(upbeat music) - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program talking about media, particularly in the world of higher education.

We're joined by Chris Aurilio, Director of Production and Facilities at the College of Human Development, Culture and Media.

That's at Seton Hall University.

And Kayla Fonseca, WSOU, 89.5 FM, Student Station Manager at Seton Hall University.

WSOU, celebrating 75 years of continuous operation.

Good to see both of you.

How's WSOU doing, Chris?

- WSOU is doing really great.

We're celebrating 75 years of being on the air this year.

We're actually talking to you from our library's Walsh Gallery, where we have a lot of this history on display, including some of these cool retro T-shirts.

- It's an awesome, awesome station.

Let me just close that Seton Hall is not just an underwriter of our program, but I'm a huge Seton Hall basketball fan.

And Pirate Line, Kayla, Pirate Line, I said, which is the program that comes on after a Seton Hall basketball game?

That is one of my favorite programs.

Is much of the programming live?

Because I know music is a big part of it as well.

Talk about it, Kayla.

Sometimes we even go to different businesses around South Orange and we'll have remote call lines, but definitely, we definitely have our broadcasters in studio.

- Hey, Chris, with media changing dramatically, with social media, the digital world exploding, and those of many say, hey, wait a minute, public broadcasting, regular TV, it's gonna be outdated soon enough.

Well, we don't think so because we all think we can coexist together.

But let me ask you this, Chris.

In the world of media today, what kind of students are signing up to be part of WSOU?

Please talk about it.

On the FM dial, 89.5.

Please, Chris.

- Well, the beauty of the station being within our College of Human Development, Culture, and Media is that what we're doing as this new college is we're welcoming people to our activities.

WSOU is, it's an activity.

We're welcoming folks from all majors.

So we could, like Kayla could go through it, and like all the different people who come from the business world.

Like we have people in sciences and they're becoming media professionals by just doing this great activity and being part of this community that we have here that is WSOU with all of its history and it's great music and whether you're on sports or news.

So you can actually do quite a bit of diversified work here.

We, you know, we talk about this age of social media.

We're integrating that into what we do just like any- - Absolutely.

- station would.

As we are.

And go on to the WSOU website.

We'll put it up right now.

And go on our website, steveadubato.org.

Check out an interview we did with one of the most famous alums.

You know where I'm going with this, Chris?

One of the most famous alums had a great career of almost 40 years, I think, At ESPN, Bob Ley?

- Bob Lee, absolutely.

Yeah.

And he's been a good friend of ours as a very active alumni.

He comes back.

He connects with the students.

You know, we have Center for Sports Media here as well.

And he's just a big part of what we do here at the station helping our student leaders and people who are new to the station.

He's been good to just like come and talk directly to the students and answer any questions they have.

- Not just a great broadcaster, but a great teacher as well.

I'm sorry, Chris, for cutting you off.

Kayla, why did you get involved with WSOU?

- Hey Kayla, let me ask you something.

I'm a student, not just of media.

I did my doctorate work in media at a competing university.

You may have, Rutgers, you've ever heard of it?

- Yes.

- Yeah, okay.

And what I'm curious about, because I'm also a student of leadership, put the two together.

How have you grown as a leader in the world of media and overall as a leader by being connected to WSOU?

Please talk about that, Kayla.

- So being a part of WSOU is a lot bigger than I think most students realize during their time.

And you sort of realize that maybe after you graduate or if you're in a leadership position like I have been the past two years, it really is a full-blown organization that you're running with listeners, real people listening and calling in and with real impact.

I mean, we have underwriting like you know, and we have a lot of impact on the community around us.

And so it is a really big deal that So you get to grow up pretty fast, I would say.

And you have a lot of power in your hands as a 21-year-old college student.

- Not just power, but responsibility.

Let me also say that I'm pretty sure that One-on-One, one of our premier programs on every night has an advertising- You're shaking your head, Chris, you heard us.

We have One-on-One, I know we have a buy there.

So I just want to acknowledge that as well.

Chris, let me ask you something.

The Hard Rock format.

Define Hard Rock as we, late in 2023, going into 2024.

What does it mean?

Because WSOU has a lot of alternative rock you don't hear other places.

So I'm like, what's the difference, please?

- So in the late '80s, we had a group that put together proposals to how they wanted to run the station and become, unique to College Radio, a formatted station.

And the idea was to start playing stuff that they couldn't get in this big New York market.

Like the music that people wanted to hear at the time.

And it has gone on to become our heritage legacy format that we play here.

And in the early '90s, you'd have bands that were playing this music that we were kind of calling alternative.

And so we were playing that as well.

Like we became a home for places that were, music that was underserved.

And now it's like stuff that's blown up.

- And you know, it's so funny.

The audio isn't what we would want it to be.

The connection is never what we want it to be.

Kayla, let me ask you, how significant for, I mean, we've been in business for a long time, tied to the greatest, you know, public television stations in the universe in New York and New Jersey, or WNET and NJPBS.

But there are all these technical issues.

How often are you dealing with technical issues, Kayla?

Because on hall lines, people are like, hey, I can't get through.

And then they get through.

But you have to stay with it.

How do you deal with technical issues that impact the production?

Please, Kayla.

- Well, we have very well-trained DJs and engineers, especially on sports team.

And we have our chief engineer, Frank Scafidi, who is always teaching us how to fix these things on the fly.

But yeah, we're just trying to get through it, always keeping up with those callers and trying to figure things out ourselves.

We've learned a lot about different types of equipment and software through these types of issues that we've faced.

But it does happen.

It does happen often.

- Kayla, real quick before I let you go.

Is it your plan to pursue a career in media?

- So yes, I got into sports photography and sports media through WSOU, and that is a path I would like to take going forward.

- On behalf of all of us at the Caucus Educational Corporation and our partners in public broadcasting, we wish you and all of your colleagues at WSOU, particularly the students, all the best, because you are the future of media.

Those of us who have been at this for a while, it ain't gonna be forever.

And so I wanna thank you.

And also, Chris, thank you for all the work you've done to mentor, teach, and coach students and to our higher ed partners at Seton Hall University.

Thanks so much.

All the best.

75 years at WSOU, 89.5 FM on the dial.

Thanks folks.

Steve Adubato, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

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Promotional support provided by CIANJ, and Commerce Magazine.

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