Listeners who tune into 96.7 FM almost anywhere in Arlington can now hear broadcasts from the county’s home-grown radio station.
WERA has returned to broadcasting at its full authorized power out of its home base at 2300 Clarendon Blvd — a significant turnaround for the station that went dark for a year and was, until recently, operating as a self-described “bare minimum of a broadcast.”
Radio Arlington Co-Director Becky Meiers plans to continue the buildout in the coming weeks and months with a schedule of local hosts, online streaming, an ongoing survey on community interests, and more.
“I’m feeling really optimistic and hopeful that we’re able to build something that is useful for Arlingtonians, and I’m really excited about the local partnerships that we’re able to build as a result,” Meiers told ARLnow.
Currently, the station is only running nationally syndicated shows — public affairs and talk programming in the morning, music in the afternoon — through a membership at the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. A broadcast of the radio show “No Small Endeavor” came in loud and clear for an ARLnow reporter in Ballston shortly before noon today (Tuesday).
WERA was previously broadcasting on a smaller, temporary antenna with a very limited range. Since Oct. 26, however, the station has been using an antenna that makes the station accessible in almost the entire county, with the possible exception of a portion of North Arlington.
Listeners currently need a radio to tune in, but Meiers’ team is working on including an online stream on the Radio Arlington website. The organization is also currently conducting a survey on how members of the public interact with media and the value that a station like WERA could provide.
Depending on the survey’s results, future projects could include the creation of a WERA app, Meiers said.
“It’s really fun and exciting to see a community station start from the ground up, and I’m really, really, hopeful,” she said.
Unlike its ill-fated predecessor, Arlington Independent Media, Radio Arlington is entirely volunteer-run. Meiers encouraged anyone interested in volunteering or donating to get in touch.
“Building a community radio station from scratch is a monumental task, even when everything lines up easily,” she said in a recent email. “Now, the real work begins.”
