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gestation period that followed would enable Greene to begin the process of imaginingdigital radio, not only as a opportunity for providing multiple radio services, but as ameans to enhance the local station in the broadest sense of the word.Early in 2006, it was time to bring the full staff together to initiate a multifacetedtwo-year strategic planning process that would lead up to mounting a multi-channelHD Radio service before January 2008. Looking ahead to the launching of theUniversity of Utah’snext capital campaign, Greene wanted to seize the adoption of HD Radio as a meansto do far more than simply broadcast additional program channels from the main transmittersite in Salt Lake City. With the largest (geographically) translator system in thenation, KUER’s network of translators was aging and in ever-increasing need of repairand refurbishment. Greene knew that the FCC was planning to open the window fornew noncommercial educational FM applications in 2007, and KUER needed to takefull advantage of this rare opportunity. There were still “white” areas within Utah thatmet the FCC’s and CPB’s definition for “first service,” thus allowing new constructionpermits and funds from the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP).KUER’s studios and control rooms also needed full digital conversion to make themstate of the art and compatible with incoming and outgoing distribution feeds. In addition,KUER had established itself as the radio news leader in the Intermountain West,but the station was seen as being at a crossroads. As the producer of RadioWest, thewidely acclaimed award winning public affairs feature distributed nationally on XMSatellite Radio, the station was properly positioned to expand its news and public affairsstaff, thus moving the entire station to a new level of operation.While the Development staff was writing grant proposals and lining up foundationsand corporate donors, Engineering was preparing FCC applications for digital broadcastingand construction permits for five new Class A transmitters in the rural Utahcommunities of Monroe, Monticello, Roosevelt, La Verkin, and Castle Valley. Theover-arching goals that were guiding the well-orchestrated flurry of activity were threefold:1) Improve and expand KUER’s statewide distribution system; 2) Ramp up HDRadio while rebranding KUER with a new logo and marketing campaign that positionsthe station as the digital media leader; and 3) Generate new revenue to expand thestation’s News and Public Affairs Department. The station’s capital campaign prospectus,titled Broadcasting for the Future, outlined a vision for where KUER would be in2010 with the support of $2.1 million. The station’s commitment to local, originalprogramming that explores the boundaries of the new digital media landscape wascentral to that vision:If much is uncertain in the current media environment, one thing is eminently clear:the future of public radio will be more than just radio. Public radio stations acrossthe country are progressively evolving into public service media companies: multiplatform,multi-delivery content providers and producers that engage their communitiesin a multiplicity of ways. As we look to the future, we see two major opportunitiesto expand KUER’s capacity to engage and serve our growing community. KUER willinvest in its capacity to tell the stories and express the aspirations of our communityand our region through locally-created programming that we take out across the statein remote broadcasts and events. KUER will strategically build its capacity to createlocally-informed and locally-inspired programming for use across its delivery platformsBEA—Educating tomorrow’s electronic media professionals 23