PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Since June, 89.7 FM has been silent but it is expected to make a lot of noise soon.

 

Because during that time, Pittsfield Community Television has built a new WTBR studio, established new policies and procedures, lined up new shows, and is now waiting for just a few more things before the Brave FM returns after these messages.

 

"We used everything that was possible to use. There was some furniture that was pretty tired, pretty beat up. We said OK, it doesn't make any sense to bring that back here," PCTV Executive Director Shawn Serre said of the former studio deep in the belly of the old Taconic High School.

 

The station was established at the high school in 1973 out of a small studio tucked behind a classroom with a tower protruding off the top of the school. Since then it had its ups and downs but managed to stay afloat. When interest from the students waned, it had continued to have the support of volunteers and listeners in the community.

 

But with the building of a new Taconic High School and the old one to be demolished, no room was carved out in the new building for a studio. The school had no interest in keeping an educational radio program. But at the same time, the community didn't want to see it go.

 

PCTV put forth a plan to take over management, which was approved by the School Department earlier this year. PCTV, with the ability to simulcast community events, and meetings, television and radio shows, set a goal to really take it to the next level.

 

The first step was getting the equipment out of the old school, along with some 20,000 vinyl records. At PCTV's office on Federico Drive, what was an office space was expanded and remodeled into a new studio.

 

They added a dedicated air conditioner to the room, placed a window people can peer into right as they walk in the front door, and purchased new furniture to double the number of people who could participate in a talk show. The group reinstalled the cameras to allow radio programs to easily go to television, including adding an additional one. Smaller equipment was added to a production room to allow people to record non-live shows for playback later.

 

"We did a lot of the work ourselves. All of the furniture we put together ourselves, all of the wiring we did ourselves, installing the cameras we did ourselves," Serre said.

 

Serre said all of the equipment at the former studio was reused including extra microphones that weren't used because of space.

 

Now WTBR has an expanded, visible location in the building and is all easily linked to PCTV's television equipment.

 

"That is the big advantage, being in the same facility," Serre said.

 

It's ready to go for the most part. Now PCTV is in a waiting game to get the station back on the air. The antenna still needs a final location. 

 

"We're still hoping to use our original first choice, which is the old Eagle Building, which is 53 Eagle St. What we are running into right now is engineering and technical issues," Serre said. 

 

PCTV has broadcast engineer Mike Fitzpatrick, a Berkshire native now working full time in Boston, on the case. Fitzpatrick has hired a subcontractor and they are working out the logistics and the testing of that placement in hopes to get a Federal Communications Commission construction permit.

 

"We were originally hoping it would be September, October timeframe. Now that has passed us by. But I still want to say by the end of the year and I hope I am right," Serre said.

 

While the studio is the most visible aspect of the radio station, PCTV has been working on the behind-the-scenes stuff, too. The organization crafted a manual for rules and procedures, established governing committees, and defined training for equipment and FCC rules.

 

The station will be overseen by a community advisory board consisting of appointees from PCTV and the Pittsfield Public Schools. That will serve as a governing body making sure PCTV is serving community needs. The schools and PCTV will also appoint members to a programming committee that will review and either deny or approve applications for shows. 

 

"I don't suspect it will be a very hard path for somebody to take. It should be quick," Serre said. "The folks who then want to do a program need to come here and do training. We want to show them how to use the equipment, show them the rules we have, and also familiarize them with FCC guidelines."

 

So far, there is no shortage of demand. Serre said every one of the existing show producers was offered a spot when the new WTBR goes on the air and nearly all of those hosts expressed interest. 

 

"Their time slot, we'll do our best to accommodate and keep them in the time slot they had," Serre said.

 

PCTV expects the demand to be so great that it has already limited talk shows to an hour and music shows to two hours. Serre said the organization has gotten a significant number of requests for shows and PCTV has been keeping a list of those interested to contact as soon as it gets the go-ahead.

 

"It is a very encouraging sign that the station will succeed," Serre said.

 

And all of those vinyl records, PCTV has organized and cataloged nearly all of them. They are neatly stacked behind a curtain in the main television studio and can be used as a background for a number of shows -- including shows simulcast on the radio station.

 

Businesswise, Serre said the goal is to get the station to be fully self-sufficient. He said fundraising, membership drives, and underwriting will soon ramp up as it builds the financial support.

 

"We are going to be ramping up our efforts for commercial underwriting, or corporate support essentially. It can't be advertising because advertising is meant for commercial stations and we are a non-commercial, education station. We follow the same type of guidelines an NPR station would," Serre said.

 

Serre knows that financial stability for the station won't "happen overnight" but he has a three to five-year plan to get there. But for WTBR to be what Serre believes it truly can be, it is going to take members, financial support, show producers and volunteers, and listeners. 

 

"This is a station of and by the community. If we want something like this to continue to thrive and survive, it will need people to support it," Serre said.