stations like WEBE would kill for,” he said in reference to their control boards, their new online podcasting option and their advanced computer network.
Sometimes people won’t show up or they’ll come in late or they will have an empty time slot. It is then that they turn on “Nice Cast,” which connects their electronic music library to the airwaves. It is constantly updated with new music sent in by record companies sometimes a month before its release date.
Podcasting offers students the ability to download 15-minute pre-recorded news, music shows, celebrity interviews and public affairs. Downloading is free and located in the station’s website.
There is realistic hope in the central staff that the new media major offered on campus will draw students to the radio station and help add to its growing diversity and quality.
In a statement submitted by Sennett about this year’s WVOF improvements and future Levee events, he said, “It’s about time that students realize there’s a fun place to hang out on campus and that there’s some great music in the air that their FM receivers can easily pick up on.”
Sennett went on to say, “Let’s have some on-campus unity in the name of music.”
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