It can’t be heard far and wide, but WPNT gives residents a voice.
By Christina Davis
cdav@hunter.cuny.edu
Photo by Christina Davis
Ruben Thomas supplies his own sound effects for his radio show on WPNT.
Click here to listen to an excerpt from Ruben Thomas’s show.
Listeners who tune their radios to “The beat of Hunts Point,” WPNT at 1700 on the AM dial, might catch a conversation between radio host Ruben Thomas and a man he describes as a 6-foot-3 inch, 300-pound tow truck driver named Joey Alverez. The pair might be joined by an elderly Hunts Point resident named Ms. Peters, who lives in one of the area’s last remaining mansions.
If an interview is in store, listeners might hear Franklin Nyles, who was raised in a funeral home, questioning the guests, introduced by the show’s announcer, Arty Jr., who was raised in Pelham Bay Park.
Alvarez and Ms. Peters, Arty and Nyles are fictional, but Ruben Thomas, their creator, and the man who does their voices, is certainly not.
The Ruben Thomas Program” is a radio drama based on Thomas’s passion for 1940s-style radio. He has been collecting old radio programs since his childhood., and says listening to old shows allows him to understand the culture and the mood of a forgotten era.
Listing characters from dozens of old shows, Thomas explains that he prefers “off the wall” radio personalities. And so, when he plans his hour-long, bi-weekly broadcast, he writes for a variety of humorous characters who pay homage to the shows he collects.
“Its just my mind splattered on the air,” explains Thomas, speaking of his zany characters and their ridiculous plotlines.
To create his characters, Thomas draws from colorful people in his life. Although they may not know it, many of Thomas’s friends and co-workers are featured in some way on his show.
He describes the show as “escapist comedy,” and says he tries “not to strive for a punchline.” Instead, he prefers to let his comedy happen naturally, allowing the characters to speak for themselves.
They’re not easy to hear, however. Only people who live or drive within 3,000 feet of Garrison Avenue and Manida Street are likely to be able to tune in.
Since WPNT began broadcasting in 2000 from the headquarters of its sponsor, The Point Community Development Corporation, the radio station has faced difficulties reaching listeners.
As he showed a visitor around, moving through hallways lined with artistic black and white photos of the station’s talent, WPNT’s creator Craig Tindal lamented the obstacles faced by a small, community station. He is frustrated that efforts to increase its range and broadcast quality by becoming a low power FM station have been blocked.
Tindal attributes the station’s unsuccessful struggle to get an FM license from the FCC to “corporate greed.” Large stations represented by the National Association of Broadcasters, as well as National Public Radio, argued that their transmissions would face too much interference if stations in cities were included in a plan put forward by former FCC Chairman William Kennard to license 1000 new non-profit radio stations. As a result, Congress ruled that licenses would be available only in rural areas.
Competition, not interference, was the real reason for the opposition to Kennard’s proposal, Tindal believes. The larger stations don’t want competitors, no matter how small, he said. “They don’t care if you’re taking one listener from them. As far as they’re concerned, that’s one listener too many.”
The station’s short range does not prevent it from fulfilling another of its functions, teaching the fundamentals of broadcasting to teens and children in The Point’s after-school program.
Twenty-year-old Joseph Gilmore is a WPNT alumnus, one of the first to join the program when it began six years ago. “I turned out for what ever The Point had to offer,” he recalls.
Now pursuing careers in photography and clothing design, Gilmore still feels the station plays a vital role in the Hunts Point community. It “fills a void,” he said. And he admires the open communication between the listeners and the people producing shows. Because the station is small and serves a local audience, listeners are able to call and reach the station or physically go to The Point to request songs or topics of discussion, he said.
Gilmore laughed with Tindal as they remembered when he was taping his program, called “The Jump Off,” which included music, interviews, and the latest from several underground artists. Being on WPNT gave him self-confidence, Gilmore said. “I learned to speak on the spot without being nervous.”
Tindal has vowed to continue to seek the stronger FM signal out of a sense of responsibility to the station’s staff, “the community people,” as Tindal likes to call them, who produce weekly shows featuring the latest music and the voices and opinions of Hunts Point residents.
“The community people have been the people that see the bigger picture. Those are the people that have been in the program since its inception,” Tindal said. “They’ve been in it for the long haul and they deserve to have their shows heard.”
Ruben Thomas seems to be unfazed by the station’s difficulties gaining a low power FM license. He sees this as a necessary growing pain, noting the difficulty that many television stations faced in their early days.
Always optimistic, Thomas smiles and says, “I believe that some day we will be heard elsewhere.” Until then, he plans to continue producing his radio drama, starting its seventh season in 2007.