After being invited to tour their brand new state-of-the-art facility by my good friend, the great Larry Martino, I was astonished by how cool this place was! To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect other than perhaps seeing a really big antenna. Upon arrival I was informed that within this building housed the magic behind radio stations such as KKLZ 96.3 FM, KCYE 102.7 FM, KDWN AM 720, KOAS 105.7 FM and KVGS 107.9 FM.
The only other experience I have had in terms of radio was viewing the tiny little operation for the student run radio station at the University of Nevada, Reno. By comparison, I was blown away by the BB building! We were able to take a look at the mainframes which breath life into the stations, check out some of the super high tech studio rooms, and given a little demonstration on what exactly are some of the tasks of a radio DJ! At first the whole setup was a bit daunting because there were seemingly hundreds of buttons, knobs, faders, and whatnot that all individually control something. It was something else watching Larry seamlessly adjust them while multi-tasking and performing other functions vital to giving his audience a perfect listening experience.
Perhaps the coolest thing about the building was the room set up to handle live performances for bands that come into town. A cozy intimate room with signed memorabilia all over the walls proved to be a very cool spot for artists to come in and throw down some tasty acoustic jams. A big thank you to all the employees at Beasley Broadcasting and the great Larry Martino for giving us an inside look into the radio business! read more