MVY Is Back On The Air & That’s Music To Our Ears On Martha’s Vineyard

Last February, MVY radio went off the air. In a blink of an eye, decades of music were gone from the familiar 92.7 on the radio. But of course this iconic Vineyard station was not gone for good.

For 15 months, you could stream MVY from the internet. You could still connect with your favorite DJ’s, and listen to your favorite music, just not as we had traditionally.

As of May 21st, MVY is back on the airways, now as 88.7. You can hear people listening to it in cars as they drive by, in stores you shop in, and all over Martha’s Vineyard. It’s summertime and MVY time. The two just seem to go well together.

The channel 88.7 used to be owned by Vineyard regular Dennis Jackson. The channel was then called Vineyard Public Radio, and it was not used full time. Now it certainly is!

What’s New at MVY

Well, just like when it was streaming, you might have noticed no commercials, and that’s because MVY is now a public radio station, a non-profit. That means the money to keep it on the air is from listeners like you and me, Friends of MVY.

MVY has to fundraise for its operating costs and for any new programming it might want to do. Last year when they knew the station was losing it channel and advertising income, they were able to raise over $600,000 to keep the station alive.

To help, the team recently hired Lousia Gould as the development director, and plan to raise a lot more than operating costs.

The station would like to expand its programming, and start to include talk shows and more that would represent the Vineyard. These would be in addition to classic favs like “Person of the week,” news, music, and high school football, which is planned to return in the fall.

For listeners, aside from no more commercials, not much has changed, which is perfect for MVY fans. Your favorite music hours are still on, not missing a beat.

One thing though, morning anchor Laurel Redington is taking some time off, and Jess Phaneuf has been doing mornings. She’s doing a great job and clearly having fun with it. Special thanks Ray Ewing for the cool pic of Jess.

For this On Point, I met with Program Director and DJ, PJ Finn. PJ has been with MVY for 14 years. He never gave up hope that MVY would be back on the airwaves.

The support he has witnessed for MVY has been overwhelming. “Really great radio stations lost everyday. For MVY’s survival, it shows the strength of the community, its appreciation for homegrown, community radio.”

For PJ, it’s great to be back on the radio. People are constantly telling him how much they missed MVY. He is grateful for all the support, and knows how passionate this community and the world is about MVY.

And PJ is right. MVY radio is synonymous with Martha’s Vineyard — a place that is special and loved. It’s no surprise, though quite wonderful, to hear MVY back on the radio. I think we’re all looking forward to the bright future of this great local station.

Now set the channel to 88.7 and let the music take you away. Also, MVY t-shirts are now available online and at the studio!

Thanks for reading the On Point Blog. You can learn more about MVY – its programming, DJ’s donating to Friends of MVY and more on Facebook. And speaking of social media, don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, Linked In, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube.