CSU-Pueblo’s radio station Rev 89 has reached the number one spot in the top-rated Arbitron market in Pueblo, Colo.
Arbitron monitors the average quarter hour listeners that it has, and Rev 89 has reached 10,000 listeners every 15 minutes. Being a student run radio station this is a big achievement for Mike Atencio, REV 89’s main radio manager.
“It’s very exciting that we have reached this goal, which has not happened in nine years, since 2003,” Atencio said.
Rev 89’s average listeners tune in about eight hours a week, which has helped with getting their number one spot. REV 89 does not use any commercial advertisements since they are a student-only college radio station.
The radio station covers areas of Colorado Springs, La Junta, Canon City and all of Pueblo. It has also beaten out all surrounding commercial stations including KCCY, which holds the number two spot on the Arbitron list with 6,500 listeners an hour.
Rev 89 has a diverse playlist of music that you can hear on their radio station. They try to apply it to anyone, young and old, which gives them a variety of listeners and music.
“With all of the different varieties of music playing, some of the older listeners like to hear certain songs being played, but with so many different genres of music they can hear many different songs that might catch their attention,” Atencio said.
The Rev 89 staff consists of all students who decided to enroll in the class and with the changing of students from year to year it’s always challenging, Atencio said. But despite the constant changes, the station always seems to stay within the top three of the Arbitron market.
Along with having a complete student staff, Rev 89 also deals with the problem of having equipment break, which does not happen frequently but since they are not a commercial station and they are on a budget from the college they would have to find a way to fix that equipment with their own money.
Spring is on its way and that means new talent and change in the radio station. With the number one spot in their hands, Rev 89 and the students who make it happen are ready for another semester, Atencio said.
“Our expectations are always high and with the student staff always changing, it’s hard to be completely consistent, but we are doing a great job,” he said. “I’m always happy with first but the top three are always changing, but I still have very high hopes.”