New Mexicans are a generous bunch. In times of need we unite with kindness and generosity to empower one another. We stay informed and give support to causes that have positive effects within our community. We do the right thing when we need each other most.
On November 30th, KUNM is joining organizations throughout New Mexico for Giving Tuesday and we need your support. We are trying to raise $65,000 in just 24 hours to update our content automation software.
What is content automation software you ask?
KUNM works with digital audio software to schedule and playback many of the content elements in our broadcast day. Programs like Morning Edition and Performance Today are received by satellite in segments. These segments are then loaded into the automation software and broadcast according to our schedule. We use the software to schedule and play shorter announcements like our top-of-the-hour station ID, program sponsorship announcements, and KUNM’s local news segments.
The pandemic made this scheduling software more important than ever. Since we closed our broadcast studios in March 2020, many of KUNM’s 100 broadcasters moved to producing their programs from home. When our remote broadcasters finish a program, they send the audio file to KUNM staff (via Dropbox) and we upload it into the scheduling software for broadcast at the right time.
Our current scheduling software is more than 15 years old and is not supporting our work the way a state-of-the art, modern, and future-looking software can. We have selected the Wide Orbit company to build, program, and support or software automation. The one-time price tag for acquisition and implementation of the Wide Orbit software is quoted at $65,552. The annual maintenance, upgrade, and support cost is quoted at $3,952.
KUNM can handle the on-going annual support costs. It’s the one-time acquisition cost where we need your help and why your Giving Tuesday support is so important. A gift in any size is truly significant, but if you are in a position to give a larger gift of $200, $500, $1000, $5000, this is the time to do it. Any gift will help with the initial cost for Wide Orbit.
Your Giving Tuesday donation helps KUNM bring our automation software up to date, helps close the year on a positive note and ensures that KUNM programming continues to reach over a million New Mexicans across Central and Northern New Mexico.
It’s all possible because of your support!