As a valued KOSU listener, we want you to know about some upcoming changes to our program schedule that begin this weekend.
As many of you know, the $1.3 billion state budget shortfall and subsequent state budget for the new fiscal year dealt a significant blow to many institutions across the state, resulting in layoffs, closures, and more. For KOSU, that resulted in a nearly 10 percent reduction in our state-based funding in the past six months.
We've spent the last several months tightening our belts and re-evaluating our spending priorities. Last month, station director Kelly Burley laid out our challenges and the changes that were being made. Some of those plans have since been altered, for the better, in the short term.
WHAT'S BEING ADDED?
Three new Spy shows will be added to the KOSU program schedule in the coming weeks:
- Dates of Our Lives (Sundays, 10-11pm) will air beginning this Sunday, October 2. In this show about navigating the waters of romantic relationships, hosts Ryan Drake and Malory Craft will take emails from our listeners to offer advice, talk to experts in the dating fields, and discuss the top trends and news stories from the world of Tinder, Bumble, OK Cupid, etc. Guests will also discuss their worst (or best) dates, as the hosts try to match music to their tales of failure or success.
- Turn of the Century (Tuesdays, 8-9pm) will air beginning Tuesday, October 11. Host Rob Vera will explore the music of the 90s and 00s in the non genre-specific program. There will be rock and hip-hop, punk and alt-country, ska and garage. There will be nostalgic moments and hopefully moments of music discovery of gems that you missed the first time.
- An As-Yet-Untitled Show with George Lang (Saturdays, 8-9pm) will air beginning Saturday, October 22. Longtime Oklahoma City music writer George Lang brings his music knowledge back to The Spy. Lang hosted a weekly show when The Spy brand was briefly on KSYY from 2002 to 2004. Lang is a former music writer and entertainment editor for The Oklahoman and Oklahoma Gazette.
WHAT'S CHANGING?
To make room for the new shows, Excuse Me (Tuesdays, 7-8pm) and Gold Soundz (Saturdays, 7-8pm) will each condense to one hour weekly programs.
WHAT'S BEEN SAVED (FOR NOW)?
In our previous post to listeners, we announced we were dropping all programs from American Public Media, including A Prairie Home Companion, Dinner Party Download, and Marketplace. Well, we are happy to announce that APM has significantly cut our fees and costs... and, just two days ago, we completed negotiations to keep these programs on KOSU through the end of the fiscal year (June 30, 2017). We'll have to renegotiate with APM again in toward the end of the fiscal year, but for now, these shows will remain on KOSU.
A Prairie Home Companion is continuing with new host Chris Thile. Read up on his vision for the show here. New APHC episodes (which will be sprinkled in with 'best of' APHC episodes) include guests Jack White, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, and Dawes.
So, for now, KOSU's programming schedule will remain mostly the same, outside of the schedule changes mentioned previously in this post.
WHAT IS GOING AWAY?
As reported previously, we will begin to wind down our HD radio service, with the first phase beginning October 1. We have concluded that the HD platform is no longer viable and by turning the service off, we will save approximately $15,000 annually on electricity costs. Again, this will have no impact on our analog broadcast signals that most of us use to listen to KOSU.
We thank you for your patience as we navigate the constant changing world of radio. As we head into what looks to be another troubling state budget year, we will strive to spend your generous contributions wisely and efficiently.
Thank you for listening to and supporting KOSU.
