Bucks County Community College has jumped on the growing bandwagon of college radio with its revamp of Radio BUX.
Benjamin Woodring, 21, who is a cinema and video major at Bucks, serves as President and Program Director for the station this fall.
The station had its official launch on the first day of the fall semester, Wednesday, August 26. On opening day, the folks at Radio Bux offered free pretzels to students who visited the Solarium broadcast booth to garner support for their new station.
When asked about the turnout to their launch, Woodring much to his dismay was not thrilled overall, “It was enough to get people aware that we were here, but wasn’t what I was hoping for, unfortunately.” Despite this disappointment, the launch did help Radio BUX gain six new potential members. The six people who signed up will be trying their hand with their own practice shows.
As of now, the group running the station is made up of approximately 10 to 15 members. Officers include club advisor, John Sheridan, previously mentioned President Benjamin Woodring, vice president Christopher Hunnewell, Secretary Mayra Dietz, and treasurer Christopher Arco. Along with the officers, there are many others working hard to make the station a success.
If listeners tune in on Tuesdays, between six and nine PM, they will be treated to the Anthony Pinto show. The show, run by Anthony Pinto himself, features music that Woodring describes as “hippy music, general rock, and alternative rock. Rock you’re not going to hear on the radio.” For listeners who enjoy this sort of music, they’ll find it in good measure during this particular show.
In the spirit of being a true variety station, Radio BUX also offers a segment called “Mowrey Music”. Hosted by Kyle Yeingst, this show focuses on the rap and hip-hop music that has been growing in popularity recently. Listeners can listen to Yeingst’s show on Tuesdays between the hours of one and three pm.
The station doesn’t limit itself to music, either, and features quite a few talk shows as well. These shows include subjects to cater to all areas of interest across campus. “War Room Philly”, for example, is the station’s sports talk show. Hosted by Anthony Pinto and Keith Maliszewski, this show airs on Thursdays from 6-9 p.m. Listeners can tune in then to get their sports news fix.
For those that aren’t huge sports fans, Radio BUX offers a segment called “Ennui with Andy”. Hosted by Andrès Flores and Emily Brigham, this show airs on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11am until 1 pm and focuses on cultural and social topics.
To cater to the huge portion of the student body with interest in video gaming, Radio BUX also has a show called “All about the Bits”, which features video game talk and music. The host of this show, Woodring, expressed a fair bit of excitement in regards to this show, feeling that there are a very wide range of interesting topics to cover in this area. Recently, the creator and president of famous gaming company Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, passed away and Radio BUX aired a tribute to him during “All About the Bits”. For more topics of this nature, listeners should tune in on Wednesdays, between six and nine pm.
Although these particular shows air at specific times, the station is up and running 24 hours a day, streaming live music at radiobux.com/stream. Woodring assures his audience that along with the shows they currently have, “Many more shows are on the way!” In order for the station to grow, however, they need new people with new contributions.
The station is always open to people interested in getting involved. If someone has a topic they would like a talk show about, they are encouraged to contact the radio and pitch their idea. They will be started off with a weekly two hour block to see how it goes. Radio BUX members will assess how comfortable they are running their show and how listeners respond. If things go well, they will be given more time slots for their show. It is recommended that hosts include a co-host on their show, to help things run more smoothly.
If running a talk show doesn’t sound appealing, there are many other ways to get involved in the station. The station is always looking for people to help out behind the scenes, working on their website or helping with the various others forms of tech. Woodring explains that “Anyone that is really good with audio production and editing would be very useful to us.”
Despite the challenges faced by the team, Woodring say that working on the station is “a lot of fun” and that the best part for him is “meeting new people.” The real issue facing the station is simply getting the attention of the student body, and forming a following. Reports have been optimistic in regards to the future of the station, with the majority of students believing that the station will be able to flourish so long as they put themselves out there and provide a variety of music.
Some students were under the opinion that in order to gain attention, the station ought to focus more on music that is popular in the mainstream media. However, Woodring explains that, in his opinion, “The position of college radio to not focus on the hits because that’s all that gets played on mainstream radio. College radio, for a long time, it’s been their reputation, they typically get stuff before it’s popular.”
Woodring explains that it is his hope for the station to avoid the “hits” and focus on being “An outlet for smaller artists to get their name out there, get some recognition.” The station explained that it would be entirely open to, and excited at the prospect, of airing music from student formed bands who would like some extra exposure for their music.
If you or someone you know is looking to promote their band, hoping to join the team, or simply wanting to praise a song choice during one of the shows, Radio BUX has a plethora of media outlets where they can be reached.

Woodring explains that “The text board is really our main way of getting people who are listening to interact with us.” Students who want to comment on the programming or suggest a song can simply send a text to 267-705-5BUX. As an alternative, students can also reach the station via their email, [email protected].
Their other social media outlets include Facebook (facebook.com/BUXRadio), their Twitter (@RadioBUX), their snapchat (RadioBUX), or their Instagram (BUXRadio). These platforms are mainly used for showing their audience what is going on with Radio BUX, and providing behind the scene pictures.
Along with their website, http://radiobux.co/ , the station has done a marvelous job of putting themselves out there into the digital world. “At the website people can listen, see current news with the station, sign up for the station and check the show schedule” says Woodring. Although they do not have an actual am/fm station, the show is streaming live, 24/7 at http://radiobux.co/stream.
In an age of iPods and digital downloads, radio stations are falling out of the limelight. For a generation who is accustomed to picking and choosing whatever song they want and hearing it instantly, the interest in randomly shuffled music chosen by strangers has decreased significantly. Modern cars are fitted with AUX cords that allow drivers to play specific music off their phones.
Yet, in this age of personalized music, a group of Bucks students have taken a stand to prove that video has not killed the radio star. All they need now are listeners to join them in their pursuit to bring back radio and celebrate music in all its forms.