MVYRADIO will celebrate the move of its studios to an all-new facility in West Tisbury with a grand opening July 3rd. The event will feature a performance by Grammy-awarded singer Sarah Jarosz, as well as tours of the new building.
After 40 years broadcasting from their rented location on Carrolls Way in Vineyard Haven – an antiquated and crowded building, the station will operate out of their new, fully-owned facility with state-of-the-art microphones, soundboards, as well as 5 recording studios, enough offices for all staff, and a large multipurpose live room where entire bands can perform on air.
The story of MVYRADIO is an inspiring one of community-wide effort and commitment – what some would today call the power of crowdfunding, garnering the resources of a devoted following. It is also a tale of the public taking back an important part of their local culture.
Broadcasting from Carrolls Way in Vineyard Haven in 1981, MVYRADIO, then known as WMVY, was initially automated. By 1983, only two years later, with the efforts of then owners Bob and Linda Forrester, the station had grown to become the dynamic, live radio station that it is today, with live DJs, local content and a growing, devoted following on the island.
By the 1990’s, under the guidance of Program Director Barbara Dacey, the station became a beloved local institution and a very important part of Martha’s Vineyard culture and charm.
With the purchase by Aritaur Communications in the late 1990’s, the station expanded its reach from local to global, becoming one of the first broadcast stations in the country to make use of the novel technology of online streaming. By embracing new innovations in broadcasting, the station found support from listeners around the world, with stories of restaurants as far away as Italy streaming the station for their patrons, or landlocked mid-westerners being enthralled by the reports of shark sightings.
The global reach of online streaming, while a boon for new listeners and exposure, also brought with it new challenges to fundraising, including regulations limiting how the station could receive money from streaming listeners, and with locals now paying for advertising that did not always reach locals or equate to more local business. (I might just drop this whole paragraph)
With the recession in 2008, sponsorship quickly dried up and advertising budgets shrank. In 2012, Aritaur sold the 92.7 FM signal to Boston station WBUR, heralding an end to the station’s 30 plus years of live radio broadcasting and in the following year, the station became online streaming only.
What happened next is truly inspiring. Over the course of only two months, the devoted staff of WMVY fundraised over $600,000 dollars from local and global listener donations. With enough money now to stay afloat as an online-only station for a year, WMVY also converted to a 501c3 nonprofit and by 2014, with community support, the station was able to purchase a new FM frequency to get back on the air. WMVY was now back on the radio waves, broadcasting on 88.7 FM as an independent, listener supported, nonprofit radio station.
Today, with a budget larger than when it was a commercial station, and with thousands of donations each year – half of which come from “off island” and outside Massachusetts – WMVY is a thriving local radio station with global reach, continues to be a popular internet streaming station, with tens of thousands of online listeners per month and has become a national model for Triple A format of radio stations.
For the first time in over 40 years of broadcasting, MVYRADIO is making a long overdue move to a bigger, better equipped location.
“While we are sad to close out 40 years of broadcasting from Carrolls Way in Vineyard Haven, our new studios and offices are the beginning of an extraordinarily exciting future for the station,” said MVYRADIO Executive Director PJ Finn. “With all new equipment, and lots of working space, we’ll have better footing than ever to serve our listening community.”
Designed by local architect Joseph W Dick and built by local contractor, MV Construction, the new building is being funded through donations from year-round Islanders as well as summer visitors, and a generous lead gift from members of MVYRADIO’s nonprofit Board.
“We set out to raise $2.5 million to complete this project,” said James Attwood, MVYRADIO Board Chair. “We have now reached over 92% of our goal. We’re grateful to the community for their generous support.”
Although all broadcast operations have been transferred to the new studio, the station’s staff is still in the process of moving business operations to the building. Some fine tuning remains, with more furniture arriving daily, boxes still being unpacked, desks assembled, and of course some final touches to landscaping, parking and outdoor areas, but the station is planning an open house for the public in early August.
