Coming to you live and local

Source: Odessa American, TexasAug.儲存倉 28--If you were a frequent listener of the Odessa College-run radio station KOCV, you may have noticed a change in the airwaves in the past year or so.In December of 2011, the transmitter at KOCV was sold to KRTS, the public radio station out of Marfa, who then took it out to Gardendale and began the process of creating the subsidiary station KXWT, 91.3 FM.General manager Tom Michael explains by taking the transmitter out to Gardendale and increasing the power by four times what it originally was, the Marfa-based station is able to better serve the Midland/Odessa area.Lynn Van Amburgh, director of operations at the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, said she has been listening to the station since it was owned by KOCV and has noticed a tremendous change in the past year."The reception is so much better -- it was always spotty the closer you got to Midland," Amburgh said. "I like all the diversity and all the different programming on the station."Amburgh said she listens to the station mostly around lunch time during the classical music programming, but is also a fan of morning news talk shows Morning Edition and On Point.Many listeners, like Amburgh, were carried over from the days of KOCV, but Michael and his team have not wasted anytime pushing to get their name and message out in an effort to gain new listeners."There are definitely some people who don't know we're here," Michael said when talking about plans to raise awareness about the radio station. "We want them to know that regional public radio is back in the area."Michael pointed to the event KXWT co-hosted called "Drilling Down: How Oil and Gas Exploration is Affecting Our Land Water and Community" with KUT Austin and KUHF Houston on August 13 at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.He said they were planning to have similar panels in the future to discuss problems and situations that affect West Texans.Michael, who describes KRTS and KXWT as non-commercial radio, also said they are gearing up for a fall pledge drive starting Sept. 20 and ending Sept. 27.Jane Boles is the development manager of Odessa for KXWT and said she is looking forward to the kick-off of the 迷你倉價錢tation drive when she's "stationed somewhere meeting new people."Like Amburgh, Boles is a long-time listener of the 91.3 frequency and is fan of the diversity in programming the radio station has. Boles said she is excited to be a part of the process of reacquainting public radio back into the area."West Texans just need the faces -- they don't need anyone to tell them how to think," Boles said when discussing why keeping public radio on the airwaves was an important thing to do for the area.She said she has noticed through different functions and parties that more and more people are tuning in and talking about the station.Boles said she has gotten acquainted with her coworkers at KXWT and KRTS, she has realized they have a desire to highlight West Texas people and West Texas culture.Michael, who is originally from Chicago, said he moved to west Texas 11 years ago and has enjoyed the area ever since.He plans to keep programming in tune to the ears of his listeners, while also focusing on bringing more local and regional news to the station as the number of local freelance reporters affiliated with the station grows.For Michael, it seems, the collaborative relationship between the stations and its listeners does not end with pledge drives and donations that keep the station afloat. Instead, Amburgh pointed out, he and the KXWT and KRTS crews are dedicated to finding the pulse of the areas they cover and developing their programming to fit the needs of their listeners.She said Michael and company visited Odessa many times before the station launched meeting with different people to figure out what kind of programming the people of the area wanted and would listen to the most."They're a non-profit station in it for all the right reasons," Boles said. "They're not chasing dollars -- it belongs to the community."And that very last part, is the signal Boles and many others, are hoping comes in loud and clear.Contact Chris Bartlett at 432-333-7782, email at cbartlett@oaoa.com, or on Twitter at @OAChrisBartlettCopyright: ___ (c)2013 Odessa American (Odessa, Texas) Visit the Odessa American (Odessa, Texas) at .oaoa.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