"Tom Dollenmayer" Archive

WFDD celebrates 75th anniversary

A guest post from 88.5 WFDD Modified 88.5 WFDD logo for its 75th anniversary in 2021

88.5 WFDD, the NPR affiliate station licensed to Wake Forest University, is marking its 75th anniversary throughout 2021. The public radio station, which serves 32 counties in the Piedmont and High Country, as well as southern Virginia, traces its roots to an inaugural 1946 broadcast by two students from their rooming house on the old Wake Forest College campus in Wake Forest, NC. Those two students, Al Parris and Henry Randall, continued their pirate broadcasts with growing support from the campus community, until—with the support of the College—they received an FCC license. The first legal sign-on took place in 1948 as WAKE, but shortly thereafter, the station was required to change its call letters, as WAKE was already assigned to another station. The call letters became WFDD, for “Wake Forest Demon Deacons.”

WFDD continued as a student-run station through its move, along with Wake Forest University, to Winston-Salem, NC. In the late 1950s, under the leadership of the station’s first non-student station manager, Wake Forest College associate professor of speech and communications Julian Burroughs, WFDD transitioned to a professional station. In 1970, it was one of 86 stations in the country to join the National Public Radio network at its inception. The following year saw the inaugural broadcast from National Public Radio on April 20, 1971: coverage of Senate hearings on the Vietnam War. On May 3, 1971, NPR’s flagship program, All Things Considered, premiered and was carried by WFDD. The program remains on the air today. Read more

Categories: Guest PostInside WFU

88.WFDD announces WAKE Radio broadcast on HD3 channel

correct WFDD logoThis is a guest post from 88.5 WFDD:

88.5 WFDD, the public radio station licensed to Wake Forest University, recently announced that it will begin broadcasting WAKE Radio on its HD3 channel. WAKE Radio is Wake Forest University’s student-run college radio station. WFDD General Manager Tom Dollenmayer said that bringing WAKE Radio onto the HD3 channel will save money for the university and expose WAKE Radio to a wider audience.

Over the last year, 88.5 WFDD has assisted WAKE Radio with upgrading its systems to provide more consistent programming and provided guidance and broadcast instruction to WAKE Radio student managers. “We’re excited to continue our commitment to student engagement through our work with WAKE Radio,” said Dollenmayer.

Wake Forest University Provost Rogan Kersh said, “It’s big news that WFDD is broadcasting Wake Radio on HD3; as a longtime fan (my brother was a Wake Radio deejay back in the 1990s), I’m thrilled that Wake Radio will expand its reach . . . and that our students have a chance to work even more closely with the brilliant professionals at WFDD.”

WAKE Radio can now be heard 24/7 on WFDD HD3 via online streaming or an HD Radio, and will soon be available on iTunes Radio.

88.5 WFDD, Public Radio for the Piedmont, is a broadcast service of Wake Forest University and is the only public radio station of its kind located in the Piedmont Triad. It broadcasts news, information, and public affairs programming covering the arts, people, and institutions in the area from its Winston-Salem studios. The state’s charter NPR® member, 88.5 WFDD is the longest continuously-broadcasting public radio station in North Carolina.

WFDD announces program changes to begin in February

This is a guest post from 88.5 WFDD:

88.5 WFDD, the public radio station licensed to Wake Forest, recently announced programming changes, slated to begin in February. Included in these changes is combining the Triad Arts and News teams into one unit.

WFDD News Director Emily McCord said that bringing the Triad Arts staff into the News Department will allow more flexibility in news and arts reporting and it paves the way for new projects that will deepen our relationship with the community. “We’re excited about the opportunity to find amazing stories and share them with our audience in the way only public radio can,” said McCord.

In addition, the station announced some new programs being added to the schedule, while others will be heard at new times. Assistant General Manager Molly Davis said, “We hope that our listeners have had a chance to hear new episodes of Across the Blue Ridge with Paul Brown. Starting on Feb. 6, Mountain Stage will join the weekend lineup, creating a nice block of roots and traditional music on Saturday and Sunday evenings.” The station has also added Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, described as a curated guide to culture, on Sunday afternoons.

Programs moving time slots include The Tavis Smiley Show, Fresh Air Weekend, Marketplace Weekend, and Ask Me Another. Listeners will now hear Here and Now, the live midday news program from NPR and WBUR, from noon until 2 p.m., Monday through Friday.

WFDD General Manager Tom Dollenmayer said, “WFDD carefully studies audience data and listening trends. These changes are an effort to integrate arts coverage into our news coverage and to add oft-requested programs to our schedule.”

WFDD’s complete program schedule is available at wfdd.org.

Categories: Guest Post

88.5 WFDD receives nine awards for excellence in journalism

correct WFDD logo88.5 WFDD, the public radio station licensed to Wake Forest, was recently honored by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC) with nine awards for excellence in journalism.

The RTDNAC 2015 Awards Competition recognized the best of TV, radio, website, and collegiate work from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015. 88.5 WFDD received seven first place awards in the news categories of Consumer/Economic, Education, General News, Hard News Feature, Investigative, Light Feature, and Spot News; a second place award in the category of Spot News; and WFDD’s Keri Brown won first place for Radio Reporter of the Year.

Stories that received first place awards included Tobacco Farmers Lose Longtime Safety Net, by Emily McCord; As Education Spending Grabs Spotlight, Deteriorating Schools Get Little Aid, by Keri Brown; Dan River Coal Ash Spill: Long-Term Impact Unknown, by Keri Brown; Neighbors Lobby For More Regulation On Chicken Farms, by Keri Brown; McCrory Pushes Tax Credits At Opening For Company That Hasn’t Used Them, by Paul Garber; A Band Of Their Own, by David Ford; and Winter Storm Closes Schools, Downs Power Lines, by Emily McCord. The second place Spot News award was given for As Same Sex Marriage Becomes legal, Opinions In NC Are Mixed, by Emily McCord.

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WFDD to re-launch 'Across the Blue Ridge' radio program

This is a guest post from 88.5 WFDD:

88.5 WFDD, the public radio station licensed to Wake Forest University, is partnering with former 88.5 WFDD news director and NPR newscaster Paul Brown to re-launch “Across the Blue Ridge,” a program created by Brown at WFDD in the late 1980s. “Across the Blue Ridge” tells some of America’s most fascinating stories through the lens of Appalachian music and cultural history. It focuses on the southern Blue Ridge region known as a hotbed of old-time, bluegrass, blues, and country music. The show previously ran on WFDD for more than a decade until Brown left WFDD for NPR in Washington, DC.

WFDD logoBrown said, “I’m thrilled to collaborate with WFDD to bring ‘Across the Blue Ridge’ back to the airwaves, to the web, and to live performance venues. This is an amazing period in our music history, with a new generation of hot performers taking off in wonderful directions. I hope listeners will join me in sharing a truly fascinating, always-evolving story about the American south, its music, and connections to the wider world.”

88.5 WFDD has planned a January 2016 launch of the re-envisioned show, and has introduced an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to support the production of the program. “Producing a weekly radio program is costly,” said WFDD General Manager Tom Dollenmayer, “and we hope that our listeners who remember ‘Across the Blue Ridge’ fondly will want to contribute to aid in bringing back the show.”

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