KBYS_MORNING_SHOW

ON AIR

Volunteer radio in SWLA gains new voices

By Michelle Romero

Contributing Writer

AT LEFT: Braylin 'Bray-J' Jenkins.  AT RIGHT: Corey Grienisen

Listeners have already been able to hear the sounds of KBYS 88.3 FM since May 18, but only now has personality been injected into the station’s airwaves. 

“The Morning Wake-Up with Bray J” is now airing roughly from 6-10 a.m. since Sept. 4.  Braylin Jenkins is the voice behind Bray J, and he’s there to help commuters get to where they need to go.  

“The way that I have laid out the show as of now, the 7 a.m. hour block is going to be geared towards family,” Jenkins said.

He hopes to provide a “full reflective community and university.”

McNeese’s newest media offering is growing right across campus at 4120 Ryan St, next door to Raisin’ Cane’s Chicken Fingers.  In an effort to reach and maximize exposure to the varied listeners that are available throughout the mornings, Jenkins has each hour of his show dedicated to a specific demographic.

“The way that I have laid out the show as of now, the 7 a.m. hour block is going to be geared towards family. The 8 a.m. hour is part-student, but more so for professionals who are headed to work during that time,” Jenkins said.

“And with the 9 a.m. hour, I’d really like to dedicate to not only students here at the university but students throughout that are in higher education.”

AND NOW THE NEWS

Jenkins is not the only new name at KBYS.  Corey Greineisen, newly minted news director at KBYS, currently produces the radio station’s hourly news program.  [Editor’s note: The news program is unofficially deemed “The Contraband News,” and currently works as an extension of the Contraband’s media efforts.  Greineisen himself is in his senior year and is sports editor for this newspaper.]

“Right now, we’re looking at maybe airing at the top of the hour at 8 a.m., noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. just as a starter, but eventually we’ll want news every hour,” he said.

“On Braylin’s show, we’re gonna run it every 30 minutes.”

CASTING A BROAD NET

What does this mean for the station’s goals on a broader scale? “We really do want to break the rule of radio and be ‘radio for everyone’ – but in the content. Musically, we’re ‘oldies,’ and so it’s going to be hit-or-miss. Some people are going to love it, some people aren’t and some people are going to grow to love it,” Jenkins said.

“But as far as the morning show goes,” he continued, “I want faculty and students to be on often; I’d like people throughout the community to be on often. I’m gonna highlight nonprofits, anyone who plays a role in bettering university community.”

 “They say it’s an impossible goal to make everyone happy, but that really is what our goal at KBYS is,” Greineisen said.

“No matter who you are in the community, you can find something on KBYS that you like.”

In order to reach that many differing tastes, the station aims to maintain a broad variety of songs.  Greineisen said that while most mainstream radio stations cycle through about 100 songs, KBYS cycles through about 5,000.

The station is still largely being run automatically.  Although the station now has the physical capability to air content live, finding warm bodies and strong voices is an issue.  KBYS is currently pushing a large volunteer recruitment drive with the goal of bringing to the community airspace.  Manpower is an issue, and until that changes, expect to only hear a smattering of live personality on the radio.

“It’s our goal to eventually have someone on the radio 16 hours a day, seven days a week,” Greineisen said.

NPR: NOT PUBLIC RADIO

More often than not, typical college radio stations are run by National Public Radio, which directs what programs are aired or otherwise; however, the team at KBYS want to emphasize the important of the voice of the students and community.

“If students want something on the radio or want their voices heard in some way, they just have to come and talk to one of us,” Greineisen said.

The station differs from most radio stations not only in its heavy involvement with the community but also in how it is run. Most mainstream radio stations consist of programs that are pre-recorded and played automatically in the mornings. Stations in large market areas such as Houston, New York or Nashville are typically where those programs are originally recorded and then subsequently sent to smaller markets. 

Likewise, while most radio stations throughout Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana are owned by Cumulus Broadcasting, KBYS is not only recorded on-site but is also locally-produced.

In order to make that possible, the station receives funding from the community as well as the McNeese Foundation.

“The Foundation has been amazing in supporting us. We have major community supporters that have backed us greatly, and we owe this community a lot for what we are,” Greinesien said.

“We want students to know that this is a huge benefit to them being that this has been an idea for decades,” Jenkins added.

“So the fact that they get to experience that – it’s a huge deal to say that your university has a station because not every university has that privilege.”

Not only will KBYS be heavily involved in the community, the team’s goal is to also benefit the station’s student listeners.

“It’s going to be huge for them as far as the information they receive – in the morning show especially, but also throughout the day,” Jenkins said.  Students can expect easy and not so easy to obtain information from the show, including inside information about available parking, and even ticketing schedules – all in cooperation with Chief Robert Spinks, who likes to go by ‘Bossman.’

Greineisen and Jenkins also plan to attend and broadcast live at each McNeese tailgate where they will interview students, community members and featured musical acts.

Backing the duo up at KBYS is ‘Bossman’ Spinks acting as program director, as well as Chad Thibodeaux, information technology director, Cedric Ferrel, studio engineer, Patrick Eustis on social media and web development, and Robert Burgett, who overlooks programing, music uploads and promos. 

KBYS 88.3 FM is a volunteer-run radio station that cannot run without student and community input. For those interested in volunteering at KBYS, radio meetings are held every Friday at 3 p.m. at the station itself.  Or you can send an e-mail to info@kbys.fm for more information.