Save 99.1 Radio Rehoboth Radiothon hits the air Feb. 18

The Save 99.1 Radio Rehoboth Radiothon will hit the airwaves from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18, live from the Rehoboth Beach Main Street office in downtown Rehoboth Beach.

The all-day event aims to raise funds to preserve the nonprofit radio station that has been beaming local news and programming to coastal Delaware for over four years.

The station’s on-air personalities and other local figures will take turns at the microphones extolling the virtues of locally produced radio and urging listeners to help defray the costs of staying on the air.

Listeners will be able to call in to 302-900-9991 with their tax-deductible pledges or go to RadioRehoboth.com to make online donations. They can also stop by the Rehoboth Beach Main Street office at 509 Rehoboth Ave. and drop off a check.

Faced with a cash shortfall, the station – winner of four Best of Delaware awards in the past year – ceased regular programming in January. Since then, listeners have heard only a repeating message explaining Radio Rehoboth’s situation.

“From the start, Radio Rehoboth has been a bare-bones operation,” said Jeff Balk, the station’s general manager and host of its Daybreak Morning Show. “The entire staff is volunteer, from top to bottom. Our only expenses are the day-to-day operating costs faced by any small radio station, including music rights, internet and broadcast tower space.”

In a revolutionary cost-cutting move, the station recently moved out of its First Street storefront studio in Rehoboth Beach. Currently, all local programming originates in at-home studios scattered around coastal Delaware.

Many local residents already support large public radio stations, but Balk pointed out that there’s a big difference between NPR and Radio Rehoboth.

“NPR pulls money from all over the country and from major contributors who, in return, receive commercial-like promotions on the network,” he said. “As a low-power FM station, Radio Rehoboth’s broadcast reach is a tiny footprint covering most of Southern Delaware. We depend almost totally on the generosity of the people who benefit from our local news, features, interviews and sports coverage as well as syndicated shows like ‘Democracy Now’ – the kind of relentless, close-to-home focus you won’t get from a commercial radio station.

“We love what we do, and so do our listeners. The Save Radio Rehoboth Radiothon will determine whether or not we get to keep doing it.”