Terry Green Blogs About KUSP

135 Comments »

1. Ralph Carney said,

   July 30, 2008 @ 4:19 pm

   Your announcement about substituting news for mid-day music is received with great sadness. The ONE thing that distinguished KUSP from all other public radio stations was the amount of time devoted to eclectic music and the caliber of the hosts-Johnny Simmons, Rob Mullin, Charlie Lange, Bonnie Jean, Louise, Bruce, et. al. Now you’ve become the same bland NPR station that can be heard anywhere on the dial. I, for one, will most certainly discontinue a 30-year habit of listening or supporting KUSP. It may be time for satellite radio.
   Ralph M. Carney

2. Leslie Sweeney said,

   July 31, 2008 @ 8:35 am

   My comment seems to have disappeared, so I am entering it again:

   I’m crying. It’s the saddest news I’ve heard in a long, long time.

   This was my comment yesterday, and it’s still my comment. I have a visceral reaction to this awful change for the worse.

3. Terry said,

   July 31, 2008 @ 9:44 am

   Thanks for posting your comment a second time, Leslie… I hit the wrong button yesterday when I was trying to approve your original comment, and I couldn’t figure out how to get it back…

4. Barbara Rose said,

   July 31, 2008 @ 9:45 am

   Hello Terry
   > Thank you for the thoughtful sharing of the details of this in depth process you,volunteers and Board Members have spent many hours and months researching and studying over the last few years. I have appreciated being part of the dynamics involved as you gauged listener needs and requests through numerous exploratory meetings, research projects and careful assessment of responses from donors.
   > You offer a commitment to move KUSP to it’s next level of media as the demographics change in our listening area and the tastes and needs for local information.
   > I appreciated and was relieved to be able to turn to KUSP during the recent fires in our area. Accurate, timely coverage of local as well as national news has been a request from those donors I have spoken with when I was a Board Member and reflects my own preference.
   > While you have had to personally lead discussions with your loyal staff and long time tireless devoted program volunteers, you made a very positive decision to maintain the high level of programming responsibilities which do require monitoring.Thank you for your courage and leadership in this area as well.
   > Thank you for your clear thinking during these critical economic fiscal times and your overall leadership.
   > I look forward to supporting your efforts in whatever way I can.
   > Sincerely
   > Barbara Rose

5. Tyrus Miller said,

   July 31, 2008 @ 10:15 am

   I think this is a well-founded move. I love the variety of music on KUSP, but primarily as a 7PM-midnight listener, whereas during the morning and afternoon I prefer the news and issue-oriented programming.

   I also think that it is crucial to ensure the long-term stability of the station, which I take it this change is meant to support. We can’t have further innovations in and arguments about programming on KUSP if KUSP isn’t around to keep playing with and arguing about. I don’t take the existence of an excellent public radio station for granted–so many have come and go in other parts of the country, whereas KUSP is holding on and maturing gracefully! So I hope the Monterey Bay community will find that this change is neither catastrophic nor damaging to the diversity of quality programming you offer, and will continue to support the station at least as actively and generously as before.

6. Joel Wilson said,

   July 31, 2008 @ 10:44 am

   Hi Terry,

   I really appreciate KUSP and have since I first became a supporter, 1975-76, somewhere in there. Public radio is really the ONLY decent source of expression available for the local community to interact with itself, to present events as they unfold in the community, and to allow for community input. KUSP has done an excellent job of being responsible to the community for all these years. I think KUSP remains responsible to the community, the most recent evidence being the fire news and updates.

   However, I am bummed out (like, seriously) to hear that more outside, away-from-here news programming is in the offing. ARGHHHH! NO, please!! There’s already way too much NPR. Every weekday at 3 p.m. the local excellent programmer is interrupted for News and Notes. I suppose it’s a decent program but I don’t want more news. I switch to KKUP or KZSC or the local “outlaw” station or start programming my own music.

   I feel fortunate that we have other public radio options; we are blessed with a wonderful variety of stations but KUSP is the original in our area and I’ve “grown up” with Johnny Simmons, Rob Mullen, and Charlie Lang, and am a long time listener to Cindy Odom, Louise Salazar, Robin Roberts, Nate Mackey, and all the blues boys and girls on Saturday afternoon (whoa! Ice Cube Slim is back!!). I want more of these folks’ programming!!

   Let’s not further erode the music programming, especially on the weekday afternoons.

   And, what’s happening with HD KUSP? The second signal is currently the same as the first. How about letting the music prevail on this second signal? Isn’t that the idea behind HD radio, a second signal to offer alternative programming?

   OK, I’ve got this off my chest. I’m listening to Talk of the Bay while I write this and am SO GLAD it’s presented on KUSP.

   Reduce NPR, it’s blah, blah, blah. Keep up the excellent. important local programming, especially MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC.

   Joel Wilson

7. Roberto Barahona said,

   July 31, 2008 @ 11:47 am

   My wife and I have been life-long supporters of Public Radio and since moving to the central Coast in the late 90s we have supported the local stations: KUSP and KAZU. While I identify closer with KUSP, especially for its classical and jazz programs, during the last few years, we have been switching off KUSP during the daytime music programs. Things are different since 9/11, there is more of an urgency to be better informed and to be aware of different opinions regarding the political, economic and social scenes in the US and abroad. We get ample coverage of that from KAZU’s daytime talk and news programs. However, once ATC starts in the early evening, we return to KUSP. I’m pleased to learn that KUSP is planning a second signal where some of the music programs now being postponed will be available. I strongly support the Board in this respect.

8. penny toni said,

   August 2, 2008 @ 9:10 am

   i have been trying to avoid Sirius radio, but now that KUSP has decided to go mostly blah-blah and has further cut music programming, I will vote with my wallet and buy satelite and of course, continue to support KKUP, the last community radio. What a disappointment to have yet another NPR clone.

9. Diane Rowe (Leadership Circle Member) said,

   August 2, 2008 @ 4:26 pm

   Hi, Terry,

   I was very surprised and disappointed to hear that “On the Pataphysical Farm” is being yanked off the air after 34 years. Since Saturday is one of my favorite days to listen to KUSP to a great variety of programing: Dr. Dawn, Geek Speak and my two most favorite shows: Continental Drift” and “On the Pataphysical Farm”, I’m wondering and will be very curious to hear what the new changes will sound like.

   I have to agree with Joel Wilson and hope that KUSP doesn’t become like KAZU. I also have been turning off the NPR babble and switching to KZSC. I think KUSP’s coverage of the local fires has been excellent and I’m glad to hear the locally produced “Talk of the Bay.” Unfortunately, I cannot always listen to “Talk of the Bay.”

   We all know that $$ is a big consideration, but I don’t see why we have to lose the musical programs to fit in more talk.

   Please, Terry and the rest of the Board, please don’t let KUSP become like what KAZU is now. The only show I tune into KAZU is to hear A Prairie Home Companion. However, I don’t even have to tune into KAZU for APHC, because I can listen online to Minnesota PR for the “live” broadcasts.

   Terry, you wrote: “Listeners reinforced the message that they value both news and music on their public radio stations, but attach more importance to the news and information that we provide.” I did fill out the survey, but I don’t remember being asked why broadcast news was important. Why are people so interested in the news? I may have become cynical in my old age (55+) but I get a feeling from those that I speak to that hearing news on the radio or TV makes them feel informed. I don’t believe we are more informed. I believe listening to the nationally syndicated babble only makes us a more passive citizenry.

   Over the decades, I have seen news become more and more like “entertainment.” It has become produced and manufactured in order to sell more advertising. It’s very rare to find mainstream news seeking out the truth. I haven’t discovered anyone out there reporting like the late Edward R. Murrow.

   In closing, good luck with the transition. I am hoping I will continue to be a proud supporter of KUSP. I will keep my fingers crossed, because I feel that history is being repeated here. I remember writing similar things when KAZU’s license was purchased by CSUMB. Many promises were made and broken.

   P.S. By the way, I did put my money where my mouth is. I pledged to keep Lee and Cindy’s show on the air.

10. Terry said,

    August 2, 2008 @ 5:11 pm

    Diane raises a number of good points.

    She mentions that she filled out a survey but not remembering being asked why broadcast news was more important. I mentioned in my original post that we’ve completed seven different large-scale listener surveys in the run-up to these changes, which looked at different aspects of our programming. The survey Diane participated in probably didn’t specifically probe that question, though other projects did.

    She asks “Why are people so interested in the news?” — a perfectly appropriate question, and maybe one that any blog readers who are especially interested in the news could respond to. Our listener studies were more geared to “what are you interested in (and how interested are you)” than the “why” question.

    Regarding specific programs and hosts (Diane mentions Leigh Hill and Cindy Odom), the board policy decision on Monday directed us (in a general sense) to cluster our strongest music programs into the time slots I mentioned at the top (evenings, and weekend afternoons). Now the staff and the programmers are negotiating and generally working out the details.

    This is pretty complicated, because we have to take into account volunteer programmer availability (in terms of what days and times people can come in for a radio show), “affinity” — as in, do adjacent shows complement each other, or clash — and an artistic/aesthetic component (as in, is this an example of programming that best expresses what KUSP needs to offer).

    I should point out that while we’re conscious of how much money different programs have raised during pledge drives, this is not nearly as big of a factor as are the different ways of trying to assess what kind of service to the audience is happening. If audience service is happening, the pledges will follow. But pledges are not how we measure audience service.

    Finally — and maybe most importantly — KUSP is making the transition from a single channel of over-the-air content to a multi-channel media organization that I think will eventually serve people as much or more through Internet-based listening. We are committed to making more opportunities for KUSP music on-line. I am positive that, sooner rather than later, there will be more music than ever, from more music program hosts, coming from KUSP and kusp.org — over-the-air and on-line.

11. John Babcock said,

    August 3, 2008 @ 11:34 am

    KUSP pioneered world music programing thirty years ago. It is a tradition that was unique to Santa Cruz and has been what makes KUSP stand out from the others. Down on the Pataphysical Farm and the Continental Drift is a part of that too. It is sad and stupid to lose this tradition. We need more music and less talk. It this present world of strife and war we need this diverse music to bring us together . We need that Rasta message from Jamaica, “NO MORE WAR” and where else can we here those beautiful African rhythms from the Vinyl Jungle aka Rhythm Afrique that are so inspiring. KUSP has introduced hundreds of thousands of listeners to the great music of the world. World music, regional musics from Nashville and Austin, Emmy Lou Harris some Bob Marley, Lucky Dube, a little Miles Davis, John Coltrane and definitely some Ralph Stanley and Otis Redding all belong on KUSP. Get the picture?

    My suggestion if you need more money is to stop buying programs and make your own. All it takes is a good CD Player and a music library which you already own.

12. Eileen Sundet said,

    August 5, 2008 @ 10:32 am

    I attended the decision making board meeting as one of only two ‘long time listener/supporters’. I heard about the meeting through a last minute email.
    I’ve supported the station financially for years, volunteered to answer phones at pledge drives but have never been ’surveyed’ or asked for my opinions.

    I am a certified radio junky….I listen all day long while working (and long ago hosted a talk radio program on another local station). KUSP was not always my first choice on the dial. I used to be a devoted KAZU listener/supporter till they took my pledge then turned the station into something completely different. A classic ‘bait and switch’ and I’ve never given them a dime since and only tune in for A Prairie Home Companion….
    I’m seeing this happening to KUSP now with turning to an ‘almost’ all news station. I can get news on demand anytime on the web, on 24/7 tv, on KAZU and many other sources, so why is KUSP following instead of leading in a unique direction?
    If its money, why weren’t all of us who really have given money not given top priority in our preferences instead of surveying a non-subscriber audience? If its us older folks pledging the real money then ‘follow the money’ and leave the other demographics to other stations.
    If the station is in deep financial trouble why is it making this committment to even more expensive NPR programming while dropping dozens of ‘free’ program hosts? Its backwards logic from my perspective. Just like our fed and state govts. its time to trim the budget not add more expense and overhead. KKUP manages to be on air for over 30 years without any paid staff so there is a local example of just the opposite ‘logic’….

    KUSP has a world class music library, knowledgeable and passionate programers and I’ve been exposed to music from all parts of the world and all kinds of genres thanks to those assets. That’s what makes this station so unique, but now its to be sacrificed for ????
    KUSP also has the tools and equipment to do live remote broadcasting but all it seems to get used for is a couple of classical and jazz events, why not more? I used to enjoy the “Celebration of the Muse” produced locally and re-broadcast. We have lots of groups coming to town that could use the exposure and with KUSP support and equipment it would make the station more dynamic to have more ‘live’ event programming, but instead I hear no mention of using these options, just more canned news I can find right next door on the dial already.
    When the fires happened, I tuned into KSCO because for once their obnoxious blabbermouths were shoved aside and they took wall-to-wall phone-ins which worked as a community switchboard and was very interesting to listen to instead of someone summarizing the situation. KUSP did not offer that same ‘live’ community interaction.

    Lastly, I see no accommodation in the new schedule for rock, swing, blues, folk, poetry, children’s programming, or live in-studio performances. That is a huge loss….and what about all the devoted listeners who have supported those programs for years? Why would any of us stick around and contribute when completely ignored?

    I feel like a dear friend is being horribly disfigured….with these changes.

    Eileen

13. Rafael DeSoto said,

    August 7, 2008 @ 2:23 pm

    Dear Terry,

    First, I appreciate this blog. It’s long overdue, but better late than never. Utilizing the Internet for social networking is really the future of non-commercial public media.

    May I ask why there is no mention of these large-scale programming changes on the air? Don’t listeners deserve to know about these changes without having to read articles, press-releases or click on an inconspicuous web link? If these changes are to occur in 3 weeks, is there a schedule that listeners can preview?

14. Dara Dunham said,

    August 7, 2008 @ 3:54 pm

    I am a long time supporter and delighted listener. The spectrum of quality shows day and evening and late night that have drawn me to supporting KUSP are being taken off the air. What an incalculable loss of professional, innovative, and creative programming. I was told that the programs and programmers that are being let go, need to think of the better good of the radio station and the community, not of themselves; and that their programs do not follow the new trends in what is considered professional radio. I have regarded the unique array of programs and programmers as bringing forth exceptional insight, listening pleasure, and joy to the community. Truly some things in life that are old are yet revealed over time to have an enduring value, like a fine wine, a work of art, a song, a poem, and even KUSP live and thus truly “real community” radio. Hope we can keep it. Thank you. Dara

15. Terry said,

    August 7, 2008 @ 4:03 pm

    (Note to readers: Rafael is a co-host of Rhythm Afrique, which now airs on KUSP Friday nights from 8 to 10 PM)

    I’d answer Rafael’s questions this way: We began on-air announcements about our programming shift this week; as we finalize the programs and times over the next few days the announcements will be more frequent and have more specifics. In the same vein, we changed the home page of the web site yesterday to put a link to this discussion at the top center of the page, and in the next few days we’ll revise that part of the page so people can get a more complete picture of our plans. The last question gets to the most complex part of our schedule update… after the KUSP Board of Directors voted to authorize the general direction of our program changes, the responsibility of working out all the details came back to our programming staff. Since so much KUSP programming was and will continue to be produced by volunteers, changes mean multi-way negotiations with literally dozens of people about what their future volunteer role will be. In most cases one volunteer programmer’s choices affect other program hosts. This process of negotiation and decision (while all these people are also doing their regular jobs at the same time), eventually leading to a final schedule, is taking more days to finish than our programming staff had hoped. Once we have general agreement (and I devoutly hope that will happen soon), we’ll share the schedule with everyone.

16. Rose Royce said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 6:49 pm

    I don’t listen to radio to hear people talk.

17. Alan Hilton said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 9:09 pm

    I am very disappointed to find out about the changes to your programming. I recently discovered I could get your station over here in Gilroy. The African music program on Friday nights is fantastic. It will be a sad sad loss when it and the other music programs go away.

    Too bad you have decided to go the NPR clone route. You have a pretty good thing going there as it is. It seems to me like you are blowing it big time. Good thing I did not get too attached to your station yet.

18. Ramy Colfer said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 9:22 pm

    Dear Terry,

    I have been a fond listener to Rhythm Afrique for a many years (back to the Vinyl Jungle days). I really look forward to it each Friday night (just ask my daughters). This type of music programing is truly unique and cannot be found on commercial radio including satellite radio. I think the DJing by hosts Rafael DeSoto and Mikey Kanner is really great. I am a big fan of Roots, Rock, Reggae also but wish it were on earlier. My Friday nights will be more somber without these excellent shows.

