A mature Radio Catskill celebrates 35 years on air

And many changes over those years

By Manor Ink Staff

Liberty, NY – Tim Bruno was one of the voices heard over Power 92 in Bloomington, IN, where classic rock kept thousands of listeners tuned in around the clock. It was his first professional gig after high school.

So how did a disc jockey who moved on to become a programmer, producer and supervisor for the likes of NBC News, the Today Show and Viacom wind up in Liberty, managing WJFF Radio Catskill, the region’s homegrown public radio station?

“We bought a house here in 2004, and I eventually got involved with the station,” Bruno said. “First as a volunteer, then as a Board of Trustees member and, eventually, as the station’s manager. I’ve been in that position for five years now.”

Bruno’s fifth year is the station’s thirty-fifth. WJFF first went on air in 1990, following a four-year effort by a crew of volunteers led by station co-founders Malcolm Brown and Anne Larson. An FCC license was obtained, equipment was purchased, a two-story station building was erected and an associate membership in National Public Radio was wrangled. On Feb. 12 of that year, Radio Catskill went live. Only one problem – none of its programmers had any radio experience.

A lot has changed since then. WJFF was only on air 12 hours a day at its start. It then went to 18 hours, signing off at midnight each day, and finally began broadcasting full-time in the early 2000s. Its broadcast radius following a transmitter upgrade was increased to about 80 miles, reaching listeners as far away as Scranton and Kingston, Delhi and Middletown. It is also no longer supplied with hydroelectricity generated by Jeffersonville Hydroelectric Company, once one of the station’s most distinguishing features.

Covid, and local news

Station Manager Bruno had the dubious good timing to take the reins at Radio Catskill just as the pandemic hit in March 2020, and everything shut down.

“We had a fund drive coming up, and there was just no way we could do it,” Bruno said. Fund drives are the lifeblood of public radio; listeners are asked to contribute financial support to help keep the lights on. “We couldn’t have people in the studio and on air, asking for contributions, as we normally would. But what we could do was keep listeners informed about the Covid situation.” That was the beginning of local news on Radio Catskill.

“We began with short, informative inserts in the morning and evening NPR news programs,” Bruno said. “We noticed that suddenly more people were listening. They were depending on us for local news, and that led to the creation of ‘The Local Edition,’ a half-hour weekday news program at six o’clock each evening.”

Several years later, WJFF added “Radio Chatskill,” an informative, hour-long news magazine hosted by Bruno at 10 a.m. on weekdays. The station also hired additional news staff, including Producer Patricio Robayo and, most recently, Reporter Kimberly Izar. Program Director Jason Dole, a longtime member of the station’s staff and a familiar voice to many listeners, not only hosts news programming, but programs the station’s playlist feed and manages a myriad other tasks. The addition of Development Manager Mimi Bradley brought on an all-important outreach capability.

Moving to Liberty, and challenges ahead

In 2018, Radio Catskill acquired the former Catskill Harvest Market property on Rte. 52 in Liberty, a generous donation made to the station by its owner. Over several years, plans were drawn up, a construction team was hired and the property’s main structure was converted into a state-of-the-art studio building with three broadcast facilities, spacious offices and a large meeting room. The move from the original studios in Jeffersonville was completed in the summer of 2022, and the staff and volunteer hosts began broadcasting from the new location in August.

The transition was remarkably smooth, with supporters finding the new facilities more than impressive. A second building on the property is slated to be converted into additional office space at some time in the future, but for now Radio Catskill faces another challenge. An important source of the station’s funding may be in jeopardy.

“We get about 20 percent of our annual budget from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is funded by Congress,” Bruno said. “We’ve been approved through 2027, but with the current administration in Washington, we could be at risk. The board is working on strategies in case we lose funding.” For now, though, the station continues to provide quality news and entertainment for its listeners.

To learn about events planned to celebrate Radio Catskill’s 35th anniversary, to support the station or to stream its programming, visit wjffradio.org.