Open to the Public

Kirk Baird

Wednesday, March 23, 2005 | 8:09 a.m.

When KNPR first signed on the air a quarter century ago, the station was competing with the likes of Blondie, Kool and the Gang, Andy Gibb and Rupert Holmes.

At that time the notion of a classical and public radio station succeeding in Las Vegas, a city hardly known for culture and sophistication, seemed preposterous to most everyone.

Except Lamar Marchese.

It was Marchese who first conceived the idea of a Las Vegas-based National Public Radio affiliate in the mid-'70s while working for the Clark County Library District.

Today he is the president and general manager of two radio stations, the all-news KNPR 88.9-FM and the all-classical music KCNV 89.7-FM.

Sitting in his office at the stations' $4.5 million broadcast facility, on the site of Community College of Southern Nevada's West Charleston Boulevard campus, Marchese said he can hardly believe it's been 25 years since the station signed on the airwaves.

"It doesn't seem that long, but time flies when you're having fun," he said. "It's been a great ride."

When asked if he thought his labor of love would make it this long, Marchese, 61, said he never considered the station's long-term success. Instead, he was focused on the immediate day-to-day needs of keeping it running; mainly, drumming up financial and community support.

"It took a long time to get it to a place where I knew it would be successful," Marchese said. "Until then, I had my moments of doubt."

Len Zane, who has been involved with the station since the late '70s in various capacities, including board member, volunteer and donor, said there are many Las Vegans who will gladly take credit for the success of KNPR.

"I think at this point there's a whole cadre of people who feel they were instrumental in helping get the station started and grow to the level it is now," he said.

But it's a consistent management team, led by Marchese, Zane said should be credited for the station's success.

"It's been the same people pushing the same agenda from the get-go," he said. "Which is particularly important in a city such as Las Vegas, where things change so quickly."

Humble beginnings

KNPR first broadcast from an 800-square-foot former janitor's closet beneath Sam Boyd Stadium (then known as the Silver Bowl) on March 24, 1980. A few months later the Boyd family donated a space next to Sam's Town on Boulder Highway, and the station relocated to a 4,600-square-foot studio/office, where it remained for nearly two decades.

Through most of the '80s the station featured a variety of specialty programming, including bluegrass, opera, jazz, folk and spoken word.

"You name it, we did it," Marchese said.

In 1989 a market research program initiated by KNPR found that most listeners preferred the news and classical formats, and the station subsequently dropped specialty shows.

The move, though, proved controversial to some listeners.

Marchese still recalls a phone call years later during a KNPR pledge drive in which one disgruntled listener said he wouldn't donate to the station anymore because the bluegrass show had been canceled.

"We had some repercussions, but you do what you've got to do," he said.

The half-news, half-classical format proved to be popular -- too popular, really -- among listeners, and it wasn't long before the idea of splitting KNPR into two stations was explored.

After years of local fundraising and negotiating with the Federal Communications Commission, KNPR officially split into two stations on Oct. 31, 2003.

Despite initial problems with the signal quality of KCNV, especially near the Strip and downtown, along with occasional power outages, the dual-station format has been popular.

Florence Rogers, director of programming for both stations, said the latest Arbitron ratings were the best yet, with 100,000 listeners tuning into KNPR and 30,000 to KCNV.

"Programming-wise, it's the strongest we've ever been and we have more of an audience than ever before," she said.

Hal Weller, musical director with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, said having an all-classical station has been a blessing to the city.

"For all of us who are engaged in cultural activities, especially in the musical arts, it provides a rallying point to the community, not only in finding the classical music of the year, but also to get information on what's happening in the community regarding series concerts," he said.

The biggest problem in the switch has been the recent winter weather.

Twice in the last three months KCNV has gone silent after its antenna on Mount Potosi was damaged by falling ice.

"It's been disappointing, but we're in a bad winter," said Phil Burger, director of broadcast operations of the stations. "We have to plan to keep the station on the air every day no matter what the weather throws at us."

The solution involves installing an ice shield around KCNV's antenna, and building a backup antenna elsewhere.

"We have to find a backup site that does not get as much snow and ice so we can get on the air from the backup location if we have to," Burger said.

Nevada Public Radio, which operates KNPR and KCNV, also owns rural stations in Tonopah, Ely and Panaca. In addition, the FCC recently approved the Nevada Public Radio purchase of a noncommercial FM station in St. George, Utah (population 125,000).

Although the station's format -- news, classical or both -- has yet to be determined, it will begin broadcasting no later than Nov. 1.

Nearly a week away from the 25th anniversary of the station's first broadcast, Marchese is impressed by the growth of KNPR.

"We first started out with a budget of $250,000 a year and five full-time staff members. Everyone else was a volunteer," he said. "Now we've got a $3 million annual budget, 26 employees and are serving a region of 49,000 square miles.

"It's huge what we've done over 25 years."