    Shows like these make KUSP truly special and will continue to receive my support.

    Please, please don’t give us another KAZU or KQED – we can only handle so much NPR.

    Sincerely,

    Ramy

19. Warren said,

    August 9, 2008 @ 9:41 am

    This is TERRIBLE news for me!!! I so look forward to your musical programming. ESPECIALLY Friday night African and Reggae shows. Best Reggae programming anywhere. I also have been a big fan of the Blues and Soul shows on Friday and Saturday afternoons.

    We are bombarded with talk and news shows. Blah, blah, blah…..

    KUSP has been a musical oasis for me. Sounds like it is coming to a sad end….

20. Warren said,

    August 9, 2008 @ 9:45 am

    PS. I NEVER listen to KUSP talk shows!

    Not ever.

21. Greg & Kathryn Hill said,

    August 9, 2008 @ 10:29 am

    Dear KUSP
    Our family has been a supporter of KUSP for the last dozen years, and thoroughly enjoy the current programming. Public radio is one of the few vehicles that I trust to receive accurate local and global information- and I am somewhat surprised at the rather clumsy and confusing method that information that has been issued regarding the proposed changes.

    My financial support for KAZU ended when they became a generic NPR feed. I am sure the majority of their listeners, if polled, would not rank the gospel show they had early Sunday mornings very highly- but it served a portion of that audience that now has no voice. And I grew to appreciate it.

    I never had an appreciation for african music prior to Rythim Afrique- and now I do (or did?). Doodlin’ on monday nights did the same for that form of jazz…

    I can now get news 24/7 from my phone- not to mention the internet, and your competitor across the bay.

    This community has a rare and valuable heritage of musical resources and I have seen our KAZU record collection (that had to have special construction to support!) This is valuable and should be exploited, not the other way around.

    It saddens me to see how your attempts to improve programming has divided us- your supporters. Had we known with better information that changes were being considered we could have voted with our verbal and financial support for the specific programming we appreciated the most. I am not sure what I was listenting to when I called in my pledge last time. I certainly will do so in the future- if i vote with my dollars at all.

    You have flunked Marketing 101- thanks for ‘listening’

    Regards,
    Greg & Kathryn Hill

22. Randy Chapin said,

    August 9, 2008 @ 2:55 pm

    Well here is another voice for MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC. I am thoroughly bummed by the belief that we are going to miss the Saturday morning programming. I have been listening and supporting KUSP financially since 1976 but with a move to talk radio, I am finished. The only time I now listen to KAZU is to listen to Garrison Keillor on Saturday evening whereas I listened to many of their music shows before. I don’t listen to radio to hear talk, I want music. I have loved the 32 years I have listened to and supported Lee and Cindy on Saturday mornings. This is like loosing a friend. Thank god for KKUP.

23. Sylvia Winsby said,

    August 9, 2008 @ 6:47 pm

    I find it interesting that KUSP embarked on these changes AFTER your major fund drive last fall. I don’t recall any mention of considering such major changes to programing last year. News during the am and pm commute times is plenty- and in fact, it’s often a replay of the same am stories in the pm! Your listening audience is intelligient enough to tune in at the time the news is broadcast in order to hear it. As a financial supporter and musician, I’m sorry to hear that you’re cutting music programming during the day- really, did you need to cut ALL of it?! For example, Live at Lunch was a valuable forum for musicians and for the public to hear who was going to perform here locally. I thought KUSP supported the arts, and artisits/musicians- Also, friday night’s fun music programming after the work week was so perfect- we work hard and need our enjoyment/relaxation too! Your changes seem too extreme for local public radio- Have you considered how this may effect your listener contributions this year??

24. Terry said,

    August 9, 2008 @ 7:00 pm

    Sylvia raises an important point about timing. KUSP goes on the air to raise money from listeners twice a year, once in the spring (March or early April) and once in the fall (October). The two drives raise about the same amount of money. Early September is still time enough before our fall fund-raiser to give listeners a chance to fairly assess our changes in programming. Making programming changes immediately after a pledge drive is clearly unfair to the listeners — and early September is about as far “after” any on-air fund-raiser as the calendar permits.

25. rober jones said,

    August 10, 2008 @ 9:52 am

    Hi Terry
    I heard that there was a bit of a fuss going on about the coming schedule changes. Judging from the feedback on this blog I’d say that more community involvement in the decision making process might have lessened the amount of saddness and frustration being voiced. What are your yardsticks for measuring if the future changes are a success? And if they aren’t, what process will you use to implement programing changes in the future? I’m certainly interested in listening to the new schedule and am withholding judgement for now. If the programing is insightful and interesting a la Amy Goodman then I will be delighted. If however it it the droll and pedestrian thin gruel of NPStarbucks you will have lost yet another listener. Good Luck, Bob Jones

26. Bella said,

    August 10, 2008 @ 11:07 am

    I’m sorry to hear of the changes as I just found out that my favorite rock and roll show on friday night is going. My husband and I love to share “Our” music with our grandkids. The psychedelic shows are especially fun for us. I want to say thanks to the DJ who played a request for the long version of Love, Peace and Happiness by the Chambers Brothers, you never hear that on the radio.

27. Rachel said,

    August 10, 2008 @ 1:32 pm

    Hi, Terry,

    I think the current proposal is a mistake. You write that recent fires underscored the need for information. I don’t see, from my discussion with JD, and room in there
    for public affairs and news during the day that is local. Removing talk of the bay and assuming we will have time to produce features for free (which take five to ten times longer to produce) goes backwards in terms of coverage of local issues or news. I don’t see you cutting any staff. That would be the way to save money without eviscerating the local programming. I was told I was not given a slot because I required staff time to book guests. Nobody asked me if I would continue doing a show and book my own guests.
    This is a shoddy way to treat people who have volunteered for years. I had to ask JD what was up before I found out the answer that Robert Pollie and Rick Kleffel had gotten shows on the weekend, but not Deanna nor I. We are (were) the last two who are doing local information programming. Does this make sense?
    Other stations with smaller budgets have figured out how to run a volunteer news and public affairs department. Why can’t KUSP? It’s not rocket science. There are many qualified people (and it takes many to pull it off) who could do this. If my students at Cabrillo can produce a ten minute newscast in one class period, you’d think KUSP could figure out how to do that.

    I’m very disappointed at the choice to run a KALW show and remove local news and public affairs from the schedule. This is short sighted and goes against the KUSP mission statement. That your press release would spin this as a better service to local information is ironic at best. Having the guts to cut paid staff instead of no=cost volunteers is what was needed. There are too many people on staff for the budget. Just reassigning them will not save money. I am surprised the board went along with this, as it seems to do nothing on cutting costs, in fact it looks to add costs.

    Sorry to say, desperation, not creativity, has driven this schedule change, and it lacks local content, something KUSP has long had over KAZU. Now that’s gone, most people will choose the better of the NPR stations.

    I hope to hear back from you about how you plan to fit local news into the schedule, as it’s not evident from the email.

    Sincerely, and with sadness,

    Rachel Goodman

28. bob said,

    August 10, 2008 @ 4:05 pm

    I am an internet listener and I work at home. I have appreciated the music shows that I can listen to while working. I don’t get my news from you because I can read it online. This seems like a very big change from your posting.

    I’m sad about that. The change I would make is to switch your classical and jazz programming as I think jazz is more appropriate earlier in the evening and classical is what I want when I’m winding down.

    I did donate money during your last on air request and I did so because someone talked about playing records on the air and I was SURE that didn’t happen anymore. I wonder if I was right.

29. Michael Beattie said,

    August 10, 2008 @ 10:53 pm

    I started volunteering at KUSP in 1984, and later worked for several years at the station in an era that seems so far away I can hardly remember it! And yet, these struggles were as alive and passionate then as they are now: local music versus NPR. At the time I supported more NPR from the small roots that were sprouting then,as a vehicle to broadcast an independent local voice in a town dominated by the Evil Empire of the Sentinel- times have changed!
    These days with so much information available online it seems odd to me that KUSP would head further and deeper down the rabbit hole of corporate mainstream news.I found myself disenchanted with NPR when their bosses in Washington decided to chase hourly (repetitive) news “updates” and not pursue investigative reporting in a manner nver attempted by any mainstream outlet..Those were the choices they mulled and Karl Cassell won the debate. A poor choice of how to spend my subscriber dollars I thought.And time has reinforced that opinion.
    I happily live in Key West, a town with a great deal of appeal to me but lacking any attempt at non commercial community radio and depend on Sirius which I find a tolerable substitute.
    When I was on the Board at KUSP in the 90s, both I and my wife Layne Goldman argued strenuously in favor of the purchase of a separate frequency (1560AM in Aptos was begging for a buyer) to shove NPR onto and increase the music on FM. The idea was too radical and when KAZU became available the same argument fell on deaf ears as the plan was considered to be not in the best interests of the programmers in Pacific Grove (!!). I should have been happy to see KUSP own 90.3 for NPR and 88.9 and sundry translators remaining ‘Pataphysical. Oh well.
    I don’t see a bright future when KUSP’s persistently weaker FM signal tries to go head-to-head with KAZU’s stronger signal.
    I am grateful to KUSP for an extraordinary time of development in my young life and, invidiously I am afraid, feel that my years there were lucky enough to have been in KUSP’s heyday. I hope they return in whatever format and wish the disappearing pain-in-the-ass volunteers well from the Southernmost City.
    Cheers
    Michael Beattie

30. Mike said,

    August 11, 2008 @ 1:50 pm

    KUSP’s reigning monarch Czar Terry and his host of Merry Yes-People seemed bound and determined to follow KAZU’s ever-so-enlightened lead straight off the cliff into a yawning abyss of repetitive and ever-so-centrist corproate-underwritten NPR noise.

    Oh, the Czar will mouth all kinds of platitudes about “doing what the sheeple want” after “scientifically discerning the peoples’ HUNGER FOR INFORMATION in this oh-so-scary 9/11 world.” Bland blather will ooze from His Palace on Eighth Avenue about “finding a place for our valuable programmers” but we know the “place” will be somewhere else. His Czar-ness will allege that the “process was open and democratic” but hundreds of loyal subscriber-members and volunteers KNOW THEY were never asked, Czar Terry’s equivocal statements notwithstanding.

    Besides, His Czar-ness is giving us a BLOG! A Real Special Blog Just for Little US, the Listeners so that we might know what is being done for us BEFORE it is done! That is so enlightened! Now we NOW he is a a real cross-platform kinda Station Czar. We should put down our Lattes and get down on our knees!

    Music? Who the Hell has time to listen to music anymore! We are TOO BUSY being scared and trying to “feel secure and informed.”

    We are steps away from a world where no matter how we move our FM dial to the left of 92, it’s all NPR ALL THE TIME. Damned if I don’t feel secure now!!!

    Thanks Czar Terry. Thanks Bored Board of Directeds. You have shown Leadership — now lets head for the cliff, “Informed and Secure 24/7â„¢”.

31. Terry said,

    August 11, 2008 @ 4:19 pm

    Rachel Anne Goodman’s comment above is important, especially since she is a long-serving and acclaimed KUSP contributor (at various times she’s been an employee, a contract worker, and a volunteer). She raises some points about specific working relationships with named volunteers that I just don’t think I can speak to in a public forum such as this. Even at a public radio station, not every evaluation, negotiation or discussion involving personnel is something that can go into the public domain.

    I’ll be writing a longer post for the blog shortly which will have more to say about some of the scheduling decisions that have been arrived at since the Board of Directors meeting on July 29, which was when this thread began, and I think that will help readers understand some of the points Rachel brings up.

    All of the people on KUSP’s staff that are responsible for programming decisions feel that we could have done a better job in the past several weeks with the complex, multi-party communications and discussions that led up to the proposal we submitted to our Board of Directors, and are part of the implementation stage that we’re in now. I extend my sincere apologies to Rachel and all our other volunteers who feel they’ve been treated badly. We are all trying to do better as we go forward.

    One final point: Though Rachel said that she didn’t see us cutting any staff, our present financial situation will, indeed, mean that our paid staff will have to be smaller. The Personnel Committee of the Board of Directors and I are in the process of determining how that will happen – probably through some combination of eliminating paid positions that are now vacant, early retirements, and layoffs. There are now eleven regular paid employees at KUSP, and about ten times as many volunteers.

32. Robin said,

    August 11, 2008 @ 6:01 pm

    KUSP is one of the FEW sources of African/Caribbean music that I can find on my radio dial. I will miss it indeed.

33. Scout said,

    August 11, 2008 @ 11:18 pm

    Terry,

    I applaud this move. Change takes guts and always get you flak, but change is what allows things to evolve. Given changing media consumption patterns and the full scale retreat that we’ve seen in press resources this change could have a positive impact on local news reporting. In fact, it might represent the only chance that we in Santa Cruz County have for additional non-commercial news and public information programming.

    While I support KUSP as an organization, I get most of my music from the internet through services like pandora, and find myself wanting more locally focused locally produced news, a service I’m not getting from KAZU, my current listening station of choice. While I lament the loss of some local music programming, this could make KUSP a more relevant and more consistent listening choice for me.

    Thanks!

34. Doug Huskey said,

    August 12, 2008 @ 8:12 am

    I am saddened by the proposed changes. It certainly seems like there are enough news, information and talk shows, but the eclectic world music that has been a tradition at KUSP since I first started listening in the early 80’s is a rare thing, even in these days of Internet radio.

    I listen primarily on the weekends, and after a week of input and work, look forward to the great world music shows, including Continental Drift, Pataphysical Farm, Blues and especially Jeff and Gypsy’s great program. I would like to see these great shows starting earlier on the weekend …. as it is I look elsewhere for music shows and have to remember to retune when these shows come on.

    Seems to me if there is a push to do more PBS feeds during the week, we should support more music on the weekend.

    I also agree with others, that if budget is the issue, why would we increase paid feeds and decrease volunteer programming as opposed to the opposite and reduction of paid staff going back to an highly volunteer effort.

    I am greatly saddened to see that choices over the air are disappearing over time. At least I can listen to the Internet feed, so I strongly support the idea of creating secondary feeds which focus entirely on the wonderful music that has been KUSP’s tradition.

35. Brigga Mosca said,

    August 12, 2008 @ 11:45 am

    In this time and place nothing is as it used to be. Whatever the subject, I guarantee you that times have changed – whether economically, environmentally, socially, politically and now physically we are altering our earth’s atmosphere and landscape. While times always change it is my belief that all has escalated to an unprecedented degree and time frame.

    Those of us who have been dedicated to longstanding careers have to struggle just to keep our heads above water. My own experience, having labored in the fields of marketing, advertising and public relations for 29 years, is no different. At this point in my career I should be the sage on the mountain, revered and sought out for my wisdom and learned opinions. But, I am not. This sounds terribly negative, but I believe it to be the truth. There is little reverence for solid, heartfelt endeavors. At least not with the masses – which can be devastating in the media business. We must work harder and harder and smarter and smarter.
    KUSP has been caught in this conundrum along with so many others.

    At every level, if one has a good idea you will be copied in 5 minutes and quite possibly by numerous competitors. Competition is fierce and cutthroat, again like I’ve never seen it before. This fact does nothing to help budgets in a shrinking economy. All it does is ensure that no one makes money and the only ones left standing at the end of the day are those that worked very hard to stay ahead of the pack. It ain’t easy when you’re competing against deep pockets and corporate media entities who really don’t even have to make money but simply want to ensure their share of market by putting everyone else out of business.

    Having said this, in order for KUSP to continue on – at any level – it must be fiscally responsible. Until a better idea comes forth to keep solvency intact, I urge the detractors to the recent changes KUSP has had to make, to support it in any way they can find in their hearts to do so. Listen to what you love – there will still be things to love about the station. This is not some corporate decision but rather a decision based on reality. We mustn’t be discouraged and lose faith because then “they” will have truly won the game

36. Martha Diehl said,

    August 12, 2008 @ 2:03 pm

    I understand the difficulties in visioning. However, I simply have to weigh in to share my own perspective one more time.

    I listen to the current morning news on KUSP between 7-9 (remember, it is the only FM radio station I can get in Garrapata Canyon, and the local internet purveyors can’t provide enough speed and stability for online listening). I listen only sporadically to Democracy Now, as I have to concentrate to work in the AM and don’t need more ideas right then. I return to selected Talk Of The Bay sessions, depending on what exactly they are, because they offer a unique take on local issues and concerns I cannot get ANYWHERE ELSE. I then resume regular listening for the MUSIC from 11-3.

