OSWEGO, NY – Former WRVO general manager and on-air host John Krauss died Monday June 17, 2013, in Oswego.
Krauss was one of the longest serving station administrators in public broadcasting having held various managerial titles for more than 40 years, 14 as general manager.
He retired in 2010.
Krauss was 64.
Krauss started at the then ten-watt WRVO on January 6, 1969 – the day the station signed on the air at SUNY Oswego.
WRVO’s primary transmitter at Oswego now broadcasts at 50,000 watts.
“It would be impossible to overstate John’s contribution to the growth of WRVO over the years,” said current WRVO general manager Michael Ameigh. “When he took over as general manager WRVO had five full-time staff members. At the time of his retirement the staff numbered 17. He was first and foremost an engineer whose understanding of signal propagation and other technical aspects of broadcasting resulted in expansion to a network of 10 transmitters serving at least 20 counties of upstate New York.”
According to Ameigh, that expansion will continue thanks to Krauss’ expansionary vision.
“John’s foresight in applying a decade ago for additional repeaters to fill voids in WRVO’s signal coverage, particularly in the Mohawk Valley and southern Finger Lakes, will result in additional coverage,” he said.
To many WRVO listeners Krauss may have been best known as the long-time host of ‘The WRVO Playhouse,’ a nightly rebroadcast of national network radio programs from the 1930s-1950s. WRVO’s current senior producer Mark Lavonier, an expert in his own right on the history of old time radio, has continued that legacy as host of ‘Tuned to Yesterday,’ a spinoff of the Playhouse format heard daily from 10 p.m. to midnight on WRVO.
WRVO’s archive of Golden Age radio programs is one of the most extensive and complete in the world.
About WRVO Public Media:
WRVO Public Media is a non-profit public radio service licensed to SUNY and based at the State University of New York College at Oswego.
Its multi-station network serves more than 15 counties of central and northern New York from transmitters in Clayton, Oswego, Syracuse, Utica, and Watertown.
Low-power translators serve Geneva, Hamilton, Ithaca, Norwich and North Watertown.
In addition to regional news and public affairs, WRVO programming features news and analysis from NPR, American Public Media (APM), Public Radio International (PRI), BBC, Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW), Deutsche Welle, and other networks.
In 2011 and 2012, the New York State Associated Press awarded WRVO its highest honor, the Steve Flanders Award, for earning the most first-place news awards in competition with radio stations throughout New York State.
WRVO is consistently recognized for outstanding news coverage by the Associated Press and the Syracuse Press Club.
For more information, call (315) 312-3690 or visit WRVO.org
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