Coinciding with the 101st anniversary Nov. 2 of the first commercially licensed broadcast in the U.S., Xpress spoke with representatives from three local stations about the advantages and disadvantages of operating without commercial aid, as well as why radio remains a steady force in many people’s lives despite an ever-increasing number of news and entertainment options.
Three Xpress reporters joined WPVM 103.7 FM radio host Mark Lieberman for a chat about our primary election coverage — among other topics — on May 15.
“I hope that everyone who has been involved in the station or who cares about it will come and be heard.”
“I can only hope that those who are leading MAIN today remember the purpose it was founded for.”
Local-led, volunteer-run radio station WPVM, 103.7 FM has completed an ownership transition, from Mountain Area Information Network to a new group, Friends of WPVM. Making it through the change of leadership hasn’t been smooth sailing, however. Xpress explores the station’s troubled history and how it’s charting a new course.
The future of the Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN) was detailed at a Nov. 17 meeting led by Executive Director Wally Bowen.
“This is a day we have dreamed of since 2003 when MAIN launched its low-power FM station for Asheville and Buncombe County,” declared Wally Bowen, executive director of MAIN FM (WPVM), after the passage by Congress this weekend of the Local Community Radio Act, which gives FCC the ability to allow low-power stations such as MAIN’s to broadcast at 100 watts, instead of at its current 2 watt level.
The Mountain Area Information Network has hired a new manager who will help integrate the Asheville-based nonprofit Internet service provider’s Web site with MAIN’s low-power FM radio station, WPVM.
The interim station manager at Asheville’s low-power FM community-radio station has resigned, likening herself to a Band-Aid stuck on a mortal wound requiring immediate surgery. Kim Clark issued her statement March 2, two weeks after her hiring as WPVM’s interim manager was announced by Wally Bowen, the executive director of the Mountain Area Information Network. […]
The interim station manager at Asheville’s low-power FM community radio station has resigned, likening herself to a Band-Aid stuck on a mortal wound requiring immediate surgery.
A new interim station manager started last week at Asheville’s low-power FM community-radio station, but the news did little to quell ongoing tensions that have roiled the station since last fall. For months, station volunteers have lobbied to have Wally Bowen, executive director of the Mountain Area Information Network, removed from direct control of the […]
Volunteers at Asheville’s low-power community radio station have proposed a new management structure for the station. The plan was presented during the Feb. 10 meeting of the Mountain Area Information Network’s board; the Asheville-based organization, a nonprofit Internet service provider, holds the station’s broadcast license. MAIN’s board oversees WPVM, which broadcasts at 103.5 FM from […]
An interim manager will oversee Asheville’s low-power FM community radio station, WPVM, which is staffed by volunteers. Nine of those volunteers have been asked to stay away from the station for six weeks.
Two months after several volunteers with Asheville’s low-power community-radio station quit over a dispute about the station’s management, some WPVM volunteers remain dissatisfied. Tune in to controversy: Several volunteers at Asheville’s low-power community radio station, WPVM, say they’ve left the station after structural changes promised in September failed to materialize. Photo by Jason Sandford. Barry […]
The board that oversees WPVM, Asheville’s low-power community radio station, accepted responsibility for the removal of a station volunteer, issued an apology and adopted a direct role in overseeing the station’s management during a meeting last week. But while the board’s action defused the recent controversy, it’s apparent that those involved believe there’s more work […]
The removal of an on-air personality at Asheville’s WPVM, a low-power station at 103.5 FM, and the subsequent resignation of the station’s manager has roiled some station volunteers and has the executive director of WPVM’s parent organization defending his decisions in running the station. Can you hear me now?: The downtown-Asheville studio of WPVM, a […]
The board of the Mountain Area Information Network issued a public apology to a WPVM radio-station volunteer and to MAIN’s executive director on Tuesday and announced a new governance structure for the station.
The Mountain Area Information Network’s board of directors plans to meet this afternoon to talk about the controversy regarding the recent dismissal of a volunteer at MAIN’s low-power radio station WPVM (103.5 FM).
The removal of an on-air personality at Asheville radio station WPVM and the subsequent resignation of the station’s manager has roiled some station volunteers and has the executive director of WPVM’s parent organization defending his move.
Like many other transplants to the Asheville area, I am very happy to have a public-radio station bringing classical music and NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered to my new home. Public broadcasting has been an important part of my life, both personally and professionally, for four decades, and every place I’ve ever lived, […]
