(ALBANY, NY June 2009) WAMC Northeast Public Radio and Katie Britton, News Director for WAMC, are proud to announce that several WAMC staffers have won two prestigious Gold Awards of Excellence, and five Silver Awards of Distinction for the Communicator Awards.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio President Alan Chartock says, "This is where the member money goes. We are all incredibly grateful and our members should be as well. This work is an absolute result of the money that people have invested in the station, our WAMC community."

The awards received are as follows:

Susan Barnett won a Gold Award of Excellence for 51% The Women’s Perspective in the category of Social Issues. Also in the category of News Story, Susan received a Silver Award of Distinction comparing the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt with Barack Obama’s in her piece “From FDR to Obama.”

The host of The Roundtable Joe Donahue and News Director Katie Britton received a Gold Awards of Excellence for their collaborative work on “75 Years of Warner Brothers,” in the category of Productions ? Production/Sound Design. Joe’s interview with Richard Schickel on his book 75 Years of Warner Brothers, was beautifully coupled with several clips of Warner Brother’s cartoons and movies and their soundtracks.

Joe Donahue also received a Silver Award of Distinction for his interview with Melissa Etheridge, in the category of Feature Story. He also won a second Award of Distinction with Katie Britton for the same interview in the category of Production/Use of Music.

In the category of Live Broadcast, WAMC’s The Roundtable has garnered a Silver Award of Distinction for live coverage of Governor Eliot Spitzer’s resignation, hosted by Joe Donahue.

Also Roundtable Producer Sarah LaDuke won a Silver Award of Distinction in the category of Music for her interview and music mixing with the alternative rock band Wilco.

"When we see results like these awards, our hearts are filled," added Chartock.

The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for Communications Professionals. Founded by communication professionals over a decade ago, The Communicator Awards received over 9,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world.

The Communicator Awards is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creative and marketing firms. IAVA members include executives from organizations such as Alloy, Brandweek, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, Fry Hammond Barr, HBO, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Victoria’s Secret, Wired, and Yahoo!

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(ALBANY, NY OCTOBER 2009) – WAMC/Northeast Public Radio’s flagship morning program, The Roundtable, will broadcast a special series and take WAMC’s listeners on a cultural and historical audio road trip along the Hudson River to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage. The Roundtable will interview historians, authors, artists, and organizational leaders about the Hudson's history and culture. This series will broadcast live on three days from three different locations from 9am to noon.

President of WAMC Alan Chartock says, “WAMC is incredibly grateful to the New York Council for the Humanities for this opportunity to expand our reach and to be able to celebrate the Hudson River. WAMC has facilities up and down the river and our ability with the help of this grant to get experts to tell us about the history, polities, sociology, and art of the river is a dream come true.”

The audio voyage will start on Thursday, October 15th in New York City at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan. This broadcast will focus on the role of the Hudson River in New York City history.

On Monday, October 19th the Roundtable will broadcast from the Olana Estate in Hudson, NY and will focus on the many historical and regional attractions in the Hudson Valley.

The series will conclude on Tuesday, October 20th with a special open to the public live broadcast at the Albany Institute of History and Art in Albany, NY. This broadcast will explore the history of the City of Albany, highlighting the region’s Dutch heritage and concluding with a panel discussion that will take a broad look at the Hudson River’s history and Albany Institute of History and Art exhibition, Hudson River Panorama: 400 Years of History, Art, and Culture. This exhibit features hundreds of artworks and artifacts related to the agricultural, industrial, and cultural history of the river. Listeners will be able to attend this live broadcast and ask questions to the panel. Panelists will include: Historic Hudson River painter Len Tantillo; author and Hudson River Panorama consultant Tom Lewis; curator Doug McCombs; archeologist and Hudson River Panorama consultant Christopher Lindner; Curator, The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College and consultant on Hudson Panorama. Seating is limited. To reserve a seat, please call 1-800-323-9262 or by emailing hudsonriver@wamc.org.

Joe Donahue, host of the Roundtable says, “I am thrilled that with the assistance of the New York Council for the Humanities, we are once again able to dig deep and provide an audio portrait of such a multi-faceted subject. We have an incredible line-up of intelligent, wise, witty people to tell us the amazing history of the Hudson and the people that live along it. We very much look forward to traveling the river and speaking with each of them.”

