Thunder Radio gets big bucks
ThunderRadio staff that attended the student government meeting on last Sunday, let out a long-awaited sigh of relief.
Student government voted unanimously for ThunderRadio to receive $31,020 for the fiscal year of 2007-2008.
ThunderRadio will also have probationary Tier I organization status.
Tier I organizations receive a fixed percentage of the student activity fee each year, and any remaining money is used to fund Tier II organizations.
Prior to the shift, Thunderadio was a Tier II organization.
If the radio station follows guidelines set by student government, it will transition into a full Tier I organization status.
“Tier I organizations are funded at no less than 2 percent of the student activity fee,” said Adam Montgomery, finance commissioner.
Thunderadio general manager Jim Otis and other staff are creating a nine member advisory board known as Board of Media and Broadcast (BOMB).
“BOMB will be similar to The Spectrum’s board of directors,” Otis said.
The board will coordinate policies and oversee the probationary period.
“We are eager to have a budget to work with,” Otis said. “Our equipment needs to be upgraded. It’s hard to depend on computers and equipment that other stations gave away because they couldn’t use it anymore.”
During the 2006-2007 fiscal year, ThunderRadio’s budget was around $6,700. The year before that it was around $1,500.
Thunderadio received its 2002 FM license during the spring of 2002.
“Having a (Fargo-Moorhead) slot of airtime open up does not happen very often,” Otis said. “The timing was really lucky.”
ThunderRadio joined with Radio Free Fargo, which is community-based, to split airtime on their 105.9 station.
Nine officer positions and 20-25 DJ’s make up the ThunderRadio staff.
“With the new budget we will be able to compensate the officers,” Otis said. “With paid positions people can dedicate more time to their work instead of balancing school, work and the station.”
Otis will not be here to see ThunderRadio operate with its new budget next year, but still hopes to call for a few minutes of airtime with his sports show.
Kevin Quinn, a junior in management communication will be assuming the general manager position.
“This decision will give the organization a certain level of assurance that funding will be there to depend on,” Otis said. “There is a lot of opportunity with the future of ThunderRadio.”
ThunderRadio will be hosting their second annual KNDS Block Party on May 5 in downtown Fargo.
Nine bands with hip-hop, rock, country and other genres will perform.