Published: April 18, 2013 12:01 AM EST
Updated: April 18, 2013 9:43 AM EST

40 years later, WQLN Radio still going strong


WQLN kicks off its "Grow Your Station" spring fundraiser and celebrates their 40th anniversary.
By GERRY WEISS, Erie Times-News
gerry.weiss@timesnews.com
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Wally Faas stepped into the soundproof booth shortly before 9 a.m., put on his headset and began encouraging his listeners to donate to WQLN-FM.


The silken-voiced 65-year-old, and the station's most recognizable on-air personality, was looking to give the annual spring membership drive a boost.


It was April 8, the midway point of the two-week campaign, and the station had raised less than half of its $60,000 goal.


Faas dipped into WQLN's impressive collection of classical music and played a portion of Beethoven's mysterious "Moonlight Sonata," then some of German composer Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana."


In between selections, Faas told stories about the music and the circumstances of when the pieces were written -- a trademark of the popular radio host since he joined the station in 1995.


After his shift that day, Faas said he was optimistic WQLN would reach its spring fundraising goal, adding that people sense the excitement of the radio station's dozen or so hosts as the pledge drive winds down.


He was right.


By late Friday afternoon, when the drive ended, the station had surpassed its goal and raised $60,085.


"What I hear over and over from listeners is that we are good company," Faas said. "When they tune in and hear a familiar voice, and the classics, we become old friends."


As the radio station celebrates its 40th year, the core of WQLN-FM's programming continues to be classical music, jazz, and National Public Radio.


But in the early years, around the time when the station first went on the air in January 1973, WQLN was a melting pot of musical tastes, from urban soul and Polish tunes to Cuban and Spanish sounds.


"The programming here will always be evolving," said Tom New, the station's director of creative services. "I can't think of too many radio stations that go through such a schizophrenic programming cycle. It just addresses the needs and wants in the Erie community."


Sue Allen, WQLN-FM's manager, said the station's durable presence in the Erie region for 40 years -- not an easy feat when it comes to public radio in a small market -- shows how important it is to the community.


"Our listeners always appreciate the fact that we're different from commercial radio. They can't find the programs we offer anywhere else, especially NPR's in-depth news," said Allen, who has worked at WQLN since 1997.


"The age group we primarily serve, 50 and up, they still appreciate the fact that all they have to do is turn on the radio to hear us versus having to go online," Allen added. "You don't have to pay anything to listen to us. Thank goodness we have a lot of loyal listeners."


Loyalty is there for those who turn their dial to 91.3 FM, as WQLN has held steady at about 9,000 annual members for the past decade.


But when it comes to funding for public radio, there is no steady terrain.


About 13 percent of WQLN-FM's $330,000 annual budget comes from federal money, a 4 percentage-point drop since 2005. In previous years, federal funding to the station from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting reached as high as 20 percent.


"We worry about (funding) every day. It's an unknown, and we're such a lean staff now," said Cindy Spizarny, the station's interim general manager. Dwight Miller, WQLN's president and general manager since 2002, left in March to take a job with the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research, a nonprofit in State College, station officials said.


Reduced government funding contributed to WQLN making nine staff cuts in its radio and TV divisions in 2008, and also led to layoffs in the late 1980s.


The station has become creative in an effort to find alternative funding streams, with many of those initiatives targeting a younger audience.


WQLN on Saturday will coordinate its seventh annual Erie Micro Brew Festival at the Brewerie at Union Station. In 2012, the event drew more than 1,800 people.


The station's fourth annual Gears to Beers Bicycle Tour is April 27. The event takes hundreds of riders from WQLN's studios in Summit Township to Sprague Farm & Brew Works in Venango.


The station will host a concert on June 29 at Sprague Farm, with local country, folk, blues, jazz and rock acts.


WQLN also broadcasts from the seven colleges in the Erie region each fall for its "Collegiate Challenge" fundraisers.


The station spends one day at each school -- half the broadcast focuses on the school's news, and the other half is spent as a pledge drive for WQLN.


"We broadcast from a student union and bring awareness of public radio to the campus," New said. "This goes back to the old days of radio, live-action broadcasts from car lots or the mall with trucks and banners. It still works."



GERRY WEISS can be reached at 870-1884 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNweiss.


(From left) Director of Creative Services Tom New, on-air personality Wally Faas, and Director of Development Lisa Counasseges work as a team for the stations spring "Grow Your Station" pledge drive at WQLN radio in Summit township on April 9. The station raised over $30,000 as of April 9. JARID A. BARRINGER//ERIE TIMES-NEWS

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(From left) Director of Creative Services Tom New, on-air personality Wally Faas, and Director of Development Lisa Counasseges work as a team for the stations spring "Grow Your Station" pledge drive at WQLN radio in Summit township on April 9. The station raised over $30,000 as of April 9. JARID A. BARRINGER//ERIE TIMES-NEWS

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(From left) Director of Creative Services Tom New, on-air personality Wally Faas, and Director of Development Lisa Counasseges work as a team for the stations spring "Grow Your Station" pledge drive at WQLN radio in Summit township on April 9. The station raised over $30,000 as of April 9. JARID A. BARRINGER//ERIE TIMES-NEWS

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(From left) Director of Creative Services Tom New, on-air personality Wally Faas, and Director of Development Lisa Counasseges work as a team for the stations spring "Grow Your Station" pledge drive at WQLN radio in Summit township on April 9. The station raised over $30,000 as of April 9. JARID A. BARRINGER//ERIE TIMES-NEWS

To see more photos of WQLN: Click here.
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