To hear this special broadcast, tune in to WAMC or listen online at wamc.org. Broadcast and guests schedule about the New York’s Hudson River series can be found at: http://www.wamc.org/roundtablehudsonriver.html.

The Roundtable, featuring award-winning journalist Joe Donahue, blends news, arts, culture, and live music. Whether reporting the day’s news, interviewing local and national authors, or chatting with fascinating people from around the corner and around the world, The Roundtable has something for everyone as it covers issues ranging from politics, arts, culture, history, the environment and everything in between.

This programming made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities.

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• Albany Pump Station
• Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
• American Hotel
• Arthur Murray Dance Studio
• Ashokan Center
• Audubon Society
• Babycakes Café
• Barbara Kopple
• Barrington Brewery
• Barrington Stage
• Berkshire Scenic Railroad
• Bethel Woods Museum
• Blantyre Country House
• Blue Mountain Bistro
• Blue Q
• Bombers Burrito Bar
• Bread Alone
• Brindisi's
• Brown's Brewing Company
• Buffalo Wagon
• Cabot Creamery
• Café Adam
• Café Tamayo
• Canyon Ranch Resort and Spa
• Capital Q Smokehouse
• Capital Region Coffee News
• Capital Repertory Theatre
• Carr Hardware
• Castle Street Café
• Charlene Marchand
• Chez Mike
• Chez Nous
• Chocolate Springs
• Christmas Sampler Craft Fair Old Deerfield
• Chrysalis of Troy
• Circus Café
• Close Encounters with Music
• Colonial Theatre
• Curves
• Danker Florist
• Davidson Brothers Brew Pub
• Davies Office Refurbishing
• Dream Away Lodge
• Eisenhower Hall
• El Loco Mexican Café
• Elite Reserve A Ride
• Elmer's Store
• Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
• Fabulous Furniture
• Fleisher's
• Freehold Country Pub
• Fuddrucker's
• Gabrielle Senza
• Gadeletos Seafood
• Gaffney's
• GB Glass
• Good Old Days Eco Florist
• Greenville Booksmith
• Guido's Fresh Marketplace
• Handsome Devil Press
• Harney Tea
• Harriet Beecher Stowe House and Library
• Haven Café and Bakery
• Hawthorne Valley Farm
• Hillstead Museum
• Historic Deerfield
• Historic Deerfield Antiques Show
• Hoffman Car Wash
• Hotchkiss Mobiles
• Hudson River Adventures
• Hudson Valley Magazine
• Interlaken Package
• Isn't It Sweet
• James Taylor
• Jay Ungar and Molly Mason
• Jiffy Lube
• Jiminy Peak
• Joanne Michaels
• John Andrews Restaurant
• Kathy Anderson School for Young Artists
• Kripalu
• Larry's Southwestern Ranchero Sauce
• Lloyd Constantine
• Lucky Chocolate
• Marbeltown Hardware
• Marotta Health and Wellness Chiropractic
• Martha Frankel
• Meadow Greens Golf Course
• Metropolitan Opera House
• Michael Gold
• Michael Lang
• Millerton Movie House
• Mohonk Mountain House
• Mother Myrick's
• Mountain Stage
• Museum of Modern Art
• National Museum Racing and Hall of Fame
• Nederlander Producing Company of America
• New World Bistro and Bar
• New York Giants
• New York State Lottery
• New York State Museum
• Newsweek
• Norman Rockwell Museum
• Orchards Hotel and Gala Restaurant
• Oriole 9 café
• Otto's Market
• Palace Theatre
• Panza's
• Party Warehouse
• Perfect Wife
• Pine Cone Hill
• Porches
• Posie Peddlers
• Proctors
• Project Native
• Public Radio International Afropop Worldwide
• Radiosophy HD radio
• Red Lion Inn
• Rich Guthrie
• Ross Rounds, Inc.
• Route 7 Grill
• Saratoga Hilton
• Saratoga Wine Exchange
• Scenic Hudson
• Selected Shorts
• Sen. Bernie Sanders
• Sim's Barbershops
• Soul Dog
• Sperry's
• Square Circle Press
• Tang Museum at Skidmore College
• Terrapin Restaurant
• The Adirondack Council
• The Old School Plantery
• The Omlette King Catering Company
• The Phantom Gardener
• The Phoenix Restaurant @The Emerson Resort and Spa
• Thistle Needleworks
• Tim Coakley
• Trattoria Rustica
• Troy Farmer's Market
• Unison Arts
• Vermont Bookshop
• Vermont Moonlight Cookies
• Via Fresca
• Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
• Walnut Valley Alpacas
• Wanda Fischer
• Ward Stone
• Watercheck
• Waterfall Rental
• We Do Fondue
• Wellington's Herbs and Spices
• Wheatfields
• Where'd You Get That
• Wilco
• Williamstown Film Festival
• Windham Mountain
• Wine Spectator Magazine
• Yaktrax
• Yarn for Your Soul
• Zoom Text Express

