Support local independent music by purchasing watts
Twice a year, Radio 1190 strives to earn $50,000 in eight days, and they always make the mark.
Pledges come mostly from community listeners. CU students already support the radio station with student fees. Pledges are made in watts, allowing the listener to personally own a part of Radio 1190.
“We use watts as a metaphor for buying part of our station,” said Andrew Coate, general manager of the station and junior fine arts, studio arts major.
Prizes will be given away as additional incentive to pledge money to Radio 1190. A donation of two watts ($20) receives a sticker and Rocket Card, good for discounts at local independent record stores. Six watts ($60) receives a sticker, Rocket Card and a Radio 1190 T-shirt. Prizes go up incrementally, ending with a donation of $600 that will receive a T-shirt, travel coffee mug, hooded sweatshirt and a membership to the CD of the month club.
“Five hundred or 600 people usually pledge,” said Katherine Peterson, membership coordinator for the station and sophomore applied mathematics major.
Local business also donated prizes for the pledge drive.
“One big thing that has been donated is a one-night stay at the Hotel Boulderado, about a $200 value,” Coate said.
The pledge drive allows the station to operate independently. The rewards of the eight-day event are numerous. Volunteers man the phone lines from around 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“It is an exciting, nerve-racking time and also over-caffeinated. It gets pretty wild and fun down here,” Coate said about the consumption of Red Bull, a sponsor of the drive. “We have spent a month and a half of getting things together. Our financial future runs on these next few days.”
Winning Westword’s Best New Music Station in Denver award for the eighth consecutive year may place Radio 1190 in more people’s minds during the pledge drive.
“We don’t stray from experimenting. We are all at the top of our game with polished play lists,” Coate said.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Kathleen Straney at Kathleen.Straney@thecampuspress.com.
