SUU Radio Sweeps State Broadcasting Awards

Published: October 31, 2014 | Author: Jessica Young | Read Time: 2 minutes

Tim Beery with Southern Utah University’s Thunder91 KSUU radio said sitting in a room full of professional broadcasters at the Utah Broadcasting Association was a daunting experience, that is until five gold and silver UBEE medals were handed to him.  

“We were up against professionals, the best people in the business, and our work was highlighted, it’s an awesome feeling,” said Beery, a senior communication major and Thunder91 program director.

Six segments were submitted by SUU’s radio station Thunder91 KSUU, and by the end of the night all six were given top accolades, five of which were created by Beery. Thunder 91 took home more UBEE medals than any other broadcasting entity in southern Utah.

Beery took home second in the following categories: : Best Single Event News Coverage, :30 Commercial and Best Reporting in a Series. He also placed first in Best :30 Station Promo and Best Feature Story.

Awarded alongside Beery was Tiara Pulsipher, senior communication major, Steve Oliver, senior graphic design major, and Cameo Pinder, 2014 alum, who all won silver for Best :30 Commercial.

Station manager Cal Rollins said winning the UBEEs is even more impressive after knowing the awards were selected by a handful of private, blind judges from across the nation, each unknowing of the segment’s creator.  

“This means that when our student’s work was compared with those from professional stations, they still came out on top and it shows they can compete with broadcasting experts,” explained Rollins.

Giving the full-credit to the students, Rollins has created a completely student-run radio station that has six part-time student employees that act as managers, disc jockeys and program creators. Two radio broadcast classes participate in the station as well.

This student-run station got a complete overhaul under the direction of Beery and fellow student Rich Wilson, who saw the need to redefine how students and the Cedar City community listens to Thunder91. It began with a name change from Power91 to Thunder91, and then slid into changing the types of news students were relaying and the genre of music being played.

Beery stated that this new Thunder91 has a fresher sound and according to him “they blew everything up.”

Photo: (front to back) Rich Wilson, Tim Beery and Caleb Smith in Thunder91 station with their morning segment. 

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