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• Bread Alone
• Cabot Creamery
• Capital Region Neurosurgery *
• Crescent Creamery
• Dolce and Boscotti Italian Bakery
• Georgia Ray's
• Haven Café
• Slice of Heaven Bakery
• Ichiban
• Jeanne Hunter
• Lucky Chocolates
• Mild Wally's
• Miss Albany Diner
• New Village Deli *
• Perfect Blend
• Salsa Latina
• Shea's
• The Ginger Man
• The Honest Weight Food Co-Op
• The Muddy Cup
*
• The Orchard Restaurant
• The Wittenberg Store
• Via Fresca

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Albany, NY- December 9, 2004   -   Radio broadcasting has taken a giant leap into the 21st century. WAMC Northeast Public Radio has begun HD (for High Definition) Radio digital broadcasts from stations WAMC-FM, 90.3, Albany, WOSR(FM), 91.7, Middletown and WANC(FM), 103.9, Ticonderoga NY. These three are the first FM stations in the Capital Region, Hudson Valley and North Country to adopt the new technology.

The noise and interference that cause the static, hiss, pops and fades heard on today's analog radios is virtually eliminated with HD Radio digital broadcasting. In addition to crystal clear reception, HD Radio technology will dramatically enhance sound fidelity - AM will have the clarity of FM, and FM will have the clarity of compact discs. Equally impressive to the digital sound quality is that HD Radio technology allows for new wireless data services to be delivered from AM and FM radio stations. Pending Federal approval, this technology will also make possible additional programming on the same FM channel.

According to Alan Chartock, President & CEO of WAMC, "We're proud and excited to be in the forefront of bringing this new technology to our listeners. It will allow us to provide even better service and a stronger commitment to listeners - not to mention significantly improved sound."

After 80 years of analog transmissions, radio is poised for its digital migration to HD Radio technology. Soon, home audio receivers and after market auto receivers will be widely available to consumers through consumer electronics retailers. Some auto receivers are now sold as HD Radio ready.

Conversion of WAMC-FM and WOSR(FM) to HD Radio was made possible by grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) which is assisting public radio stations across the country to use this new technology. The Albany and Middletown stations commenced broadcasts in HD in the past week. WANC(FM), Ticonderoga was equipped with HD Radio during the Spring under a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). WAMC Northeast Public Radio is pursuing additional grants to fund the "phase two" conversion of its remaining FM and AM stations in eastern New York and Western New England.

HD Radio technology was developed by iBiquity Digital and approved in October 2002 by the Federal Communications Commission. HD Radio allows AM/FM broadcasters to seamlessly transmit digital quality audio alongside today's analog-based broadcasts. Little or no change in listener behavior will be required since all local radio station dial positions will remain the same. Listeners will simply tune to their favorite programs and stations and receive them in either a digital or analog format depending on their radio. Because stations will begin digital broadcasting using a "hybrid mode," transmitting digital and analog signals simultaneously, listeners with analog receivers will still be able to pick up the broadcast and will be able to seamlessly upgrade to digital at their own pace.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio transmits over the following stations: WAMC 90.3 FM, Albany*; WAMC 1400 AM, Albany, WAMK 90.9 FM, Kingston; WOSR 91.7 FM, Middletown*; WCEL 91.9 FM, Plattsburgh; WCAN 93.3 FM, Canajoharie; WANC 103.9 FM, Ticonderoga*; WAMQ 105.1 FM, Great Barrington, MA; 93.1 FM, Troy; 88.9 FM, Oneonta; 107.7 FM, Newburgh, NY; and 91.9 Southington, CT. It can be heard on-line at www.wamc.org. (* now in HD Radio)