    I am okay with the late afternoon and evening information shows, though I don’t listen to them all, but since my husband is not interested in either classical or jazz programming the only evenings we listen (and we do, very intentionally) are Friday (Mr. Earl & Cyn followed by world music!!!) and the weekends. We’ve been marking the beginning of the weekend with Mr. Earl for a very long time now, and if that goes I will truly miss it.

    In other words, the things I am really attached to, that are truly unique to KUSP (TOTB & the non-classical, non-jazz music shows), are pretty much the things you propose to delete.

    Now, as a Big Sur resident I did use KUSP as a source for fire information during the Basin Complex emergency. However I found the intermittent updates provided during regular programming perfectly adequate, especially when taken in conjunction with your excellent website – and indeed, used your links to the primary sources you assembled more than your consolidation of that info. And even as a manager, I cannot see how being prepared to do this when needed requires the other changes you intend.

    So, now that I understand your upcoming programming changes, I am left wondering what on earth to do. You are planning to shift KUSP significantly away from my personal needs and preferences, and I don’t have an equivalent alternative. And you are proposing to remove unique offerings for things I can find other places.

    Darn. Another quality of life loss. These are getting to be hard times, for sure.

37. Bob Fenster said,

    August 12, 2008 @ 3:22 pm

    Getting rid of your great music programs during the day? A terrible decision. You should have let the artists run the station. Bye-bye.

38. Martha Diehl said,

    August 12, 2008 @ 3:58 pm

    Did I REALLY just hear that:

    a) KUSP’s definition of “Public Service” does not apparently include introducing me to new music I haven’t already heard, including live performers in our area?

    And,

    b) that a major goal of this change is to increase “CONSISTENCY”? Huh? Since when is consistency a goal? And if it is, why isn’t keeping the same programming (which includes news updates at regular times) a better solution than ditching daytime music? Whatever happened to uniqueness as a goal?

    I work at CSUMB, and could certainly listen to KAZU. One of the reasons I don’t has been that KUSP offers me the option of music instead of only talk, and I cannot listen to talk and work at the same time. I guess that is no longer going to be the case though….

    Sigh.

    And late-night programming is not going to help me. I can’t remember the last time I was up 12-3AM.

39. Martha Diehl said,

    August 12, 2008 @ 4:00 pm

    And now I am “low brow” because I really enjoy all the kinds of music apparently not intellectually challenging enough for your target audience…Well, I guess insulting the listener is a unique tactic indeed….I guess I should be careful what I request, no?

40. Marianne Owens said,

    August 12, 2008 @ 4:15 pm

    I too vote for music with a live, interested DJ.
    It is personal and I learn and feel connected with it.
    News is available everywhere.
    I need and look for a personal connection…radio is so part of your living space. And I love it that way.
    I too dropped KAZU when they stopped their uniqueness and local connection.

41. Kim Sammet said,

    August 12, 2008 @ 4:33 pm

    There is something so precious about our community, and that is the ecclectic individuality of our people that coalesces into an important positive force in our world. It is the community of Santa Cruz’s responsibility to keep this individualism and alternative thinking alive in an ever increasing carbon copy world. It is the absolute duty of community radio stations, as well as all local media to reflect this and support all of us. I think your really hit upon this with the change in programming on the Open Road last year. A much needed musical break led by real people playing real music from our community and beyond. What a breath of fresh air. I subscribed for the first time last fall because I realized I listened to KUSP more and more throughout the whole day. Wake up to NPR news, on to Democracy Now!, Talk of the Bay and then a talk break to the most innovative music radio show I have heard since the old KSAN in SF went commercial in the late seventies. I listen to the Open Road EVERY DAY and am entertained and introduced to music I didn’t even know existed and that was certainly not being played on any other station. Then on to another great music show, different everyday, and returning to NPR programming at the end of the “work” day. It is a brilliant programming schedule and I feel that you are making a grave mistake switching to NEWS NEWS NEWS, leaving us to search for the music we crave on line. Humans need a break from all of this and after all, why is it we live in Santa Cruz? I loved the balanced offerings of music and news that KUSP airs, and as I am a recent convert from KZSC and KAZU and a new subscriber to KUSP, I am crushed by these decisions. I feel betrayed.

    I too am deeply grateful for your tireless efforts to keep our community informed throughout the day during all this summers fires. The beauty of this reporting, too, was that it came from local people organizing and volunteering in a time of great need. It is important to remember that we can all be informed and sustain our health by balancing the news and talk radio with a musical massage. News at the top of each hour is good and what follows should be diverse, alternative and most importantly reflect our amazing community.

    Kim Sammet

42. Amy said,

    August 12, 2008 @ 4:52 pm

    I was disappointed to learn that the changes in programming did not include having more variety of programming during the evening hours. How much classical music can Santa Cruz take? I love the music played during the day. I love Rhythym Afrique and the late night Jazz (although I wish it was played earlier.) It seems like people who want to hear more news could listen to KAZU. I’ll miss the old KUSP. Thank god for KZSC…

43. Mel and Denise Anderson said,

    August 12, 2008 @ 10:27 pm

    We applaud the program changes being contemplated for KUSP. We are much more interested in news and information and have gradually been drawn away from KUSP to KAZU for that reason. We want to support the community radio where we live and will be glad to return to KUSP with its new programming. Thanks to you and the Board for having the courage to make what is obviously a difficult decision.

44. Caleb Baskin said,

    August 13, 2008 @ 9:47 am

    Like many people on the Central Coast, I grew up with KUSP, but changes in the media landscape mean that KUSP has a real opportunity to caitlize on it position in the community as a trusted media resource.

    In a time when newspapers are cutting deep into their staffs and the internet has yet to fill in with hyper-local focused news for the Monterey Bay Area, our region needs more reporters, editors and contributors to cover the events of the day.

    While I understand the feelings that many are expressing in this comment thread, in an era of declining media resources, KUSP deserves credit for taking steps to ensure that the Central Coast stays informed, involved and engaged, while still retaining the best of it’s locally focused music service in genres that aren’t well represented down the dial like classical, jazz, world and latin music.

45. John Welch said,

    August 13, 2008 @ 11:59 am

    Dear KUSP Board and managers. I’m writing to chime in as another person who is deeply saddened by the proposed changes to KUSP, which I see as basically the loss of KUSP. I was a strong supporter of the ‘old’ KAZU and volunteered at their fundraising events. I supported them because they were a real community station, my main interest being Robin and JT’s show. Then KAZU hit financial trouble and the new management came up with many bogus ‘reasons’ why they were self destructing. Instead of being honest and saying “We have to go with canned stuff because we’re broke,” they put a bunch of salesperson “spin” on it. I lost all trust in them and switched my financial support and listening time to KUSP, which adopted JT and Robin’s show (The open road).

    As time went on, I became worried that KUSP was trying to be too ambitious. I expressed my opinion on the call-in shows that instead of wasting time and money with things like “HD radio” that no one really cares about, why not just stay relatively small and do a good job at it. You kept plugging HD radio over and over instead of just being a good community station. For example I can listen to KKUP way over here in Santa Cruz and they don’t seem to need to get ‘too big for their britches.’

    But even though I was worried, I was still very inspired by your station: I think Talk of the Bay is the best piece of community journalism ever done anywhere. And you were still other great stuff like “the Open Road”, the Pataphysical Farm, Live at Lunch, the Latin Quarter, Radio Caribe. But now you’re saying that all these shows are going – even Talk of the Bay!!! (please correct me if I’m wrong) It feels to me just like the death of KAZU, with euphemisms and spin, instead of just saying “we’re dying cuz we’re broke”. The sad part to me is that you wouldn’t have to die if you weren’t so ambitious: KKUP probably has 1/100 the budget you have and they do great community radio.

    I really do hope you’ll correct me if I’m wrong, because I very well might be, and I’d love to find out that KUSP isn’t really dying. If I’m not wrong, I’ll probably be moving my support to KKUP.

46. mrAlan said,

    August 13, 2008 @ 7:49 pm

    The current mixed talk/music format during the day is clearly very popular with folks subscribing to this BLOG but doesn`t seem to represent the view of the broader listening audience of ~33,000 people who regularly tune in.

    KUSP`s audience is continually shrinking during the daytime and holding it`s own during the morning and evening drive times. Whether this is because there`s a lack of audience for music or if the station is “stuck in a rut” so far as programming is concerned remains an open question. Certainly the programming needs to be refreshed!

    Consistancy of programming through the day is also important to keep the listeners tuned to 88.9……right now it`s different day-to-day.

    Financially the station doesn`t have the option to simply continue as is, faced with declining listenership and a tough local economy that hurts commercial underwriting revenue. The staff at KUSP are giving their best shot at developing some broadly-listenable programming in the day and keeping the varied music programming available at non-peak listening hours.

    The media world is changing and KUSP needs to adapt to a new environment.

47. Orin Hutchinson said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 7:05 am

    Note: mrAlan (previous comments) does not identify himself as a member of the KUSP Board Of Directors who’s decision this is. I don’t believe that his jazz program is on the list to “be refreshed”.

48. Chris Pentony said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 8:29 am

    Terry,

    As a long time listener, I think KUSP has a tradition of valued public service during emergencies, again demonstrated during the Indian and Basin Complex fires.

    What makes the service so valuable, is the time, knowledge and energy of the staff and volunteers. This is (in my mind) the major difference between KUSP and KAZU.

    I enjoy the variety of musical programs (no weekend projects would be completed without the Pataphysical Farm) and think the extent of the programming changes should be more incremental.

    How will you measure the results of the changes ?

    Regards,

    Chris

49. Susan Friedrichs said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 10:39 am

    Please reconsider the very bad decision to take music off the airways. You will not be serving your listening public by broadcasting NPR shows instead of community-delivered shows. WE DO NOT NEED ANOTHER KAZU.
    From a personal perspective: I listen to music at work during the day, rather, I listen to the OPEN ROAD, RED BEANS AND RICE, and afternoon music programs on KUSP. I cannot work and listen to talk, so I don’t listen to the NPR shows.
    At home, when I have choices, I randomly listen to KUSP music shows, but there I usually plug in CDs. By the way, many of those CDs were bought after hearing a piece of music on one of the many eclectic shows you produced.
    Again, please, DO NOT PUT NPR on 24/7. Bring Back the Music.

50. Margaret FitzSimmons said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 10:54 am

    I CANNOT BELIEVE that you are ending Talk of the Bay. I have learned so much from that series — about the region, our representatives, our concerns as a community… Every program has been of very high quality. And it has been radio with depth, allowing intelligent extended presentation and discussion of very significant issues. When your survey respondents told you that they wanted more news and local content — how could anyone have interpreted that as a justification to cut this outstanding program? I have listened to KUSP for fourteen years and been a regular member BECAUSE of this program and others like it. Please reconsider — or perhaps I will.

51. Nick said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 11:12 am

    Like many others, I am disappointed in this move. I will wait to see what it looks like, but more NPR and syndicated news and information is not what I look to public radio for. I listen to public radio for true alternative voices (which NPR is not) and local voices, both in information and in music. When KAZU changed in the NPR and non-local direction, they lost my financial support. This may well happen to my long standing support of KUSP. Thank goodness for KKUP and KZSC.

52. doug said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 11:20 am

    I am sorry if I am just missing it, but where exactly on the web site is the new schedule posted? If you look at programming, it just shows the current (old) schedule.

    I am very disappointed that we are losing such a great resource for local news. Even though I live in Paso Robles, you were always my favorite source for informative LOCAL information.

    As many others have said, NPR programming is all available online. If someone really wants it, they have many outlets. Please don’t make KUSP into a generic, boring station that dies because it has no real vitality left in it.

53. Nick said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 11:20 am

    An additional comment,
    The types of changes KUSP is contemplating seem aimed at attracting those with the most money. Classical music and traditional NPR news (which does not really challenge the status quo) tend to be more popular to those from the more well-to-do social classes. As usual, in this capitalist world, this leaves those with the least even less.

54. Randi Moyer said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 12:06 pm

    Dear Friends!

    I am a long time listener/contributer to KUSP, and am sad to hear the news about the changes. I am a big fan of “Talk of the Bay” and local programming. If I wanted to listen to NPR, I would go on the web and listen to podcasts of what I am interested in. I want Local shows and Local music programming. This is a further move towards generic culture and loss of local culture. Local businesses are disappearing (here comes Whole Foods! say goodbye to Staff and New Leaf!) and local programming is just another piece we are losing forever. Will we become just another small city? Keep it Weird!

55. Diane Crawford said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 12:09 pm

    Hello KUSP, i have been listening and supporting KUSP for a long time. i truly enjoyed the local programming–both the new and the music. Talk of he Bay is exactly what local radio should be doing. It was the only place I felt truly informed about local issues such as water, city and county government issues and local issues on the ballot. I enjoyed hearing local people like John Laird who now have state positions.

    What a delight it has been to listen to local music programs–people playing music for us because they love it and are informed about their particular area! It is fun to hear interviews and music with people who are performing in Santa Cuz County.

    I enjoy one Car Talk, but four, please no. i am sorry KUSP is letting so many people go–maybe the will appear on another station.

    What can the listener do to retain KUSP as it is today?

56. JahLovesYou said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 12:32 pm

    I can’t believe these changes! The African music program on Friday nights is da bomb! NPR is so white bread…. is this what Santa Cruz has become?

57. Tina Jemison said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 1:23 pm

    In reading this blog and listening to the comments on the radio regarding the transition in Kusp’s programming. I felt compelled to add my own thoughts on these changes.

    As a long time listener (since 1974) I have heard a lot of changes in kusp’s format. Most I have disagreed with. I joined the community advisory board for kusp after the last shake-up when the global village was removed from the weekday lineup and I was encouraged to put my mouth where my mind was.

    There were a number of people on the CAB who like myself where hugely disappointed to see what we for saw as the homogenization of our beloved radio station. Apparently people like myself are dinosaurs. The listening public has changed and the majority of people prefer to download their music from other sources and tune into the radio for news and information. I had hoped there would be enough of us ‘dinosaurs “ in Santa Cruz to make it viable to keep the community in community radio. Time will tell if once Santa Cruz realizes what it has lost a re-correction will occur.

    There were times I was bored to tears with Talk of the bay and times it was stellar.but it was always necessary for our community. Losing Live at Lunch is an absolute tragedy for our community as well as the singer-songwriter genre at large.

    However I have to take issue with the people who think this was a flippant
    decision by an oblivious staff. Head of the board Susan Goldstein and station manager
    Terry Green are taking a lot of flack for these changes. I personally have witnessed the torment both have gone through trying to make this work for the larger public. Anyone in upper management knows when you make decisions for fiscal reasons real people suffer.
    It has not been easy for them either.

    I am glad for the small victory of keeping the Jazz at night although losing Doodling lounge is an irreplaceable hole.
    The thought of more canned broadcasting makes me shudder but I will withhold my over all opinion until I hear what the new programming offers.

    Tina Jemison
    community advisory board member

58. Casey Protti said,

    August 14, 2008 @ 4:48 pm

    Bravo to KUSP for adapting to changing listener attitudes! As a recent Community Advisory Board member, I learned about the thorough and thougtful process KUSP went through to make this important decision. They did not take it lightly. I am concerned with the future of the station and holding the course is not an answer. I feel as though KUSP did a remarkable amount of research and asked for wide community feedback before making these changes. I believe that the changes are hard but necessary at this juncture in the station’s history.

    As a new mom, I try to fit in my news (local, national and international) as I drive around town doing errands at random times of the day. I find myself switching from KUSP to KAZU in the middle of the day because I need my shot of news. The problem is that I have to then make a conscious decision to swtich back to KUSP during the afternoon commute. We can’t rely on this to keep the station going. Now I will keep my dial tuned into KUSP at all times.

    I applaud KUSP’s courage and wish them well with the changes to come.

    Casey

59. Jack Nelson said,

    August 15, 2008 @ 5:04 pm

    I love my live community radio station! I’ve been a KUSP listener and subscriber since 1980. Over that much time, my life circumstances have shifted in phases and my listening options have shifted too. I’ve had low-key self-employment where I could listen freely and joyfully in the daytime, but also professional 8-to-5 work (plus family duties) where I could mainly grab a listen on weekends only. For some years in the 1980s I was the graphic design & production person for “The KUSP Review,” a bimonthly outreach publication which did much to bring KUSP awareness to the community. Yes, I’ve worked into the wee hours of the night to help KUSP go. In other years, I was too busy and distracted to even take care of subscribing.

    There is something magical about community radio! Key in that magic is the sense, while listening, that one is not only in synchrony with the live programmer and the programming, but in synchrony with other alive listeners right now in the local community. This is powerful medicine, the creation of feelings of local culture, community, and connection. (In contrast, a listener to a stored podcast is isolated in a more sterile listening environment, don’t you think?)

