The upbeat tone in WUKY General Manager Roger Chesser's voice was a strong indication of the success of this fall's WUKY's fundraiser.
For the past eight days, Chesser and his staff have asked listeners to donate money to the 91.3 FM station, and pledges have come in at an all-time record high. The station raised $65,346 in on-air pledges alone.
The station received pledges from 1,271 individuals, also an all-time record. The final dollar total is a combination of the membership renewals, miscellaneous requests and response from the station's campus mailer. This total will be announced in two weeks. That total now stands at over $16,000.
"I am absolutely delighted with the audience's on-air support," Chesser said. "We've been having considerable increases the last four or five years."
Last year, WUKY had a record-breaking spring drive that raised over $100,000.
"It's very exciting that we might equal or come close to last year's total," Chesser said. "It's fantastic."
In a grand prize drawing that took place late Friday afternoon, Francis Steele won a $1,000 gift certificate from J. Peterman's. Cecil Marshall Alford was the winner of a $1,000 CD from Bank One.
The station runs on a $1 million budget with the majority of that coming from private contributions from listeners and businesses. Chesser says the money that is raised during the fund-raiser will go mostly to the station's programming.
"The cost of the programming on the station continues to increase," Chesser said. "National Public Radio is going to cost over $100,000 alone this year. We also use the money to help pay the people who create programming."
With WRFL on campus, and many other radio stations in the surrounding Lexington area, Chesser is pleased with what his station has accomplished.
"The fact that the membership is increasing dramatically is evidence that not only are people turning the radio on and listening for a while," Chesser said, "but they like what they hear and find the station worthy of their support."
While the station is basically aimed at the 24- to -54 age group, WUKY offers three hours on Sunday nights that UK students might find appealing.
From 7 to 9 p.m. on Sundays, the station carries the World Cafe show, which features contemporary rock artists such as Bob Dylan.
Following the World Cafe, the station devotes a complete hour to the Grateful Dead. Chesser thinks this has been a wise move on the station's part.
"The response to the Grateful Dead has been wonderful," Chesser said. "We are starting to come up strong again and people are happy that we have the program on the air."
Chesser thinks it's too soon to announce any upcoming changes in the station's programming. First, the station's staff must sort through all the pledges' comments and analyze their suggestions.
"The programming decisions are made throughout the year," Chesser said. "We use the information that we get from the pledges throughout the year."