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Something happened on the way to the fund drive that begins on February 1st. One of the largest, most devastating, earthquakes in history killed somewhere between fifty thousand and a hundred thousand human beings. It happened just a few weeks before our fund drive was slated to begin. I received a call from some folks who said that our friend James Taylor wanted to raise money for Haiti and would do a benefit concert (later two concerts) at the Mahaiwe Theatre in Great Barrington. The Taylors would match the proceeds from the first Great Barrington concert. I was invited to a planning meeting for the effort and WAMC was asked to do a simulcast. Dave Galletly quickly got on the horn and asked for a waiver from the FCC to simulcast the concert and raise money for Partners in Health, a Boston-based organization already on the ground in Haiti that James really admires. WAMC would pay for the 1-800-323-9262 calls. Kate Maguire and her Berkshire Theatre Festival crew, including star, Johnny Epstein, would come over and answer the phones. All the money would go directly to Partners in Health.

Then WAMC invited all of the public radio stations that are adjacent to participate. News powerhouse WBUR in Boston signed on; WFCR in Amherst signed on and so did WBCR, the tiny community station in Great Barrington. When someone asked me why we were being so “generous” (his words) with the other stations, I said that we believed in doing anything we could to relieve the Haitian suffering. Put another way, if James and his wonderful wife Caroline (Kim) could put yet another load on their generous shoulders, so could we. It didn’t stop with us. This kind of thing is infectious. Once the little snowball gets going, it can turn into a avalanche. How could WAMC not participate?

Between the Sunday meeting and the Friday concert, an unbelievable amount of planning had to take place. These things usually take months of preparation, but with a group of community members all pulling together, magic happened. By Monday, a publicity plan was underway and on Tuesday morning, along with our friend Clarence Fanto from The Berkshire Eagle, we broke the news on our website. We went on the air around 7:30 AM to tell folks that tickets would be available from the Mahaiwe box office starting at 9:00 that day. Incredibly, the entire concert sold out – and we’re talking $100 seats, $200 seats, and $1,000 seats – in just about an hour! The Taylors had agreed to match the ticket proceeds from the concert so before the first guitar strum was heard, over $300,000 were promised for Partners in Health. James agreed to a second show, the theatre was available, and that show sold out, too, bringing in another $150,000. Our live broadcast raised another $78,000 and that doesn’t even take into account any donations made directly to Partners in Health.

It was an incredible outpouring of love and support for the victims of the disaster and once again, we learned what can happen when people get together with a common vision. Which brings me to............the fund drive!!! WAMC, too, needs your help. When people asked me whether our “Help For Haiti” concert would interfere with our fund-raising a short two weeks later, I thought about it for a bit. We’d been here before. After our one day special fund drive for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, we had our best fund drive to date. I’m banking on the fact that with your help, we can do it again.

Like everybody who got together to make the “Help For Haiti” concert a success, our wonderful listeners can work magic when they pull together. $800,000 is a lot of money but together, we can do it, as we always have. I’ll be there, bright and early, on February 1. I know you will be there, too.

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February 2010 Programming Notes by David Galletly

With the middle of winter upon us here in the Northeast, there is some great programming that you can cozy up with this month. Live at the Linda be sure to tune in on Wednesday, February 10 at 8 PM for another installment of Dancing on the Air. Hosts Jay Ungar and Molly Mason will keep you off the couch and on your toes. On Wednesday, February 17 join us for 2009 performances by Mother Fletcher and Chris Smither as they visited the Linda.

On Wednesday, February 24 we are pleased to present another in this year’s series of concerts by the Albany Symphony Orchestra. “Zander Conducts Mahler” was recorded in late January at Albany’s Palace Theatre. All of our Wednesday night music starts at 8 PM. Be sure to tune in.

You can always beat the winter blues with a visit to the Linda, 339 Central Avenue, Albany. The varied musical acts continue throughout the year. You can be there as these artists are recorded for later broadcast. Plenty of parking is available and you can sample the varied cuisine of out neighborhood. Tickets and information on upcoming performances are available at www.thelinda.org.

There are some big developments in store online at wamc.org in the next few weeks. While we are and probably always be primarily an audio source, we will soon be expanding our efforts in the video realm as well. Online we plan for a new multimedia platform allowing you to see as well as listen. Details should be coming shortly at wamc.org.

Until Next Month,

Good Listening! (and Viewing!)

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