    Yes, individual programs do die. Yes, the legendary Captain McVouty no longer jazzes up the airwaves, the sweet Bamboo Teahouse is gone, Coast Ridge Ramble flies no more, Venas de America has ended, yet KUSP has always retained its community spirit and made good.

    After learning the other morning of more of the unusual scope of the planned shift away from certain shows with local programmers and local content, and the introduction of more canned fare, I went from an initial indignation to a sick sadness that crept in and messed up my focus on my serious work of the day. By evening, I realized that I was feeling a type of sorrow that I recognized: mourning.

    Maybe a year-plus ago, I filled out an online KUSP survey while renewing my subscription. I noted, with my weekdays lacking radio access, I’d like to see a little more evening and weekend public affairs programming, with Paul Couture’s Sunday evening “Another View” as a nice example. But cutting landmark shows like “Down on the Pataphysical Farm” and “Castle Cottage” to bring in redundant sessions of Car Talk and Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me (so I hear, can it be true), was not at all what I had in mind! I already disliked the previous weakening of weekend programming (in my opinion) with non-local shows like American Life and Car Talk.

    Strongly shifting away from music programming was not on my wish list, either. KUSP has introduced me to music genres I did not know existed and did not yet know I liked, brought to us by generous, gifted local personalities and thoughtful real people who have created fans where few before existed.

    To the big extent that the programming changes are driven by KUSP’s financial woes, I have not yet heard KUSP come to the community and ask for a time of extra special assistance, before cutting volunteer programmers who have been with the station for decades in some cases. I hear the remote KAZU model is not so great on making its budget, either, and ratings are not everything! These are economic lean times; that’s not the fault of KUSP’s community orientation. Times change, budgets must tighten, but that does not mean community radio must commit suicide. Please get back down from that ledge!

60. bunny said,

    August 15, 2008 @ 5:27 pm

    One thing is clear…there’s huge passion about KUSP from our community of folks affected by the proposed changes. I echo Lyle Troxell’s comments on TOTB yesterday when he said “…this is a tragedy…” Change is never easy…and almost always difficult and often painful. I’ve lived in this area for 9 years, and have been a KUSP listener, member and supporter for that entire time. I’ve been a public radio listener and supporter for my entire adult life. I value the sense of community and place that KUSP offers to its listeners. It’s why I agreed to serve on the KUSP board. The station underscores the value that I want in my radio station. Decisions for change aren’t taken lightly…and are NEVER easy. People get hurt. Things can always be done differently and/or better. And, the decisions often (as we’ve discovered) come with a lot of pain and controversy.
    However, what I know is that the time and careful thought that went in to making this decision took over two years. I’d like to clarify and perhaps shed some light for those who think this was in any way a random decision. Here are some of the facts that have brought us to this moment:
    –Over these past 2 years all of the Foundation members, Staff, Board members and public were welcome and encouraged to come to the Board meetings every month.
    –The research that was conducted was done first in early 2007 with several focus groups made up of listeners, and non-listeners, members and non-members.
    –The phone surveys were conducted over a period of 4 months in late 2007 and included random lists of members, non-members, lapsed members and voter registration lists from both Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. It was not possible to call every person in our listening reach. The survey (as all surveys do) took a representative sample from many aspects of our communities.
    –The entire Foundation (that’s volunteer programmers, volunteer station help, staff and board) met in May of this year, and voted to elect the new Board. The programming strategy was discussed in detail at this meeting.
    –Several (I think it was at least 4) open meetings were held in the 3 weeks following the Foundation meeting, where the general strategy plan was again discussed. There (of course) was disappointment, and some good ideas were put forward. And staff has worked overtime to put these ideas into action as part of the changes.

    KUSP is, has been…and will continue to be a community radio station. The decision to make the changes, as John Sandidge said on TOTB yesterday, was primarily a financial decision. We must FIRST get fiscally healthy. However, the decision to change the focus (particularly) of our daytime programming was based in large part on what we heard from many listeners over these past two years.
    During the early stages of these changes, we can develop/encourage our creative content from our volunteer programmers. The call-in program Rachel Anne Goodman referenced this morning as being from “San Francisco” is titled “Your Call” and is a partnership between KUSP and similar-sized station, KALW. (Not sure about their size, and they are owned by the SF School Board). We will have both editorial input into the program and there will be a regular number of programs that will focus on our communities. KALW will focus on the SF Bay Region and we’ll have stories and that focus on the Central Coast Communities

    I respect all of the Talk of the Bay hosts and ALL of the volunteers and volunteer programmers at KUSP. There’s no way the station could run without all of you…but I also ask everyone to take ownership for how you can help keep KUSP a strong and viable community resource. Please stay involved. Let’s all be committed to better communication and transparency and to speak up (before the 11th hour) and say, “What can I do to help?” In the best of all worlds, what I’d like to see is not an “us” and “them” situation, but a coming together of everyone, Staff, Volunteers, Board and Management to say…”Let’s listen to each other and work together to make this the best community station ever.”

61. John Welch said,

    August 16, 2008 @ 2:13 pm

    I think Jack Nelson hit the nail on the head with the statement: “one is not only in synchrony with the live programmer and the programming, but in synchrony with other alive listeners right now in the local community”. That is THE reason why I listen to the radio, and don’t see it surviving at KUSP with shows imported from KALW or more Car Talk. In the internet era, I don’t think there is any point in having radio that doesn’t give people that feeling of connection.
    I appreciate “bunny’s” comments about getting involved and not just complaining, but I think the communication from the station has been misleading. If the management had said 2 years ago “KUSP is going bankrupt, so we want the community to come help us figure out how to survive”, I think they would have gotten the kind of response bunny talks about. Instead, the communication was “Wowee, look, we have HD radio, isn’t it cool!” I think the management is getting flak because they marketed the changes as “we’re improving according to your requests”, so the listeners responded with “are you crazy?”

62. Kim LeBiavant said,

    August 16, 2008 @ 7:12 pm

    I LOVE SOUL SHACK!!! and Dr. Dawn too…
    Please don’t cut my favorite radio show!
    I really would feel a soul loss if you got rid of this show. There is no way I could find or afford to have such a great variety of funk and soul music. KEEP SOUL ALIVE ON KUSP.

    Lately I have been tuning away from radio stations w/ constant news and political commentary. Keep the music alive and balance out the airwaves for Santa Cruz! Thanks!

63. Kim LeBiavant said,

    August 16, 2008 @ 7:14 pm

    ohh, and the Geeks boys after Dr. Dawn are pretty interesting too. Liked your show today talking about the China Olympics and video editing, etc…

64. Wend said,

    August 16, 2008 @ 7:18 pm

    Please continue to entertain and amuse your members with the wonderful array of musical offerings on KUSP. As music on public radio stations has been steadily declining over the years I am saddened that you would continue with this trend. Keep us smiling and on our feet, programs like Soul Train are just the ticket.

65. Alex Brunette said,

    August 16, 2008 @ 7:25 pm

    My Saturday evening was just ruined by learning about the supposed demise of Soul Shack. I look forward to this show every week. To me, this music is one of humanity’s finest accomplishments. This is the anti-news. I f I didn’t hear so damn much of it, the news would make me like crying. The treasures living in the soul shack bring joy – and its fine pure joy of soul that we need a lot more of. You (whoever decided this) may think that you are somehow helping us by taking away real soul music but you are wrong, wrong, wrong.

    respectfully yours but reconsidering the size of my donation,
    Alex

66. Lara Birchler said,

    August 16, 2008 @ 7:58 pm

    The fact that Soul Shack is being cut is complete BS!!! Until my boyfriend turned me on to this program, I had never been a radio fan. For the first time in my life, I even called in to talk to the DJ and take notes on the rhythmic bliss I was so gratefully takin’ in. I cannot imagine that there are seriously enough folks out there who would choose to listen to the news on a Saturday night rather than tune into a haven like Soul Shack. Aren’t people finding plenty of that depressing information elsewhere?? What’s WRONG?? I cannot believe Soul Shack’s amazing, inspiring, and truly groovy gift to the community is being shoved off. This is a DAMN SHAME!
    Lara

67. Fallon said,

    August 16, 2008 @ 8:45 pm

    When I’m home or in my car, KUSP is usually on, so I find it illuminating that only now have I become aware of the extent of the proposed changes in programming commencing 9-1 (one more 1 would be more like it- an emergency or crisis). I heard part of TOTB and was taken by the volatile reaction to what was news to me, and had to agree with what I was hearing- why wasn’t this discussion airing when more people would hear it? Why is there no program schedule graphically and clearly showing the changes? Why is the link so hard to find to even get here or that I only heard about the changes a second time from a beloved programmer talking about his final shows? I think the answer is that the establishment of KUSP has done their work and is pushing this through, and really doesn’t want it open for debate or to get much resistance. I wouldn’t put so much stock in polls that don’t reflect what I’m hearing and reading. I bet all those polls wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny; they reached so few relative to the number of listeners and are probably not statistically significant. Bias is inherent. I believe if there were a survey taken now on the programming scheduled to start 9-1, the results would mirror what I’m hearing and reading, which is, don’t cut the heart out of KUSP and eliminate so many wonderful music programs. Anyone who would consider cutting Castle Cottage, really now, expletive omitted for civility.
    Who are these people who have to be plugged into news all day?
    PLEASE RECONSIDER PROGRAM CHANGES AND POLL THE ACTUAL CHANGES FOR REALITY ON WHAT YOUR LISTENERS WANT!

68. Alex Brunette said,

    August 16, 2008 @ 8:59 pm

    Maybe its a good thing that my earlier post disappeared (wrong button again?)- it gives me the opportunity to rethink my input. As I was saying, my saturday night was ruined upon learning of the soul shack’s imminent demise. I love the soul shack. I think it’s the best show on radio around here. Hearing the treasures kept alive in the soul shack makes me feel pure joy for being human. Hearing the latest, updated up to the minute list of world-wide atrocities should make me want to cry, but doesn’t even do that any more. If KUSP’s listening audience really wants to do away with the soul shack, then it is clear to me that they don’t know what’s good for them.

    respectfully yours and still reconsidering my contribution this year,

    Alex

69. Shawna Garritson said,

    August 16, 2008 @ 9:16 pm

    KUSP is like a dear friend; constant, relible, entertaining, familiar and so well loved. For more years than I can remember, KUSP programs have been a part of the rythm of my days. I especially love the music shows, which reflect the unique time and place I call home. Some might call these shows “eclectic,” but for me they are like a secret language communicating memories from my childhood and a cultural connection to people I love.
    Genial Johnny was a friend of my fathers growing up in 1950’s California. When he was a young man, I bet Johnny was impressed by my grandfather’s love of folk music, just as my father was influenced by Johnny’s family’s love of social justice. When I listen to his show, I hear an American history I feel proud of. I don’t think your national news shows are going to give me that feeling of having a thread woven across generations, connecting us all with hope, pain, joy, struggle and music.
    I LOVE Rachel Goodman’s show and was so saddened to read her comments here and to know that after years of her selfless devotion to listeners like me, who have never expressed our appreciation, she will no longer be enriching my days in immeasurable ways. Also, for a local station I support financially to treat her and others in this uncaring way makes me want to reconsider my pledge. Living in Big Sur, KUSP connects me to local culture, events and news, but please don’t use the excuse of our recent fires to further your incomprehensible (to me) agenda. And now, I have to go dance in the kitchen with my family on Saturday night to the sounds of the “Soul Shack” while we still can…….

70. Leo van Lier said,

    August 16, 2008 @ 9:47 pm

    You are replacing vibrant, different, innovative music programs (like the Saturday evening ones) with bland, uncritical and insipid “news” programs.

    Shame on you. You’re selling out.

    Sorry, but after many years of supporting KUSP I will now look for more creative, vibrant and non-conformist media to support.

    LvL

71. Steve Coulter said,

    August 17, 2008 @ 9:17 am

    KUSP has been and should be a community radio station. Wy else should I support it instead of KAZU of KQED? We are seeing a huge shift away from local control and toward canned NPR.
    Let’s just talk about weekdays. We are seeing the elimination of 15 hours a week of local programming presented by local residents with a stake in the community, and that is being replace with prerecorded NPR. Right now I can call my local radio station and talk to a real person on the air to request a song or comment on public affairs in my community. I am losing the ability to do that. What if I have a question about aerial spraying for the apple moth, of the new development proposed for the westside, or the increase of fires in the Santa Cruz mountains? I’m not going to hear about that on NPR. Talk of the Bay has been a tremendous resource for our community and it is being replaced by 4 minute sound bites interspersed in a national news show. There will be no more call-ins, unless I want to call Diane Ream in Washington or Your Call based in San Francisco. What if I want to hear a sample of a band who are appearing at Kuumbwa or actually hear them play live in the studio the day of their gig in town? What about the continued health of our local music venues and their loss of publicity from their local station. And I haven’t even begun to talk about similar changes on the weekends and in the evening. Let me just mention two, I cannot believe that you have decided to run an extra hour of
    Car Talk and are adding Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me twice on the weekend. Is that your idea of imaginative programming? If I did want to hear those shows they’re already on KAZU.
    We are seeing a major shift away from local news, public affairs, and music presented by local volunteer experts, toward canned NPR coming out of Washington, Boston, or wherever, which is already available at KAZU. You’ve been telling me for years in pledge drives that I should give money because this is a local community station that is different from anything else you will hear on the airwaves. I find it very distressing that we are losing this treasure of our community.

72. mario saviano said,

    August 17, 2008 @ 10:06 am

    I am outraged that KUSP is is switching from a largely musical/ news format to an almost total news format like KAZU. This will leave the Monterey peninsula with only one public and one commercial station that play diverse musical programing along with news and public affairs. There was a time when we had four stations that one could choose from but now that is all gone. Terry, I suggest that you and the board of Directors take a road trip across America and listen to the radio stations, including the public ones, that are outside of our area. You won’t like what you hear. Many people I have spoken to from outside of the peninsula agree that our area has a unique blend of programing that is the envy of many listeners. I joined KUSP because of the Saturday blues programming and came to enjoy many of the other music and news programs available throughout the week. I feel that the changes you envision are a done deal in in the mind’s of the Board of Directors, so with that I will now switch my support to the last station left, KZSC, and will continue listening and supporting the commercial station KPIG. Goodbye

73. Celia Brown said,

    August 17, 2008 @ 12:31 pm

    I’m not going to spend a bunch of time repeating what’s already been said — but I’m sure going to miss the music. The nature of my work does not allow me to listen to big blocks of radio during the day but I tune in constantly for short periods of time and your music has kept me going in this community for over 35 years. I listened mostly to KAZU until they went NPR, and when there is talk radio on KUSP I tune into KZSC, KKUP and KPIG. The last thing is need is to listen to a bunch of people’s opinions (it’s pretty obvious when “News and Notes” is in short supply of material) and a rehashing of news events.

    I do appreciate the emergency news, morning news, “Fresh Air” and the Sat. and Sunday morning talk radio but at a certain point I need to get poetic, lyric, and/or nonverbal and be part of the global web of soul cleansing music humans can share with each other no matter what language we speak. Music has proven to be effective in reducing pain and it’s long been known to have mood enhancement effects — KUSP should be providing MORE.

    I DO know that you’ve worked very long and hard on evaluating these changes and I wish for the best for KUSP although it sounds as though I may not be tuning in as much, or donating as much, as I used to.

74. Julie Reiner said,

    August 17, 2008 @ 5:28 pm

    For the 32 years I have lived in the area, I’ve been a regular listener of
    KUSP. In 1979 I became a member. The wide range of music from
    around the world which KUSP has consistently offered the listener over
    the decades has served to broaden my appreciation of all kinds of music
    in ways that would not have been otherwise possible. My feeling was that
    KUSP was a haven I could always depend upon to escape to when I wanted
    to treat myself to some REAL music, as opposed to the typical, run-of-the-
    mill commercial crud dished up by most radio stations in the U.S. Then
    when KAZU switched to its all-new format many years ago, my thought was,
    “At least we still have KUSP’s unique programming to broaden our musical horizons and to accompany us during our daily errands and activities.”
    Alas, no longer, if I understand it correctly. My favorite programs, Tanganyika Strut and Two Steps from the Blues, are being cancelled, and the programmers
    of two of my other favorite programs, Jeff Grubb and Gypsy Flores, are being
    shifted to a different time, from what I have been told. (I realize that Nate
    Mackey has family obligations and it has been getting increasingly difficult
    to keep up the commitment to his program on KUSP, but still, it would
    have been nice to offer him a bit more flexibility.) KUSP has been very
    fortunate to have such musically-aware, educated, intelligent, and dedicated programmers, with the ability to satisfy listeners with the most eclectic musical tastes. The community has been blessed indeed to have these talented people
    spinning the records, tapes and CDs all these long years for us all. The irony, to me, is that they work on a volunteer basis, so the argument about its not being profitable to the station to air so much music does not wash. Another treasured Santa Cruz institution has gone the way of the dodo bird.

