As the first listeners are tuning in for the year, WNTH is making sweeping strides to tune up its facilities and execution.

One of the most crucial changes to the station’s process has been the makeup of the student radio board. Whereas in years past, radio board members were assigned positions specific to the skill set they applied with, the 2016 board is divided into two general groups: one half devoted to communications, the other to internal affairs such as programming. Each is led by senior co-Station Managers Danny Kogan and Kilmer Bennewitz, respectively.

According to Bennewitz, the new setup “makes people more accountable…last year was a lot of people being pigeonholed into jobs, but this year, if there’s a project they have a special interest in, they’ll speak up and say they want to work on it, rather than just assuming that whoever’s job it is will take care of it.”

This year’s board is also working to establish a similarly responsible reputation among its weekly student-run shows. “I think we’re more scrutinizing about what goes on air,” said Bennewitz. “We make sure that DJs are capable of filling up their time, and not just playing music.”

“We’re really working to establish closer relationships between the board and DJs so that every show knows what’s expected of them and what a successful show is like,” said senior board member Ben McCormick.

McCormick predicts one such successful show to be the revamped “Night Talk,” a program in which radio board members, in the style of a late-night talk show, host special talents, live music performances, and guest speakers.

The show is to be facilitated by a once-dormant recording studio, which, with newly updated and restored software, can be employed to record live performances and interviews. This studio is being updated almost entirely by WNTH board members.

WNTH, unlike most after-school organizations, is entirely independently funded–it thrives outside of Student Alliance. And although this freedom allows 88.1 to choose how they manage their club, it also requires show hosts to find their own funds.

In years past, DJs were required to peddle citrus in order to raise money for the station’s upkeep. As of 2015, however, Radiothon, an annual fundraiser in which DJs broadcast interviews with special guests, has replaced the citrus sale as the main source of funding. Last year, Jeff Bridges, Louis the Child, and a Bachelor contestant were a few of the headlining features.

“We’re changing the very concept of how we’re raising money. Instead of fruit, the product is a radio show, and the product is the DJ,” WNTH sponsor Iwona Awlasewicz said.

“I think that it makes the most sense to use what we have–the radio–to raise money for the radio,” said Bennewitz. “When you sign up for a show, you want to run a show, not be an orange salesman.”

Although the concept of Radiothon is not entirely new, WNTH is striving to continue the event’s legacy with an updated quality, including earlier advertisement, and more stress on DJs to secure a guest. Awlasewicz also mentioned the possibility of visually streaming(?) the interviews online, in addition to broadcasting over the radio.

One of the major changes WNTH hopes to see this season, however, is not entirely under their direct control.

“I feel like not enough people are even conscious of our existence…we’re kind of an afterthought to New Trier, like when we’re asked last-minute to DJ a school event, and we’re given equipment that’s falling apart,” said Bennewitz.

“A major goal this year is just to get the word out,” said co-Station Manager, Danny Kogan.

Kogan mentioned senior students expressing their regret over never taking part in the radio program, or rarely hearing about it for four years.

Bennewitz said, “We have great shows, it’s just a matter of getting people to listen. Which isn’t to say that nobody does, but I just think we have an untapped market.”