We're the Valley's Fresh Alternative
These were the words of one of our underwriters after reviewing WVFA's 2005 operating expenses in last year's GMEF financial report, which demonstrated an operating cost of only $1.39/hr. In our effort to continue exercising good stewardship of donated funds, we sought to match that figure, not withstanding increases in certain expenses, and came up with an hourly operating cost of $1.42 in 2006, as shown below:
| Individual / Family Underwriters | 7,613.14 |
| Church Underwriters | 1,388.00 |
| Business Underwriters | 3,014.90 |
| Dues | 100.00 |
| TOTAL RECEIPTS | 12,166.04 |
| Checking Account Balance (01/01/06) | 556.06 |
| Plus TOTAL RECEIPTS | 12,166.04 |
| Less TOTAL EXPENSES | 12,467.73 |
| Checking Account Balance (12/31/06) | $254.37 |
| Music License Fees | 636.00 |
| SkyLight Program Service | 3,540.00 |
| Valley News (legal notice) | 121.98 |
| Verizon (transmitter control) | 373.83 |
| Verizon (studio telephones) | 1,431.92 |
| Verizon (studio/xmtr link) | 2,564.62 |
| Pinnacle Towers (site rent) | 1,773.44 |
| Postmaster (PO Box rent) | 28.00 |
| Affinity 4 (long distance) | 88.94 |
| New Life Productions | 640.00 |
| Cambridge Mutual Fire Ins. | 762.00 |
| Don S. Burnett (CPA) | 150.00 |
| Vermont Dept. of Taxes | 250.00 |
| Loftus & Borgstrom, P.C. | 82.00 |
| C-Y Publications (advertising) | 25.00 |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | $12,467.73 |
The WVFA engineering staff has prepared a technical support bulletin with suggestions for improving indoor reception of WVFA. This (along with personal technical consultation) is available for free upon request, because we want to maximize our listeners' enjoyment of WVFA whether at home, at work, or on the road.
A technical paper published over 40 years ago, in the early days of FM stereo broadcasting, recently came to our attention. Its conclusion was that broadcasting monaurally improves the signal-to-noise ratio by 23dB, or a multiple of 200, because a narrower bandwidth (15KHz vs. 53KHz) is transmitted. An example given was that a 500-watt monaural station has "signal parity" with a 100KW stereo station. Applying that ratio to WVFA's ERP of 7 watts would give our station signal parity with a 1400-watt stereo FM station. It should be noted that this does not increase our range, but gives us more "punch" in our coverage contour.
Unofficial results from a recent radio market survey conducted by a national media rating organization have suggested that at any given moment (with the possible exception of overnight hours), there may be several hundred people tuning in WVFA (We can't share specifics because we didn't subscribe, but were included). Especially during the Christmas season, when WVFA broadcast an all-Christmas format, people tuned in to our tasteful, listenable music mix, courtesy of Skylight. Another blessing over the past year has been our association with New Life Productions in Colorado Springs, CO. These dedicated folks provide a monthly customized spot package for music-formatted listener supported stations at an unbelievably low price. The result is that we have a professional sound with multiple voices and special effects for a fraction of the cost. God has also allowed us to develop special working relationships with many of our program producers, both local and regional/national. It's great to work on a mutually-supportive basis with these talented people!