    You state in your blog that
    a survey was taken of listeners’ feelings about the proposed changes.
    I never received such a survey; perhaps I did not contribute enough money
    to qualify to receive it, despite my 29-year old track record. I just want to
    state that if I wanted to listen to the news or any other NPR program, I could just
    change the station to KAZU. KUSP will now have nothing to distinguish it
    from that station, except for the Democracy Now! airing (I’m assuming you’re
    keeping that), and a few local programs, such as Dr. Dawn, Talk of
    the Bay, etc. So unless and until I hear about some major changes back to
    the old format, more music programs, and the wide array of musical types
    and styles,
    you can be sure I will not be renewing my membership when the time comes.

    I would like to bet there are LOTS of others who feel as I do, but they may not
    be inclined to write, for the same reason that most people do not write letters to the editor.
    Respectfully (and with a broken heart),
    Julie Reiner

75. Chris Kenney said,

    August 18, 2008 @ 4:55 am

    I don’t know a single person amongst my friends that are in support of the new changes to the programming at KUSP. I am disappointed at the decision to remove most of my favorite programs, which is why I tune in daily. I rotate my subscriptions between KAZU, KKUP, and KZSC and a few others that I get over the internet. Now I am completely disinclined to support KUSP financiall since it will become a clone of NPR radio stations that we already have. The loss of the radio station’s unique and local programming saddens me as along time radiophile and local listener. I would have preferred the removal of station manager and board of directors in favor of others who would maintain the programming that we now have and create better ways to make the station financially viable. What an absolute shame.

76. Diane Dutton said,

    August 18, 2008 @ 8:04 am

    Hey Terry,
    ARE YOU GETTING IT? That our community doesn’t want the canned program changes that are being proposed For KUSP!
    We want to have a place where an exchange of local voices, opinions, concerns, music and events can be heard. As we move into a more uncertain future, KUSP will have an important role and be of real service to our community.
    Before changes are made, create a STAY LOCAL FUNDRAISER. Let people know how much money is needed to help strengthen the station and keep the programs we love, and PEOPLE, we can make this happen.
    Let’s do it!

77. Fallon said,

    August 18, 2008 @ 1:50 pm

    Since my first submission here last Saturday night, after listening to the Soul Shack, it seems the majority of comments have been against the changes, not one for them. Stop pretending this is a democratic decision.
    I too will have to end my financial support, which hurts, in my heart; and thanks for the suggestions from other listeners, to try KZSC, KKUP and KPIG.
    Louise, I hope you and all the other programmers who’s work I love will continue to find an outlet I can access, and be inspired by your soulful selections.

78. Fallon said,

    August 18, 2008 @ 4:21 pm

    I’d like to add that I find it ironic that in the drive for HD radio, we were asked what we’d like to do with double the amount of programming, like being able to program a whole new station. Who knew donations to that drive would be going to eliminate programming!!!
    Anyone for an old fashioned picket with press releases?

79. John Welch said,

    August 19, 2008 @ 12:13 pm

    I think that a radio station facing financial troubles could take one of two main strategies:
    1) They could assess how much money they get from their members and other sources and scale themselves down to operate within that budget, while trying to meet the needs of their long term community of listeners as much as possible.

    2) They could do market research to find out how to get more money from people that haven’t been part of the KUSP community of listeners. This would include surveys of the ‘demographic’ that tends to listen to public radio (educated, wealthy, etc).

    I’m deeply saddened that KUSP seems to have mostly chosen option 2. They ‘found out’ that ‘people out there’ like news, so they are making the impractical decision of recreating and competing with KAZU in order to try to increase their income. The saddest part is that by doing this they are abandoning the “community in community radio” (as they say in their pledge drives). Why not take a vote of the members between (1) going smaller and more volunteer while keeping the KUSP spirit alive, and (2) going after a new demographic that market research says will bring in more money.

80. mike said,

    August 19, 2008 @ 2:41 pm

    KPFA/Pacifica was plagued several years back by a similar effort of self-appointed “broadcast experts” who presumed to “take over” the station to “refresh it>’ (Hattip to the KUSP Director hiding behind anonymity above for reviving this VILE phrase.)
    Pacifica listeners took the radio station by the proverbal horns and wrestled it back from the hands of the arrogant self-appointed “Refreshers”.

    Pacifica Listeners (and volunteer staff) had it right! Its time for some Civil Disobedience People!. Would ten, or twenty, or one hundred LOYAL listeners be ready to STAND UP for their programmer? It is long past time for a DIRECT PHYSICAL CONFORNTATION BETWEEN “THE ARROGANT PRETENDERS” and the Listeners (whose contributions PAY THE PERTENDERS salaries, by theway), on the steps of KUSP, or in the street in front of the station. A simple Station Occupation so that Friday Night reggae, African Music, castle Cottage (GET THE KIDS!!!!), Soul Shack, Latin Quarter,or the whole host of VOLUNTEER NON-PAID PROGRAMMERS can get back to what they do best offers the best hope of saving KUSP from being castrated.

    Explain me this. Car Talk and all this aural pablum ain’t free people. All this canned crap has to be paid for (twice: once by KAZU and once by KUSP). KUSP is BUYING programming that is duplicated on KAZU, and CANNING volunteers, in order to SAVE money? Crazy thinking by arrogant people. Nothing else. I think it is time to say GOODBYE to Terry and his Yes-Sheep on the Board of Directors. Send them packing to Normal llinois where there “refreshing” might be better appreciated–”KBOR-FM, the Boring Spot on the Left of Your Dial”

    Would NPR have the “Genetalia” to REPORT a confrontation between listeners and a very out-of-touch management of an NPR affiliate? I doubt it.

    Will The Arrogant Pretenders allow this posting, and discussion of such a Direct Take-over and Occupation of the Station, on the Blog? We will see……….

81. Suzy Bombaci said,

    August 19, 2008 @ 4:55 pm

    I’ve listened to the station since 1974 and supported it financially for many of those years. Your local music programming, which utilizes the knowledge and specialized collections of volunteer DJs, has been the unique attraction. Thanks to this schedule of shows, I’ve learned to appreciate and enjoy an eclectic range of music. I listen to NPR only because it’s a bridge between the music programs, and I look forward to Friday and Saturday nights, with more music and less talk.

    I’m appalled and heartbroken at the proposed elimination of so many of my favorite shows. I’m in grief.

    NPR is a single voice that can be heard all over the country. It is a mistake to eliminate the uniqueness of KUSP’s local programming, with it’s many voices, for this single corporate entity.

    Your efforts to elicit input have been weighted towards the internet. Generic on-air invitations for public input, without making explicit the nature of the changes being contemplated, did not give a realistic assessment of your listener support for local programming.

    We’ve lost our local newspapers – - – Sentinel, Mercury, Herald – - – to a large corporate entity that could care less about our community. We have Fox, Disney, and NPR. We have the Balkanization of music with channel after channel aimed at one specific demographic of listener. Now this.

    I will be looking elsewhere for the music you are eliminating.

82. Dewayne Irons said,

    August 19, 2008 @ 6:55 pm

    More reruns of National Pentagon Radio ; how much more offensive and removed from the local scene can you get? Late night A.M. talk?
    I urge you not to scrap the late night local voluntary programers!
    You supposedly proprose a venue for local creativity. If there’s a problem w/ the scheduling use the existing rsources to fix it.

83. Stephen Zunes said,

    August 20, 2008 @ 9:46 am

    Though I am something of an NPR junkie and listen to your broadcasts of their news and public affairs programs regularly, I am still profoundly upset and disappointed of the plans to cancel all these great daytime music shows as well as “Talk of the Bay.”

    Indeed, I’d be much less inclined to renew my membership if you go through with this new proposed format.

    Please reconsider.

84. Catherine O'Kelly said,

    August 20, 2008 @ 10:29 am

    I hope you have a whole herd of protesters at Monday’s meeting [8/25]. I know I’ll be there! It’s just unbelievable that you would proceed with the changes knowing how your audience feels. All one has to do is move the radio dial one notch over to get constanct NPR programming. KUSP is unique! And KAZU used to be so–I loved to get up on Saturday morning and turn on the music from the 30’s and 40’s, or listen to New Dimensions and Alan Watts late at night. I listen only to commercial-free radio and TV, and will just have to drag out my old LP records to hear the music I love. I can still get Alan Watts on KKUP, which I have to say, is my favorite radio station nowadays. Enough with the talking heads, we can only take so much “news.” What the world needs now is LOVE and MUSIC.

85. Deanna said,

    August 20, 2008 @ 11:20 am

    I am hearing and reading lots of comments from listeners who will miss the music shows on weekdays. I’d like to register my own view, which is different. I have always thought the daytime music shows on KUSP were weak. After Democracy Now and Talk of the Bay (I thought the latter was pretty decent), I switch my radio to the BBC. I don’t like call-in shows much either, so BBC World Have Your Say held little appeal for me as well, but I preferred it to the daytime music on KUSP.

    The evening and weekend music programs are a different story, in my view. Nate Mackey’s show is a masterpiece, and Soul Shack and Wonderland are astonishingly artful shows: to give those up would be insane. The classical programming in the early evening on KUSP is also exceptional for its inclusion of modern works and also early music, rather than the constant stream of Vivaldi that most Public Radio stations rely on to cater to the bland middle. The fact that many of the classical shows broadcast events that take place in the Bay Area is also important. The night time jazz on KUSP is really wonderful, and I hope we don’t lose it for the sake of something more generic. I’m not a night owl, so I can’t comment on the really late night shows, but I intuit that this is where off-beat and interesting things might be heard, from young programmers who are really devoted to a particular kind of music. I hope that space will still be available for edgier shows.

    Among the local talk and news shows I think are really valuable, I would number Ask Dr. Dawn and Castle Cottage (though I don’t much listen to the latter). The poetry show is dull, but I would like very much to hear the kind of programming I sometimes hear on KQED, where someone reads a radio play or a gripping piece of prose fiction.

    I’m willing to go with your analysis regarding the local news and how to weave it into national programming. All of those short programs you list as “Other Regular Features” on your program schedule are wonderful and informative, important additions to our information stream (except for “First Person Singular”). I hope you can keep those.

    But I already listen to and appreciate much of your broader based and national programming. I love to hear the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on another area station as well as Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Radio Lab, and other shows you might add. News and Notes is a disappointment, as is the Latino show broadcast by KQED. I sympathize with listeners who are concerned that KUSP will lose its local flavor. I hope they are wrong. I’m interested to see what the new programming will sound like and how it will fit into my day of listening.

86. Pat said,

    August 20, 2008 @ 12:51 pm

    I am saddest that the idea of merging with KAZU was nixed by the KAZU board. We could have had a wonderful mix of music and news had KUSP and KAZU been able to work together instead of these difficult new changes.

    I support your efforts to keep KUSP thriving in this difficult environment and hope that KUSP continues to be able to serve its many audiences.

    Will the Soul Shack and other R&B programming be continued? It’s one of my favorites.

87. josh said,

    August 20, 2008 @ 1:34 pm

    I listen to NPR all the time on various different stations, but there was only one radio station that had Talk of the Bay!

    Please do not remove this program.

    I have been a guest on a few different news shows that you all have had, discussing local issues. Rachel Goodman and the staff has always been very professional. The show allowed our community the opportunity to debate the issues that effect us. Yes, International news is very important too, but it does not replace local community building.

    We have so few outlets for quality reporting of local news. We all know how limited the Sentinel is, we lost Peter Koht at the Good Times, and now you want to take away local voices at KUSP too?

    Please reconsider.

88. Sabrina Eastwood said,

    August 20, 2008 @ 2:41 pm

    I am a long-time listener, supporter, and volunteer at KUSP. I have never been involved in the internal politics of the station.

    Of the local programming that I listen to, I am most impressed by the content and quality of Ask Dr. Dawn, Geek Speak, First Person Singular, and the mix of classical/contemporary/opera programming in the evenings. As many others have indicated, I too regularly hop over to KAZU. Sometimes for Wait, Wait…, for Writer’s Almanac, and for continuing news and talk during the day. I do not send financial support to KAZU, though I know that many people support both stations because they listen to both.

    Though I personally appreciate other people’s interest in the afternoon and weekend music offerings, I NEVER tune in. (Once in a while, I DO really enjoy Mr. erl on a Friday evening when I’m in the car…) During the afternoons, I head to other stations, listen to podcast shows, or tune out all together and hit iTunes or Pandora.

    I am pleased at indictions that some local programming will have a presence online — this will allow more people to listen at their convenience. This is a huge step forward in my view.

    I encourage people to continue to support KUSP, even if their favorite music program may be cancelled. There is still so much community in this station. In these crushing economic times, let’s support and nurture the local flavor we do have.

    Best of luck to all involved: volunteers, hosts, staff, board, management. The world is changing very quickly. Hang on, it’s a bumpy ride.

89. Vivienne said,

    August 20, 2008 @ 6:03 pm

    I love hearing music most of the daytime hours, and am so disappointed when I hear the same talkstuff on two local stations…please continue to offer local volunteer-led shows…I love Latin music, African music, world music, singer-songwriter music, and an occasional local politics/social issues talk show…hope you’re listening and adjust and stay as interesting and diverse as you used to be…Vivienne

90. Peterr Glynn (Boardmember) said,

    August 20, 2008 @ 6:58 pm

    Hi Terry,

    Last night, after yet another pair of KUSP meetings, I left the station too late to visit my favorite local grocery store. I walked into a [major chain grocery store] and I could feel my soul waiting outside the door. I struggled to find any sources of nourishment inside. I never found any. And the savings I thought I’d been rewarded were trounced by a computer error. Let the buyer beware.

    What you and the staff have put together does not give me the same soul-less feeling I was just trying to describe. I first viewed the initial version of the schedule with apprehension. I was not alone, as people are reflecting in some of these blog posts on during call-ins on air. While change is good, it can be daunting, and takes some time to work it through. You are doing great — while taking the time to work in some changes to the initial schedule — making the superhuman effort to make this change happen in the timeframe you were provided. Hats off to you.

    I thank you for the continued effort you put forth to do what we, the volunteers on the board of directors, have charged you to do. Save KUSP.

    You are ensuring my favorite local radio station remains open longer so I don’t have to settle for a poor substitute. And you have made sure KUSP will provide abundant nourishment to the community of listeners with this new schedule that contains quality national brands, regional fare, and as much local produce as we could fit in the cart. I can’t wait to see the new menu; chock-full of my favorite local hosts and programs and with some new things to chew on!

    Can you tell I finally sat down to read your blog instead of making dinner?

    Pete(r)

91. Don said,

    August 20, 2008 @ 8:34 pm

    Terry I can tell from the patient, reasoned, parental tone of your posts that you are humoring the community with this opportunity to vent our feelings, confident that things will calm down and you will of course move on. These comments have will no effect on what is already fait accompli, passed down from On High. Nonetheless, the community needs to vent. So all is well.

    The decision to reduce KUSP to the Uniculture is denying our community of a treasured source of real culture, one of the only surviving links to a time when music was a vital form of organic communication in our society. Even NPR was once a vital participant in this exchange. Not anymore. It’s not really anybody’s fault, it’s the way of our national machine which is determined to flatten everything to the lowest common business transaction. Money, money, money, money, money. KUSP is simply one more body laying itself down for the steamroller.

    Special note to Scout, who applauds your “guts.” Guess what… Pandora is also history as they have failed to properly configure themselves to produce money to the satisfaction of SoundExchange.

    http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080818-pandora-cant-make-money-may-pull-the-plug.html

    http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/18/web-radio-toast

    Check it out.

92. Don said,

    August 20, 2008 @ 8:36 pm

    What I will miss: Soul, Blues, African, and Reggae.

93. Sarah Rabkin said,

    August 21, 2008 @ 10:45 am

    I’ve been a KUSP listener and supporter since the early 1980s, when I moved to Santa Cruz. I tithe to the station regularly and (given my limited income) generously; I donate to the auction; for a brief time I did some volunteer news-and-public-affairs programming.

