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SPOTLIGHT
ON THE ARTS - April 2006 Mountain Media
“We have real people on the air at least 18 hours each day,” WMMT General Manager Cheryl Marshall said. “We have volunteers from Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee. Everyone from teens to folks in their 70s feels ownership in the station and thinks of WMMT volunteers as one big family. So when people listen and think someone sounds like their neighbor ... it just might be. We are commercial-free, but it doesn’t mean we are debt-free. We depend on our listeners for a good part of operations expense.” With scant resources, WMMT initially began broadcasting only a few hours a day. Today, however, programming is created by more than 50 volunteers and WMMT has trained more than 300 people in radio production. More than 50 of those have found employment in radio and many young programmers have gone on to study media production in college. Since its inception two decades ago, WMMT has become a constant part of thousands of mountain people’s lives. A survey conducted in late 2004 by the University of Kentucky indicates that WMMT is in the top 10 among stations most listened to in the Kentucky-Virginia-West Virginia region. However, many listeners don’t consider WMMT a “real” radio station because it doesn’t sound like any station they have ever heard before. Ironically, WMMT is not a real radio station, but is in fact one of the most powerful stations in the region. WMMT’s 15,000-watt transmitter, the highest in the state, sits atop Mayking Peak on Pine Mountain and reaches eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia. Additional translators in hard-to-reach communities help overcome the very substantial obstacles created by the rugged mountain terrain of the region. WMMT now reaches a potential audience of 500,000 on the airwaves, plus its Internet audience. “At 88.7 (or on the Internet), you’ll hear true community radio, one of only a handful of such stations in the whole country,” Marshall said. “One moment you may hear a great-grandfather playing his favorite bluegrass tune, another day a teenager sharing his love of hip-hop, a kid talking about his first fish, local musicians being interviewed and played, people talking about chip mills or who knows what else.” WMMT’s programming is as diverse as its audience, but maintains a strong commitment to traditional Appalachian music and its descendant, bluegrass music. You can also hear rock and roll,Celtic, jazz, blues, big band, gospel, hip-hop, ska, punk, zydeco, and a trivia show. WMMT is also dedicated to providing a forum for discussions on issues of vital interest to the region through Mountain Talk, a weekly call-in show with in-studio guests. WMMT also goes into communities and broadcasts on a variety of issues, including candidate forums, forestry, strip mining, toxic waste and others. The weekly Coal Report and the three-times-a-week Regional Roundup shed light on life in the region. In 1986, WMMT brought live performance radio – a staple of the early days of radio – back to the mountains. The first live broadcast from the 150-seat Appalshop Theater marked the station’s first anniversary. The show, Bluegrass Express Live, has now grown to be one of the premier bluegrass shows in the nation and features the very best groups in contemporary bluegrass. WMMT also broadcasts live jam sessions and concerts featuring traditional music and storytelling. The station’s long-range plans, Marshall said, include “finding some young folks who are dedicated community radio and are willing to invest in the future of ‘real people’ radio in this time of automation.” |
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Copyright 1996-2006, by Kentucky Business Online. All rights reserved. Editorial content is copyright 2006,
Lane Communications Group The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
In 1985, Appalshop, known for providing media for regional folks to tell their stories, decided that its mission to let mountain people speak for themselves should be expanded. So at 5:12 p.m., Nov. 26, 1985, a new voice hit the airwaves of central Appalachia: 88.7 WMMT-FM. The concept behind WMMT has always been to provide an opportunity for area communities to speak up about matters important to them.
The Appalshop’s annual Seedtime on the Cumberland Festival is the crown jewel of WMMT broadcasts. Seedtime features two or three days of indigenous mountain music, storytelling, Appalshop films and video, readings, theater, reminiscing, crafts, food and fellowship.