Media: Still Tuned In

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Certainly, staying close to the customer has never had more meaning. In Reading (pop. 81,000), general manager Dave Kline refers to WEEU as a community walkie-talkie--a tag that aptly describes the station's key role in covering, for example, the June 28 flooding that swept through the industrial city's west side. "We were the central point of contact for a lot of the businesspeople, the police, the fire department, everyone who was involved," Kline recalls.

Owned by the Reading Eagle Co., the 75-year-old WEEU--the only indie in a crowded market that includes Clear Channel--does well financially, thanks to an advertiser base that appreciates high school sports, homegrown voices and programming like Kaz's German Bavarian Alpine Happy Music Show. Chingy's not happening here. Noting WEEU's Top 3 rank in the local ratings, Kline says, "We take seriously our FCC license that says we should serve the community."

The term service takes on several meanings at KTAO in Taos (pop. 4,700). Station owner Brad Hockmeyer is the FM station's morning man, the operator of a thriving printing business and the proprietor of KTAO's Solar Center, where a ticket to the Refugee All-Stars of Sierra Leone show and a beer will set you back $20. The nation's largest solar-powered station, the enormous, 100,000-watt (50,000 watts are considered big) KTAO boasts a laid-back demeanor--the playlist runs from John Prine to Bob Marley to Marvin Gaye--that hides its powerhouse status, both on the air and throughout town. "People have told me that they've moved to Taos because of the station," reports Hockmeyer, 56, who started KTAO in 1982. He says the station is profitable, posting 2005 revenue of $1 million. "We really aren't like your typical commercial station. We can give you a real feel for what this community's all about."

In Los Angeles, though, Saul Levine doesn't want to hear about digital this, online that. If he or his family ever sells the classical-music station KMZT-FM--its prime asset, the broadcasting tower, sits atop commanding Mount Wilson--industry observers say it could fetch $100 million. That would surely give Levine's company, Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters, some kind of independence.