    What I love and value most about the station, besides access to Democracy Now!, is its uniquely local, community-based and community-building programming in both music and public affairs: Talk of the Bay, First Person Singular, Soul Shack, Castle Cottage, Down on the Pataphysical Farm, the Poetry Show, The Open Road, among others.

    The world is indeed changing fast. We’re facing scary, difficult times. In response, communities like ours need to become increasingly resilient, resourceful, and self-sustaining. Yes, we need good national and international reporting, free of corporate oversight, such as that provided by Amy Goodman and her staff. But equally, as a matter of survival as well as cultural enrichment, we need a station that can reflect the idiosyncrasies and respond to the needs of the local community.

    Apparently, it’s increasingly difficult for a publicly-supported station to make a local emphasis work financially. Nevertheless, this strikes me as the best and bravest course—one that, if the station can manage it, we will all be deeply glad for down the road. KUSP can be the heart of an active, creative community–or it can clone the other local stations now carrying lots of NPR and little else.

    So I want to echo the suggestions of the many bloggers who have suggested looking into viable ways of paring down the station’s costs, e.g. by eliminating some of the expensive remote programming. Rather than trying to cater to a wealthier demographic who might keep more cash rolling in, the station can then, I hope, continue to tap a much richer vein: the dedication, energy, and expertise of its local volunteer programmers.

    I lived for a short time in Oregon, where I listened to two well-established, apparently thriving non-commercial, listener-supported stations that managed to emphasize daytime local music and public-affairs programming alongside a sizable dose of NPR/PRI/BBC. Both seemed to be beloved as mainstays of their communities. I enjoyed KLCC’s local daytime music programming so much that I bought many a song and CD as a result of what I heard there; I still sometimes listen online while I work at home. Has the KUSP board studied such models for ideas about how our own station might thrive without sacrificing local focus?

    One last point: I believe it’s counterproductive and inaccurate–even insulting–to assert (as somebody did above) that the dozens of loyal KUSP listeners who have been registering passionate defenses of local programming here represent an insignificant minority. Why invite comments on this blog if you’re going to dismiss them as irrelevant? That’s the equivalent of a congressional representative saying, “Thanks for your letters on this issue, but I believe they do not represent the positions held by the majority of my constituents–although they haven’t written to comment.”

    The station’s heart is beating. I hope the Board will bring its ears closer and listen.

94. Lydia Blanchard said,

    August 21, 2008 @ 6:22 pm

    I don’t know Nathaniel Mackey, volunteer host of KUSP’s Sunday 3-5p. Tanganyika Strut music program, scheduled for deletion, but here is the UCSC literature dept website entry for this National Book Award author. Can you afford to deprive listeners of his taste, knowledge, judgment, and joy of choices?

    Nathaniel Mackey

    Home > Directory > Nathaniel Mackey

    Nathaniel Mackey
    Title: Professor
    Type: Faculty Member
    Office: Humanities 1 628
    Phone: (831) 459-2051 Office
    (831) 459-1924 Message
    Email: mackey@ucsc.edu

    Research Focus
    Twentieth-century American literature, Afro-American literature, creative writing.

    Courses Taught
    FALL 2008:
    LTCR 183 – Advanced Writing: Poetry
    LTEL 190A-01 – Individual Authors: William Carlos Williams
    WINTER 2009:
    No courses this quarter.
    SPRING 2009:
    No courses this quarter.

    FALL 2007:
    LTCR 183 – Advanced Writing: Poetry
    LTEL 280 – Topics in English Language Literatures: African American Experimental Writing
    WINTER 2008:
    LTEL 103I – The Harlem Renaissance
    SPRING 2008:
    LTEL 190D – New World Poetics

95. Mia Duquet said,

    August 21, 2008 @ 7:42 pm

    KUSP is one of the few radio stations left that I listen to because it Doesn’t have the news on all the time. I very much enjoy listening to music of differant regions of the world, and KUSP offers that. When there is a talk show that I’ll listen to its because its Local, not mass media. I stopped even tuning into kazu because that’s all they do-mass media. It’s heartbreaking, really heartbreaking to see that KUSP is seriosly thinking about losing quality local programming, like the Open Road, Latin Quater (which I’ve been listening to for years!), Talk of the Bay and my favorite world music/african show on Sunday afternoons. I hope there are other ways to make KUSP work thru financial difficulties. Please continue to give Santa Cruz a voice. Thank you, Mia

96. John said,

    August 21, 2008 @ 7:50 pm

    Just a note about the comment calling for a protest, just like Pacifica. Pacifica Radio is having continual financial problems and budgets are being slashed at all levels trying to keep it running (the Houston station is the only one in the group doing well, a couple of them are hemorraging $$ badly).

    So while protest may get the point across in the short tern, it doesn’t pay the bills. So rather than protesting, why not take all that energy and start soliciting people for $$ to get KUSP out of debt. Now THAT would show people something….

97. Pete said,

    August 21, 2008 @ 8:25 pm

    What does KUSP do best? Provide idiosyncratic music and unpredictable local talk. Both can be lousy, but both can also be spectacularly good. KUSP has, and has had, some really good interviewers and some extremely knowledgeable and creative DJs.

    What about KUSP is thoroughly mediocre? The NPR programming. Morning Edition and All Things Considered are almost tolerable at commute time, but they get awfully repetitious so I sometimes miss the start of Democracy Now (which I do like — it’s inconsistent but largely real). I enjoy Car Talk, but I never turn on especially to hear it, it’s just there. Play it twice, however, and the second time will become a guaranteed turn-off moment.

    The coming attractions just do not seem, well, attractive. Why on earth would I listen, at a time of your choosing, to a syndicated quiz show that I can hear at a time of my choosing on the web? Don’t you think you’ve got this whole evolution-of-technology thing bass ackwards?

    Syndicated programming is killing radio. Micro-niches are the way to go. You’ve got some. Why throw them away? Accentuate your strengths.

98. Grant said,

    August 22, 2008 @ 6:22 am

    Has KUSP tallied the responses to the proposed changes? How many for and how many against? With the call in shows it seemed to be virtually 100% against the overall changes. Can you publish the tally? and the 90+ comments listed here?
    It seems like that’s a VERY economical (and useful) survey of listeners.
    I hope you access the energy and creative resources of the KUSP listening community-
    which is obviously substantial here.

    Thank you.
    Grant Wilson

99. Peter Koht said,

    August 22, 2008 @ 10:37 am

    Josh,

    First off thank you. This is Peter Koht formerly off Good Times. Um, damn, you made my morning when I read that post, thanks.

    But one thing is being missed in this whole debate. KUSP is getting more local, non-commercial reporting that’s going to be integrated into the program schedule.

    That means more reporters on the ground immediately, and if things go ok, we’ll spend some time building capacity for a real legit operation. That’s been my goal as a board member for years, and that’s why we were talking to KAZU, cause local news is expensive. But its time that we do it, because more eyeballs on the problems make for a better Central Coast.

    Ok, thanks again

    pj

100. Joe Rigney said,

     August 22, 2008 @ 2:06 pm

     A new slogan for our local radio station (I didn’t make it up, someone said it on a call-in show)

     KUSP – Taking the community out of community radio

     You can rest assured that not only have you lost my ears, you have lost my money too. It would be one thing if you were adding more local news, but turning to canned radio from other stations and NPR is exactly the wrong direction for KUSP to take.

     R.I.P. KUSP… I’ll miss having you as a preset on my dial.

101. Susan Stuart said,

     August 22, 2008 @ 3:33 pm

     Terry Green and the KUSP Board,

     I am heartsick and baffled. Why, when we have KQED and KAZU programming constant news and talk from NPR do we who love and support KUSP (over so so many years) have to lose our identity, our great music programs to incessant babble and commentary? WHY? if we wanted that we would tune to 88.5 or 91.3.

     I wrote earlier when I first heard the whisperngs of “change”, but my message seems to have disappeared. I had no idea it would be so very drastic and take so much from us! The programing has gotten weaker, not stronger in the past few years. After being a member since the 1980s when I moved here, I stopped paying dues last year. I loved JT and Robin’s Open Road every morning, but you replaced them – often with lesser DJs and less interesting stufff – still better than news – at least it was music that was original and off the beaten track. And the DJs knew what they were talking about.

     Now you tell us we have to give up on Mondays the wonderful Latin / Caribbean music of Bret Taylor, Louise’s great Skylarkin show, Charlie Lange’s Friday Rocket Ride, Bruce Larson’s mixed bag on Weds. WHY??!! It made me literally catch my breath to tune in on Monday night for Doodlin Lounge to hear it altered to a weak mix of Kenny G. Jazz is jazz – what are you thinking!?

     I heard singers and music I couldn’t find anywhere else. And isn’t that, by the way, what KUSP has been reminding us on air during pledge drives for years?! And it’s true – we can’t find this eclectic, original music and the knowledgeable, well informed programers who introduce us to it anywhere else on the dial. People stream this station from all over the country because of that.

     I could go on and on, but my anger is growing and it doesn’t serve any purpose. PLEASE do not do this. PLEASE do not make us tune you out because the music isn’t there anymore. We will not go away. We will just stop pledging and listening and supporting the auction. We had such a fine radio station – one to be so proud of – and now you are making KUSP just one of those pal, boring, speak-heavy, tune-it-out, blah stations.

     Consider well Mr Terry Green and Board members. Consider well before you lose the station altogether.

     Sincerely, Susan Stuart

102. Chris B. said,

     August 22, 2008 @ 3:51 pm

     Daisy Hill Puppy Farm is the reason I became a member of KUSP, and its brilliant programming led me to discover the wonder of the rest of the Friday-Saturday midnight-5 AM slot. If DHPF goes away, so will the bulk of my support. When it returns, so will my contributions. In any case, I want to thank Zach Calden, Gary Shapiro, and Tom McCarter for the great enjoyment I have received from their programs. I hope KUSP will reverse this entire ill-conceived decision.

     One more thought: I am very impressed by the volume of sincere, thoughtful, and mostly non-ranting comments from so many KUSP supporters. It’s a shame to ignore this kind of level-headed, positive feedback.

103. Stephen Slade said,

     August 22, 2008 @ 4:30 pm

     I want to add a couple things as a former News Director at KUSP (1980-81), Development Director (98-02), and Board member (02-03). 1) Despite all the passion on this blog for local music shows, audience surveys and fundraising results always showed that the NPR audience was subsidizing the rest of the operation. 2) When KAZU went NPR that audience started heading to the “more NPR” station, resulting in a reduction in the subsidy. 3) The station has over the years refused to invest in local news, which is one thing that can’t be franchised and could have helped keep the news audience with KUSP instead of KAZU.

     I know the argument always was that the station couldn’t afford local news and I also know that it afforded it years ago when it had a much smaller staff. It’s a question of priorities. Now that the coffers are bare and the audience mostly gone, it will be much harder to do what could have been done a long time ago.

     I look forward to hearing local reporting on the NPR shows, which is where the audience is. When might we expect this to finally happen?

104. Jeff said,

     August 22, 2008 @ 4:35 pm

     I agree with the great, great majority of others who have posted to this blog. I am a 10-year member of KUSP, giving increasing amounts each year. I never subscribed to KAZU again after they switched formats. I think the announced changes are a DISASTER, and at this point I do not expect to renew my membership this fall. It is the hardest thing in the world to reconsider a decision that has been made after a long and painful process of deliberation, but sometimes it’s necessary. For proof, see George W. Bush and his decision to “stay the course” in Iraq. I beg the board not to implement these changes. Whatever surveys were done do not seem to have captured community sentiment, given that comments in this blog are running about 10 to 1 against the changes. I’m already sorely missing Doodlin, and if Rhythm Afrique and Tanganyika Strut also disappear there will be almost nothing left on KUSP I want to listen to. Besides introducing me to lots of musicians I hadn’t heard of before, the KUSP-based music shows also give a preview of acts that will be appearing in our area in concert. You’ll never get that from a national NPR show. I think talk radio has already helped destroy this country, why contribute to the ruination? SAVE THE MUSIC!!!

     Jeff

105. Nevin said,

     August 22, 2008 @ 9:45 pm

     Well, it’s (nearly) all been said, but as an ardent listener and most-of-the-time subscriber to KUSP since 1975, I feel as if an old friend has died. And I fear, too, for the future of this new thing that has taken her place. Like nearby cities locked into an ever more desperate pursuit of new funds, when new development was supposed to fill the public coffers with “free” tax money, I suspect that you will find yourselves locked into an expanding spiral of new income, new demands as your “new” listener base clamors for more, and ever more expensive, national programming. Your wonderful across-the-spectrum music and local affairs programs and the passionate, thoughtful volunteers who created and staffed them not only expanded our cultural horizons in unique ways; they did so at very little cost and great benefit to the entire community. That will certainly not be the case with your new roster.
     As many other responders here have said, we can find NPR and PRI programming anytime, at several other points on the dial. And I do (bland though it may be, it’s still vastly preferable to the din of shouted 10-second sound bites and still louder–and grossly manipulative–30-second ads on commercial news radio). But what reason do we have left to support specifically the “new” KUSP, rather than one of several other stations offering the same fare? I feel that we are watching just one more sad episode in the homogenization of America.
     Sadly,
     Nevin

106. Sylvia Patience said,

     August 23, 2008 @ 11:34 am

     I’m so disappointed about the schedule changes on KUSP. I first joined years ago because of the wonderful local programming, and have been a long-time supporter. I love Talk of the Bay, The Open Road, Beans and Cornbread, Castle Cottage, and many of the other day-time programs. I hope you will rethink these changes in order to keep the loyal local support for the station.

107. Kelly O'Brien said,

     August 23, 2008 @ 12:30 pm

     Hi, all!

     ————————-
     Some Thoughts….
     ————————-
     I’ve read carefully the well crafted and good ideas that have been passed around, and I believe that all – I mean EVERYONE involved – have the best intentions. I’m not selling anything here, not the new schedule, not the “old” KUSP… none of that.

     I’m just saying straight-up, how I feel about it, based on what I’ve learned, through what I’ve seen seen.

     Mourning the passing of KUSP’s format of is not an easy thing to get over. And, truth be told, I’m not a fan of the new line-up. Like you, I’ve lain awake at night, thinking about this, listening to our KUSP, wishing that things were different.

     But, that’s just me; and, overriding all that is my oath as a board member to ensure the fiscal viability of KUSP… an oath, by the way, that the Pataphysical Foundation ELECTED me to uphold.

     —————————————–
     Conceptual Common Ground
     —————————————–
     I have to ask, based on some of the contentious and accusatory commentaries, “Do we have conceptual common ground? Who are we talking about, when we talk about ‘community’ radio?”

     For me, personally, community radio is expressed, in part, by Jay Allison (of ‘This I Believe” and “Lost and Found Sound” fame).
     Here’s what he says:

     http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050721junnarkar/

     Jay’s concept of community radio is one that is not “me”-centric. It’s ‘about’ the community. It’s not about the “host” or the “DJ” or his/her music, or his/her program. It’s about the community speaking to the community, with the medium – KUSP in our case – as a vehicle.

     My impression is that the concept of “who is our community” is what is in contest; the “community” changes – obviously, far faster, right now, than many of us can keep up with – and the community votes, in the case of public radio, with its support of money. THAT we can keep up with… and if feedback in terms of gifts of money to support KUSP, is to be listened to, then the “community” we currently serve, cannot support KUSP as we currently exist.

     ————————————-
     Programming and Change
     ————————————-
     Just because a program has “been” on the air, doesn’t mean that it should “stay” on the air. To me what’s important is not “who” is on the air, but “what” is on the air.

     I, for one, am in favor of creating a “culture of change” perhaps by the creation of a Programming Committee – accountable to the Board of Directors – along the lines of KVMR (Grass Valley). Here are the goals of that committee, for 2006-07;

     1. Develop and communicate guidelines to improve broadcasters’ on-air sound, i.e. reducing verbal clutter, eliminating calls to action and self-promotion.
     2. Develop guidelines and training program for on-air interviews.
     3. Review and revise live remote broadcast procedures and guidelines.
     4. Develop criteria for pre-emption of regular programming.
     5. Create an information log for all interviews and live music in the studio.
     6. Create an improved procedure for auditioning recordings and submissions to Program Committee.
     7. Alter the culture of tenure in favor of a culture of excellence and opportunity: propose additional methods for opening opportunities for programming changes.
     8. Review and revise the Peer Evaluation process used in 2005-2006.
     9. Develop Program Committee priority questions for 2007 Listener’s Survey.
     10. Evaluate morning news length and positioning.
     11. Revive PC Awards to honor creativity and accomplishment in programming excellence.
     12. Encourage and promote continued diversity of music programming on KVMR and determine which musical genres are underserved or over served in KVMR’s schedule.

