Riding the waves

The arrival of Crescent City Radio one year ago has transformed a long-unused room into an active hub. But Loyola's Internet radio station still faces obstacles related to resources and listenership.

By: Masako Hirsch

Posted: 3/13/09

A little over a year ago, the radio station on the fourth floor of the Communications/ Music Complex was still a time capsule to the past. Once the home of WWL and WLDC, the far corner of the floor had become an obsolete ode to a time before podcasts and MP3s. Now, Crescent City Radio has transformed the space into a growing hub that marks the transition to a new form of Internet-based communication.

"The Internet is all around us, basically," said Jay Crutti, faculty advisor to Crescent City Radio.

The station encountered challenges after its launch in January 2008, several of which stemmed from its proposal that included no terms about budgeting, which prevented Crescent City Radio a means to get new equipment and hire a staff.

"The original proposal was well thought out, but there's a lot of things that I don't think anyone considered for the actual healthy operation of the station. We didn't understand the reality of what it took to run a 24-hour radio station," Crutti said.
Crescent City Radio has been able to work through the problems that have resulted. Much of the current equipment was donated, and though Crutti had little help in the beginning, the addition of work study students has improved the running of the station.

The budgeting issue has persisted, however, and threatened the station this past December when it had to pay licensing fees for the music played. A donation from Best Buy allowed Crescent City Radio to stay on air.

"Luckily, with the money we received from them, its bought us another year of life. We'll see what happens come next December," Crutti said. "The eventual goal is that it will become self-sufficient through advertising and cross promotions and things like that."

This remains difficult as radio transitions from traditional broadcast. Listeners have been steady from the beginning, but it still remains at an average of 13 listeners at any given time, with highs of 30 to 40 listeners.

"I think things are changing and as that transformation takes place, you're going to see our Web site numbers increase, you're going to see our listenership increase because it will then become the dominant delivery method," he said.

The constant improvements in technology have allowed the station's staff to keep finding ways of tracking listeners and understanding what attracts them. One factor that has helped the station get its name out is the appearances of several well-known artists. Last semester, rappers Juvenile and Murs were among those featured.

Alex McConduit, who graduated in Decem