Radio Newark is one step closer to building a small FM station. Local resident Steve Worden recently raised the money needed for an engineering study for the nonprofit station that he sees as another way to increase interest in science.
Next to come is an effort to raise money that will lead to the low-power FM station going on the air. The station’s signal would cover the city of Newark and adjacent areas, but not Elkton or the Bear-Glasgow area. Local programming is planned, but don’t expect the school menus and weather-related closings that were a part of the former WNRK.
Thanks to the Inernet, Worden has been streaming science and some news content from a worldwide group of radio stations that include China Radio International, Radio France International and Vatican Radio.
The science programming, from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and numerous other academic and government provers, is geared to the layman with an interest in the subject.
Using his skills in the information technology world, Worden has content moving smoothly between programs and station IDs. You can accesss the station from the website. The station has also gained some exposure by being added as a pick on the Microsoft Windows media player. Along the way, the number of listeners has grown from less than 1,000 in 2012 to 11,500 in April. I’ll take a closer look at radio Newark in an upcoming issue of the Bulletin.