     ———————————————————————
     Where is the Money… and the Audience… Going?
     ———————————————————————
     There is no doubt that KUSP is in a highly-competitive media market. Financial support for regular, continuous, consistent listening is going to KAZU right now. And the sad, but true fact is, they don’t have to do a damned thing to get it, except rebroadcast NPR with some “local” garnish.

     When it comes to music, many of our listeners, and some of you, go to KPIG. Mapleton Communications now owns 51 radio stations. And they play music that, by their own definition, focuses their lineup on the markets they serve.

     http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/mapleton+communications

     —————————————————-
     Are they having fun? You bet they are:
     —————————————————-
     I underscore the following, not because I believe that we should be like KPIG; but, rather, to underscore what a vibrant and successful “marketing” strategy allows an organization to do:

     Four of their execs gave over $30,000 to the Democratic Party (none to Repubs, btw):

     http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=emp&employer=Mapleton+Communications

     They regularly provide assistance and offer events in the communities they serve:

     http://www.mapletoncomm.com/ (then click on “Community”)

     …. while we can barely afford to DRIVE the damned “sturgeon”.

     And their operating principles, called “The Mapleton Way,” sound a whole lot more appropriate to what we wish we were:

     10) Be innovative, be creative, be flexible
     9) Help build a better local community
     The truth is the best policy
     7) Fight complacency – past successes are not for resting on but for building upon
     6) Admit your mistakes and learn
     5) Be logical and explore all the options
     4) Believe in your abilities; if you think you can do it – you can do it
     3) Act with honesty and integrity or don’t act
     2) Treat others as you would like to be treated
     1) Customers come first… think of them and you will always win… your audience, advertisers and staff.

     Some of our underwriters – and former underwriters – do better with KPIG. Underwriting money goes where it gets the best return.

     —————————————————-
     So, all in all, what do we have here?
     —————————————————-
     We have a risk we are taking, in order to become financially stable. The product is rather unexciting, maybe not even palatable to some of our Foundation members, myself included. But, it is hoped – based on data carefully gather and assessed – that the new schedule may appeal to a broader range of audience that our current programming does and the expectation is that they will donate accordingly. We could be wrong. We KNOW what the alternative looks like. We’re LIVING it!

     But, just remember, board members, major donors and volunteer producers and programmers and Pataphysical Foundation members (board members are often at least 75% of those titles), that we’ve been discussing this for over two years, and, that many of us have worked long and hard, in addition to our board duties and financial support, to stand for a very, very tough decision.

     Neither we as the board, nor Terry Green, nor the staff, nor the volunteer programmers and producers, nor the Foundation members are the “enemy” here.

     If there’s an enemy, it’s the fact that we’re worse than “broke”… we’re in debt. We’ve maxxed out our credit card… we’ve gotten a sub-prime loan that’s come due.

     KUSP needs the equivalent of a “Day Job.”

     ————————————
     So, what about the future?
     ————————————
     In my humble opinion, none of this is worth a damn without a vision for the future that is better than anything we see now, either within KUSP or outside KUSP.

     My notion is that we are doing what is necessary just now, in order to keep on keeping on; and, what worries me is that we may NOT get through this change undamaged, and that we’ll be unfocused, and unable to create the future vision for KUSP and impaired in our ability to implement it, even if we agree on what that vision might be.

     By all accounts, we are failing to serve the broader Central Coast community in the manner they wish to be served (they’re telling us that not only by survey, but by withholding, or abandoning, funding of our “product”).

     If we DO serve our constituency well, we’ll have all the support we need and more.

     We’re going to need that financial support if we are going to create the kind of multimedia, internet-assisted, distribution entity, with MANY streams of music and information, reflecting the nuances of our listening community, and the talents of our volunteer music programmers.

     All the best to every one of our listeners and our Pata Foundation members. Please, don’t lose sight of, or your appetite for, the future of KUSP.

     And above all, “hit ‘em straight”…

     Kelly
     —————————————–
     Kelly Erin O’Brien
     Vice President, Board Of Directors
     Host, “Life in the Fast Lane”
     KUSP, Central Coast Public Radio, 88.9 FM
     Santa Cruz, Cailfornia 95062-4610
     (831) 658-0821
     (831) 658-0822 fax
     (650) 533-1010 mobile

     http://www.kusp.org/shows/fast.html
     —————————————–

108. John Welch said,

     August 23, 2008 @ 12:31 pm

     From reading the comments of some of the board members, it seems that the “competition” with KAZU is one of the major contributers to the upcoming loss of KUSP as we know it: ” the news crowd is jumping over to KAZU”. So why not just let them go? If the aim is to serve the community then there’s nothing to worry about – the ‘community’ has a great place to listen to all the synicated shows they can handle – (both KAZU and the Web). What the community will have much less of after this change is a place for local, live community interaction.
     In this world of money based decision making, “two Costcos are better than one” if they will bring in more money than ‘Saturn Cafes’ and ‘Bookshop SC’s’. The tragedy is that communities then lose their souls and characters.
     I wish the county could declare KUSP a ‘community treasure’ and not let them remodel without a permit.

     I don’t doubt that things would be hard financially if that happened, but I’m sure it could be done with the great committed KUSP volunteers and by not buying expensive syndicated programming.

     I agree with Grant – I think KUSP owes it to their contributing listeners to hold an election on this format change and post the results.

109. Richard Snow said,

     August 23, 2008 @ 2:43 pm

     Re: The Program Changes.
     This is very sad news. Probably a decision that will be regretted.
     This is unfortunate for 2 reasons:
     1) The loss of local news programming and music(esp. the in studio music)
     The importance of which, can’t be underestimated in this Age of ClearChannel
     and Studio One.
     2) Repacement with NPR news and programs:
     NPR= National Pentagon Radio AKA National Petroleum Radio
     NPR , with its pro war coverage( not very critical of U.S. Empire& imperialism)
     is part of the problem, not th the solution.

     I implore you to reconsider this unfortunate decision.

     Richard Snow

110. Brenden Aragon said,

     August 23, 2008 @ 3:26 pm

     I’m probably one of the only right wing conservatives (and given what people have posted, one of your youngest) that gives money to KUSP. I do it for the love of music. I can get lefty or righty news ANYWHERE AM~FM~XM~NET Radio~NPR.ORG. The music given to us via KUSP public radio is a truely wonderful gift. I’ve listened to every show and love way too many to mention.
     KUSP IS MUSIC. I remember as a 12 year old kid listening to an asian music show (Bamboo Tea Garden?) I’m not even sure if it was KUSP or KAZU but I fell in love with real music from that point on. How can that be replaced?
     NPR is as dry as toast and as readily available as Britney Spears. Is there much difference between NPR and “Today’s Hit Music Station” if you can wake up in any city in America and hear the same cookie cutter format?
     >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
     I often ask myself as a local business owner: Shouldn’t I underwrite or support my public radio? I don’t because NPR hates business, it’s money lost forever! How can KUSP truely get community support if you delibrately try to piss off half of the population?
     Come on people! News is what computers were made for.
     Music on the radio can be supported by everyone across the spectrum.
     AND WHO DOESN’T LOVE THE GREATEST RADIO AUCTION EVER MADE!!!!

     Brenden Aragon
     Omega Organic Seeds
     Salinas, California

111. Fallon said,

     August 23, 2008 @ 6:49 pm

     I appreciate Kelly’s informed and intelligent analysis of the situation. I learned some things. It sounds like we’re selling out, going after the money like whores, hoping to entice some old customers back. Otherwise, we’re only talking about a portion of any new listeners or market, because why would someone already getting their daytime NPR program from KAZU decide to tune to KUSP? More importantly, does KUSP really want to pander to what is most in demand or popular (read mediocre), rather than holding ground and taking a stand for personal and innovative programming?
     Anyone who’s really listened to the daytime and Friday- Saturday evening music programs wouldn’t call them weak. The music does connect us all, the programmer and the listeners. It takes me out of here and into there, community. Each request reflects others who didn’t call it in. Community members reflecting community tastes, now how is that not radio about our community?
     One more thing we should figure into the equation, there will be a little attrition from members so saddened by this loss of community connection that they cease support, subtracting from those allusive new listeners/contributors.

112. Roberta Troxell said,

     August 23, 2008 @ 7:50 pm

     Dear Terry,

     I have been a leadership circle member for many of years. This change is a difficult adjustment. I joined KUSP because, I really enjoyed Down on the Pataphysical Farm. The rest of the programing kept me loyal.

     I would have liked a more clear indication of the difficulties the station was experiencing, the estimated financial shortfall, at the last leadership circle dinner I attended in Monterey last fall.

     To my knowledge, the specific action (i.e,. additional contributions from existing members) that a listener would need to make, to keep the EXISTING program lineup and cover the costs of station operations, have not been stated.

     KUSP management should poll it’s existing contributors, to see if the existing members will have a chance to put up the cash needed to keep the great music on the air, that makes this station unique. (Since purchasing programs from the NPR feed, is expensive, the cost / benefit ratio of the proposed change from less expensive volunteer programming would need to be financially justified).

     I have always appreciated that this was a very unique station, and I had a (very) small part in keeping it going.

     If this change has been underway for the last was two years, I would have appreciated a clearer and to some extent a more detailed message to leadership circle members.
     I was surprised to say the least.

     Attending the board meeting in Santa Cruz, (for those of us in the outlying part of Carmel Valley like Board Member Kelly), an hour and a half plus each way, makes it difficult to participate.

     But we still need and enjoy KUSP….
     .
     I understand that none of the choices were made without much debate. I am not certain that those of us ,highly committed to KUSP’s ongoing success were included as much as needed.

     Sincerely,

     Roberta

113. LT said,

     August 23, 2008 @ 11:02 pm

     i can’t believe a santa cruz radio station would get all corporate.

     please keep soul shack!

     we listen to it every saturday night and dance with our toddler.

114. LT said,

     August 23, 2008 @ 11:23 pm

     this is also a major safety issue.

     local radio can inform people in an emergency. corporate radio can’t.

     we live in an earthquake zone. there have been major fires all around us.

115. Jeff Emery - Former Board Member & public radio programmer said,

     August 24, 2008 @ 12:19 am

     Hi all,

     As a long time KUSP supporter and listener, and a former board member at KUSP (2004-2005), I am not at all happy with what I see happening with these changes. Having been on the board, I understand some of the dynamics of what the station has been struggling with in a changing radio landscape in hard financial times. But I have a really hard time convincing myself that the proposed changes can really be in the best interest of the community or the station in the long run.

     From my view as a former board member I don’t necessarily see the plan to have mostly talk during the day being that bad. It would not be my personal choice, as I prefer to listen to more music than talk, but I understand the need to bring up the numbers of listeners during those weekday time slots. When I first heard of this direction I basically supported it but hoped the music programming would be strong and diverse in the evenings and weekends. But that isn’t the case.

     And if talk during the day is what is going to happen, it makes no sense at all to take OUT incredibly well thought out and informative weekday programs like Talk Of The Bay with Rachel, Deanna and John. Go for more day time talk if it is deemed necessary, but keep as much locally produced programming as possible, especially when the programmers are already there and working like crazy to make good radio.

     And if we must take away weekday music programming at least have the guts to put in a diverse set of programs with our great local hosts in the evenings and weekends. Forget jazz and classical every night. And doubling up of syndicated feeds on the weekend is ludicrous. Especially when the shows being repeated can be listened to on-line anytime and you are taking out shows with three decades of history and not replacing that musical genre anywhere else in the schedule (Down on the Pataphysical Farm for example). Taking out the only children’s show on the local airwaves is crazy too.

     In defense of the very monochromatic evening programming proposed for every weeknight I keep hearing about “consistency” being necessary for a larger audience. National surveys in the radio industry may indicate that keeping the same genre in the same time slot every day brings more listeners, but I ask you to consider the possibility that the audience here in the Monterey Bay area may not fit the bell curve of a national average. There is nothing particularly consistent about the eclectic mix of ideas and opinions of those living here. Maybe, just maybe, we listeners like having different kinds of music on different nights of the week and over different time slots and I certainly think we are smart enough to know what day of the week it is and when to tune in for a genre or show that we like. This “consistency” smacks of the sameness and the cursed homogeneity that is already taking the life out of American culture. I fought against it when I was on the board and I will always fight against it.

     It was the drive for “consistency” that ruined The Open Road for me. I communicate with a few of the programmers well enough to know that in the last year or so they were given the mandate to play certain CDs from the “hot box” every week on their show. This was not optional. This kind of management-forced play list control is what you expect of corporate radio, not locally programmed public radio. The listeners I talk to regularly all liked the Open Road better when the individual programmers had specific shows that didn’t all sound like each other every day of the week, but programming decisions have been pushing and pushing for the same sound every day of the week. OK, longer rant on “consistency” than intended….

     As a programmer of 13 years at KZSC I realize very clearly how public radio and the local music programs have a very important and direct impact on the quality and quantity of the arts in our community. I believe the main reason we have such an incredibly vibrant and diverse live music scene in proportion to our population is the fact that we have had very strong local public radio in the area. Our listeners know who these often lesser-known but very talented musicians are because of radio and will go out and support live music in the community. Losing the ability to have something like “Live at Lunch” or even the ability to showcase an upcoming performer in a genre other than jazz or classical on a KUSP music show is a severe negative impact on the arts in our community. I really believe the impact of only having a small handful of genres of music on KUSP will directly impact the vibrancy of arts in the community. The mandate for public radio is to serve the community and I think these proposed changes fail the community in a big way and actually go towards harming it. I truly fear for the health of live music artists and venues in our community, especially in less mainstream genres of music.

     I appreciate and support the plan of adding more music to webstreams and developing more cutting edge radio in that media, and that will certainly appeal to an audience that KUSP has been trying to reach and serve more. But some of us (ok, probably older folks) will probably never go there (the web) for music and look for what we can find on the live airwaves here in our community. Offering these alternatives of more music programming on virtual airwaves in the future just doesn’t make up for what is lost on live radio, with local programmers, from our community.

     Jeff Emery

116. Lloyd Jones said,

     August 24, 2008 @ 9:37 pm

     As a 35 year listener to KUSP, I have, for the first time, been required to sit down and think about how this station can stay ahead of the mainstream. Prior to now it’s been easy to enjoy the best creative juices in the area broadcast an evocative, informative, and provocative mix of music, news, and humor, with a professionalism that deserves a national footprint. Now however, the issue of money has put management into a dash for programming safety that has caused them to make decisions that may excise the remaining wealth of the KUSP family. That wealth is embodied in the greater community; it’s the intelligence quotient of all the listeners and programmers past and present through whom KUSP has remained at the cutting edge of the best.

     With the programming changes planned ,as I understand them, KUSP will lose its independent character and become much like the NPR affiliate of most college towns in the US, choosing among the limited variety of syndicated programming backed and blessed by industry.

     I suggest that KUSP reconsider its decisions in the following ways.
     1. Contemplate the elimination of NPR subscription and it’s costly burden, and redeploy a portion of that saved expense to local talent and debt reduction.
     2. Consider forms of delivering news that competes effectively with NPR that could meet the needs of listeners and provide a choice from Morning Edition and All Things Considered. For example, develop a team of editors and readers to pull news and commentary from internet sources (where the real news is coming from) such as Salon, Alternet, Sourcewatch, etc., and tell us what’s up in real time.
     3. Intersperse appropriate musical breaks within local spoken programming to keep listeners bicameral.
     4. Keep the best of existing local reporting. i.e. Talk of the Bay, and negotiate with other stations nationwide to trade editions worthy of syndication with the best of their programming.

     This note is meant to lubricate my mind as to what KUSP can do. There’s more to come. Management must call upon the wealth of the KUSP family to recreate the voice of the Monterey Bay. We are a talent bank. Let’s invest.

     Lloyd Jones
     Palo Colorado

     P.S. Bravo to Kelly’s comments.

117. disgusted said,

     August 24, 2008 @ 11:39 pm

     So sad to see (hear) another bastion of music crash down to blah-blah-blah…particularly as this isn’t likely to solve the all-too-real financial difficulties. If you’re doomed, dammit, go down with the ship (singing)!

     discordantly yours,
     sayonara

118. Lou Bartlett said,

     August 25, 2008 @ 7:38 am

     I came to the penninsula 5 years ago from LA and was surprised to find an NPR affiliate that seemed to be in a time warp, similar to KCRW, Santa Monica in the 70’s (a lot of KPFK transfers who only knew volunteer music and arts programs, the original Pacifica format).
     It all changed of course and KCRW became mostly public affairs during the work day.
     It was great to know there was still a station that had not made the change, even 30 years later.
     That said, I suspected this would happen sooner or later.
     Given that current public radio is hardly non-commercial anymore, ever here economic realities trump all else.
     Good luck!

