WTSR 91.3, TCNJ’s student-run radio station, was recently nominated for seven Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Awards, and earned two awards at the national conference in March in New York City. The IBS awards recognizes the exceptional achievements of college and high school radio stations nationwide.
WTSR Production Director Sam Herman ’26 won Best Production Director and community volunteer and alumnus Thomas Kelley ’97 won Best Community Volunteer Program.
The nominees included Delaney Smith, Sarah Neil, Kevin Potucek, Jenna Rittman, Skye Frawly (Best Political News – “Live Election Coverage); Delaney Smith (Best Program Director); Addie Dipietro (Best Music Director); Matt Post (Best Sports Director); and DJ Landau (Best Business Director).
Herman, who has been with the station for three years, said it is nice to see his hard work being rewarded. He said he is not just proud of himself but rather the whole production staff and WTSR board.
Herman, who did not have a background in radio during high school, chose to pick it up for fun when he came to TCNJ. Although he is an English Secondary Education major and not a Communication Studies major, he said it showed him that anyone is capable of doing great things.
Herman said earning the award has inspired him to leave his comfort zone and try new things.
“Open your mind, see the world, give something new a try, and who knows, you may discover some kind of secret passion you would have never even dreamed about,” Herman said.
He said as a production director, one of his goals was to create new bumpers which are short clips of songs, used to transition between different elements of a program, different from the ones they had been using for many years.
“I’m proud of all the things we made…I’m also proud of how much I was able to organize and clean up our selection of things to play between songs,” Herman said.
Kelley got involved with WTSR as a student. He subbed for shows in 1994 andalso solo hosted weekly radio shows from 1995 through 1997. Kelley came back to WTSR in 2000 as a community volunteer with a summer show called Dreamfasting. In 2002, he started Transmission Control focusing on electronic alternative bases like synthpop, new wave, industrial, and more and it will be nearing its 1,000th show.
In 2019, he started a second program called the Starliner which was dedicated to Berlin School and progressive electronic music. Kelley, who is close to 4,000 hours of radio on WTSR, said he wishes to continuously improve program quality.
He said although receiving recognition is nice, he is most proud of the feedback he gets from listeners.
“My listener feedback represents a personal connection to all the people who are indeed out there on the other side of the microphone,” Kelley said. “The bottom line is that there is no point to radio without listeners, so hearing from mine makes it all worthwhile.”
– Emilia Calabrese ’27