KETR Public Radio, the local FM radio station, has reached back into it’s past and hired a familiar face to take on a leading role.
Bill Oliver has been hired as the general manager for KETR, and he is not new to the Commerce area or to the university.
“I was here between 1984-1987, and I was news and sports director for KETR,” said Bill Oliver, general manager for radio station KETR.
According to Oliver, the station functions in three ways. First, KETR serves the university community. Next, the station serves the communities outside the university and, finally, it serves the students, faculty and staff inside the Radio/Television program.
Overall, the station reaches a potential audience of 181,000 people and serves a 70-mile radius.
According to Oliver, he found out about the because he had been catching up on local news in the places that he had previously lived, and he read that the former station manager was moving to College Station.
“That is where the journey began,” commented Oliver.
There are changes that are going to be made, but he is not sure at this point what the changes will be.
“Just because of the fact that there is someone new here that means that there will be changes made,” said Oliver.
Oliver has been watching and listening around the station since he has arrived and has taken an active role in asking students to do the work that will qualify them for practicum credit.
“I have told Dr. Dempsey and Dr. Sanders that there is going to be more student involvement on KETR, but there are also standards that go along with that involvement,” said Oliver. “We’re not going to put students on KETR just for the sake of putting students on.”
Changes in programming for KETR are underway, including expanding the program “Notably Texan with Matt Meinke” from 7 p.m. until midnight on Saturday.
“Matt Meinke is a A&M-Commerce alum that now works part time for the university,” said Oliver. “His program was extended to provide the same entertainment that we currently have on Sunday night on Saturday.”
Don’t be surprised if you hear more local programming in the future from KETR.
“One of the things that I commented often about during the interview process was that I think there could be more local programming on KETR that can co-exist with some of the other things that we are doing,” said Oliver. “KETR will change in the respect that the listeners will be hearing more local programming, and that local programming can be produced by professional staff. I expect students to participate in that.”
Many changes in Commerce and in the university have taken place since he left twenty years ago, including the new science building, the New Pride apartments and the construction of a new student center.
“When I was here, I was here at the time that [East Texas State] had to fight to stay open,” said Oliver. “We went to Austin to testify before a committee to keep ETSU open.”
“Now this place isn’t going away and from the search committee to the administration building, they want KETR to be a big part of reflecting the same sort of attitude that has gone into the new buildings, that have gone into the other efforts to build onto the foundations that they are continuing to lay,” commented Oliver.
Oliver invites everyone to contact him with ideas and suggestions for KETR, since he is interested in developing new local programming. He can be reached via e-mail at bill@ketr.org or by phone at (903) 886-5848.
“New local programming will originate from the university and from the communities in our listening areas,” said Oliver. “I want to not only hear from people who have listened to the station forever, but also from those who haven’t tuned in before.”