119. Mark Conover said,

     August 25, 2008 @ 9:09 am

     Terry,

     First of all, a hearty thanks to you, the board and the staff and management who have put in an enormous effort in development of this new plan.

     As you can see from the above postings, it is almost unanimously disapproved of.

     Assembling the essence of the issues from comments above and your call in shows it appears that:

     1. KUSP is financially broke and getting broker; something has to change {K O’Brien above}
     2. NPR programming brings in more money than the “free” local music programs (S Slade above)
     3. Integration of iBiquity “HD” broadcasting ideally will allow KUSP to continue music in the future by using the new NPR income from the traditional FM broadcasting to support music on the new side-bands and internet. .

     If this is the case, it seems that it would be beneficial for you to clearly state as such. All of the whining about the loss of music could then be directed positively into creating (funding) ideas for keeping the music spinning.

     I am heartbroken that KUSP is following in the ugly footsteps of KAZU. At least you have given the programmers the opportunity to do their final shows.

     But rather than more whining, my suggestion is that you look more into lowering the operating expenses and income expectations. Use more “free” volunteers that specialize in the unique live music that is coming to the region. I am afraid that the standard corporate mentally of organizational growth is going to hasten the demise of our station. Adding more NPR with it’s Walmart and Exxon sponsors seems to be relinquishing more control of the radio station.

     Most of all I would like to express my appreciation for the many radio programmers who have volunteered at the station for several decades and turned many of us on to wonderful music which in turn has generated an audience for some of those artists to play live in our area.

120. LESLEY LATHROP said,

     August 25, 2008 @ 11:36 am

     TO UNDERSTAND HOW OUR COMMUNITY REALLY FEELS ABOUT THE PROGRAMMING ON KUSP, AND THE PROPOSED CHANGES AND AMENDED PROPOSED CHANGES, ONE HAS TO UNDERSTAND HOW PEOPLE VOTED, WHAT THEIR MOTIVATION WAS AND HOW THEY UNDERSTOOD THE CHOICES PRESENTED TO THEM AS A MAJOR DONOR I USED TO PUT MY DOLLARS ON NPR SHOWS THAT I FELT THAT KUSP HAD TO *PAY FOR*.. .. I FEARED IF THESE SHOWS WERE UNDERFUNDED, THEY WOULD BE DROPPED. OTHERS MAY PUT THEIR MONEY ON VOLUNTEER PRODUCED PROGRAMS THAT ARE THEIR FAVORITE. SOME FOLKS MAY HAVE PLEDGED DURING A TIME WHEN THEY COULD AND NOT WHEN THEIR FAVORITE PROGRAM WAS ON. WITH SO MANY FOLKS OBJECTING TO THE RADICAL REMOVAL OF MUSIC PROGRAMS PERHAPS A CLOSER LOOK AT WHY/HOW PEOPLE VOTE THEIR PREFERENCES ON SURVEYS, PHONE CALLS AND BLOGS, A MORE REALISTIC VISION OF WHAT CENTRAL COAST LISTENERS WANT TO HEAR ON KUSP CAN BE DETERMINED. IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT PEOPLE WANT “MORE TALK”; IS THAT AT THE EXPENSE OF LOCALLY PRODUCED MUSIC? IS THAT TALK WANTED TO BE MOSTLY LOCAL OR CANNED NPR. GIVEN THESE CHOICES, WHAT WILL OUR AUDIENCE VOTE FOR? IS IT NEWS THAT IS WANTED ALL DAY, IN DEPTH, OR 5 TO 10 MINUTE ON THE HOUR UPDATES FROM NPR? I DON’T KNOW THE QUESTIONS ASKED OF PEOPLE SO IT’S HARD TO GUESS AT THEIR REAL WISHES. HOW THE VOTES ARE UNDERSTOOD, THE CHOICES UNDERSTOOD THAT MOTIVATED THOSE VOTES, MAY HELP RESOLVE THE PROBLEMS WITH SCHEDULE FORMAT.

121. Judi G. said,

     August 25, 2008 @ 11:56 am

     I agree with many of the eloquent and well-informed posts above that the proposed changes will NOT serve our unique community. I’d show up for a protest! When KPIG’s new owners tried to change their format, listeners put up quite a fuss, with a happy outcome. As Jeff Emery writes, listeners are often introduced to new musicians or genres by adventurous and knowledgeable programmers; this in turn often results in our purchasing CDs (thus supporting our local record store) and attending live performances. To lose Charlie Lange’s “Soul Shack” would be AWFUL! As others have urged in this forum, please reconsider or you will alienate a lot of former supporters.

122. Brant said,

     August 25, 2008 @ 3:36 pm

     In response to LT’s concerns..

     At this point, the changes discussed do not compromise safety issues. There will still be public affairs staff and volunteers to deal with emergency issues and get timely information out to people when needed.

     This is not a case of Clear Channel radio (or K-LOVE radio for that matter) running a fully automated station controlled from Dallas.

123. Martha Gioia said,

     August 25, 2008 @ 4:20 pm

     As a 20 plus year listener to KUSP I am delighted by the changes in store. The people who have had esoteric music programs for years and years and years (get the point) can’t expect to hold on forever. Despite the reluctance of some listeners to realize that Santa Cruz county today is not the county of the 80s, I am relieved to see the board act on the results of the surveys rather than cave to a handful of people who don’t represent the majority of the Monterey Bay community. The competition for people’s attention is fierce. Music can be had just about anywhere but quality news that keeps a vibrant, intelligent community informed is not.

124. Andrew & Darcey Merriam said,

     August 25, 2008 @ 5:35 pm

     Dear Terry and fellow listeners,

     At 6 pm this evening (25 August) there is a Board Meeting at the KUSP studio building! All who can attend, please do so to voice our opinions.

     We are two devoted KUSP fans who are _aghast_ at the proposed changes to the station’s programming. Like many others, we have found ourselves wondering exactly whose opinions were canvassed, integrated, and presumably satisfied by the choice to increase nationally-syndicated talk programming in our precious radio space.

     We strongly feel that these programming changes will reduce both the number of subscribing listeners, and the loyalty of these listeners. We have supported KUSP for the past 4 years precisely because of its varied local and music programming. KUSP has always been “home base” on our radios. While it is always possible to find other sources of “news” should we feel the need, the local programming provided by KUSP is virtually unique.

     The changes are apparently due to financial considerations. Here again, we were unaware of the magnitude of the situation until too late. Didn’t we all band together to fund a new digital transmitter? Given the choice, we believe that loyal KUSP listeners would have rallied again to save the programming they love. No one will fight to save (yet another) news station which duplicates programming already provided by, e.g., KAZU. Don’t forget that KAZU is primarily underwritten by deep pockets at CSUMB, not listeners.

     We do not understand how the proposed changes will result in financial stability. Nor do we agree; these changes will drive away the base that has always supported KUSP. Other stations have retained their individuality: locally KKUP, and broadly, KFPA. We can too.

     Our real message is: IT’S NOT TOO LATE! As the man said, ‘come back off the ledge’! Put a financial plea out there, and see what happens. The alternative is heart-breaking.

125. penny toni said,

     August 26, 2008 @ 12:26 pm

     i want my money back.

126. Eileen said,

     August 27, 2008 @ 10:44 am

     In recent years KUSP has expanded it geographical footprint by adding repeaters and KBDH (?) and other technology to send the signal down the coast to San Luis Obispo and King City, Los Gatos and other outlying areas. It is my understanding that it cost a big pile of money to make those expansions…

     My simple question is : What is the return on this investment?

     Does KUSP in any way make enough revenue from listeners and sponsors in those areas to get anywhere near making these expansions pay for themselves ?

     OR is it us long time subscribers who are ’subsidizing’ sending the signal to remote areas? If the expansions were paid for with some kind of grant thats not at the expense of the KUSP budget thats one thing, but if not, how can this be justified?

     I know it sounds harsh to pull away a radio signal to those outlying areas but right now KUSP needs to make sound financial decisions and if there is not an adequate financial return for these costs then I think its imperitive that they be reconsidered and possibly sold off to help shore up the financial situation the station is in right now.
     Its not nice, not fun, but stricktly a financial decision that could help the station to find its solvency again. After all, there is no guarantee that if you live in a remote area you will have choices in hearing broadcast radio. On the other hand, a lot of folks who live in remote areas do use satalite feeds to get their internet access and they could still ‘tune in’ to http://www.KUSP.org so its not a total loss of KUSP.

     I think there are other methods to solve this financial problem that does not ‘kill’ the station us long time supporters have loved for decades..

     I hope the board will reconsider some of these expenses…

     Eileen

127. Brant said,

     August 27, 2008 @ 5:51 pm

     KUSP’s outside translators do not cost that much to operate and the equipment costs have long been amortized.

     Much of KBDH’s equipment was paid for by federal grants. While it probably isn’t breaking even, it’s operating expenses are likely a small portion of KUSP’s overall budget.

     People give to public radio and KUSP for many reasons. I, for one, give a good chunk of $$ to the station to HELP subsidize these outlying translators and repeaters because I believe that part of the mandate of a public radio station is to serve the Public, especially those that are under served. Is my support any less important than those that want to keep KUSP the way its been for decades?

128. Ben Harmon said,

     September 2, 2008 @ 1:11 pm

     I have seen lots of reasonable and intelligent explanations and rationalizations for making this change and I understand that you cannot do what you cannot pay for. Nonetheless, my motivation for listening to your station has come to an end. This is very unfortunate. KUSP was one of the last radio stations anywhere that I had an interest in listening to. I get my news from the Internet and NPR is everywhere. I can even get eclectic music from the Internet, and do. The one thing that KUSP had going for it that most of the other stations and the Internet do not were human beings in control of the playlists.

129. Eileen said,

     September 3, 2008 @ 10:29 am

     Yesterday afternoon I tuned into KUSP then clicked over to KAZU and the progamming was identical….only difference about a half second in timing.

     Would Safeway build another store across the street from an existing Safeway?

130. More sadness said,

     September 6, 2008 @ 10:02 am

     Bring back the Open Road! I listen to KUSP on-line to escape the drudgery of L.A. public radio and be reminded of the days when human DJs played music. Besides, how I love hearing the Open Road fade in and out of tune as I drive up the 101, escaping Southern California! On the drive up, it is like a beacon; on the drive down (I’ve always waited till 11:00 before getting on the road), it is like a lazy, long farewell.

131. Myra said,

     September 6, 2008 @ 12:44 pm

     Now that KUSP has eliminated all local programming during the weekdays, I have turned off my radio for the first time in over 20 years of listening. Losing KUSP reminds me of how much I took the station for granted. Is anyone out there organizing to bring back our beloved station? Sign me up!

132. L. King said,

     September 14, 2008 @ 2:23 pm

     As a long time listener on the internet of your wonderful local music
     programs, especially Charlie Lange’s Two Steps From the Blues, I am
     devastated by your NPR-dominated changes. What happened to serving the
     community with locally produced and eclectic programs that I thought
     were the backbones of the station all these years? NPR’s canned national
     programs are not what the majority of your listeners want to listen to.
     I was a donor to the station in the past, but with these changes I see no reasons why I should do so in the future.
     L. King

133. john hunter said,

     September 23, 2008 @ 4:05 pm

     Well, Terry, I’ve given the new schedule a try and, hoping to be the tail end that wags the dog, I’ll add my belated comment now. Why not be straight up with listeners? You have some financial difficulties and you are competing with KAZU for increasingly scarce listener dollars in a time of ongoing retrenchment, no? Could you have done better fundraising to support the former schedule, perhaps with slight modifications to weed out weak DJ’s? Probably. You presented the present changes largely as a result of listener request. Without opening the likely question of how reliable your statistical surveys and methods were, depending on the questions asked, I suspect many respondents were like myself, and might have expressed dissatisfaction with some current music programming, without necessarily opting for the current new dispensation. And if financial distress is the background, isn’t retrenchment a possibility for the station as well as others in this economy? If not, why not explain clearly to listeners how and why this option is blocked? I say this because I have the impression that the current shift has been incompletely explained and presented as a way forward somehow required by listener preference. I am not yet persuaded.
     But more importantly, let’s consider what you have achieved. Obviously, you are trying to out-KAZU KAZU, while still keeping enough local news and musical flavor to claim a special identity. But is it still special, or a hodge-podge of different effects pulling in different directions? KUSP had a distinctive brand, a longstanding identity as the premier music station on the central coast. No longer. Without Two Steps, without Rollin and Tumblin, without Rhythm Afrique, without Tanganyika Strut, you have lost your special edge, and other quality programmers have held on but dispersed to strange and unfamiliar time slots. Actually, your 1-3 musical mix time slot was high quality, it was the 11-1 Open Road that became weak and inconsistent, but now you’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater, when you really just needed to reassess a few shows. You’ve lost, I hope temporarily, that distinction for commitment to high quality music that made KUSP famous. What have you gained? I speak as someone who does listen to talk radio, and who seeks quality, not as someone who simply wanted more NPR because they couldn’t relate to the music. Any slot by slot comparison will show you lagging pathetically behind KAZU, as you try to be unique. Democracy v. Here and Now, advantage DN, although not invariably, since Amy Goodman, although deified around KUSP, is not a skilled interviewer and many of her shows play the same note over and over. The Story v. Fresh Air, advantage Fresh Air(if someone important is on, why wait until 6 so you can listen to local color on KUSP). Talk of the Nation v. Your Call, advantage Your Call(Rose Aguilar is your one positive addition, although even here one decides day by day according to guests). Day-by-Day v. Day-by-Day: what was the point of copying Kazu here with a weak show when much better ones are availabe? To the Point v. the Diane Rehm show, advantage To the Point, not even close. On Point v. the Diane Rehm Show, advantage To the Point, not even close. Giving 2 hrs to a mediocre interviewer with no wit or energy and an unlistenable voice was the giveaway that you guys are really clueless, groping and hoping to be different. If you are into public affairs discussions on air, as I am, there is absolutely no reason to be attracted to KUSP’s new lineup, except for occasionally checking in on Rose Aguilar. If you are inent on turning some of KAZU’s audience, you’ll have to do much better. If you suspect there is some third, alternative segment interested in your particular brand of talk radio, you will no doubt find some supporters but I doubt enough to replace the longtime listeners you have put off, and never enough to begin to solve your financial problems. Again, the issue is not just talk v. music but Quality and your Distinctive Identity. Before, I respected Talk of the Bay, and although I wouldn’t always listen, I found it part of your identity that was worth supporting, and I knew reliably when and where to find it. Breaking it up in pieces and then squeezing some into Morning Edition may sound clever, but I would never listen all the way through ME hoping to hear some local segment. So it no longer exists for me. I can respect the need for some programming adjustments, but this current version feels like a trial balloon that’s something of a lead balloon, and I wonder whether its originators, whoever and however many they are, will feel so attached that they doggedly keep trying to fly it rather than processing inputs and retooling the concept, before the once mighty KUSP becomes a has-been. Hoping for the best and fearing the worst. Good night and good luck. JH

134. Jose Olivas said,

     September 26, 2008 @ 6:37 am

     I am greatly disappointed in not only the change of format during the day time programming, but the choice of programs made. The Diane Rehm show? No more News and Notes? In an area where it boast cultural diversity is an priority, your recent programming choices reflects little of it. My wife and I spoke at length on how the programming schedule was “gutted” and we are simply frustrated We truly feel as though we lost a station in our community, we certainly did not gain anything from the boards choice. And our only means of protest will be with our dollars.

135. Dag Weiser said,

     March 21, 2009 @ 12:52 pm

     I find it hard to believe that KUSP would shelve the best blues show on radio. Two Steps From the Blues has been a “must listen” blues staple for 33 years. Did you folks get that? 33 YEARS!! Imagine the fan base that 33 years produced, gone in an instant, as if it never even existed, to be replaced by more talking head blather. Most of us are intelligent enough to tune into news at a set time to get the headlines. Do you really need to have the stuff rehashed ad nauseum throughout the entire day and night? It’s like uh-oh, I missed the 4:00 news segment. Oh wait, I’ll catch it at 5, and if not 5, at 6. The wild and eclectic MUSIC mix that was KUSP has disappeared. What a tragic thing.

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