After 45 years, the Central Coast’s National Public Radio member station, KCBX, has a new general manager. Chris McBride has been named to the position of the station founded in 1975.
“I am just thrilled to be part of a cherished community organization with passionate, loyal and generous listeners and supporters,” McBride told Estero Bay News. “People really believe in the importance of what we do, and that’s inspiring.”
The general manager is responsible for all aspects of the operations of the station, and McBride has some goals she plans to reach.
“Of utmost importance is making sure we are financially secure and ready for the additional costs related to the elimination of federal funding,” she said. “Beyond that my focus is on three areas: expanding our KCBX news team, growing our community engagement through events and activities for our listeners, and evaluating our programming, to ensure we’re serving our listeners and the Central Coast community.”
McBride has been with KCBX since 2023, when she was hired as development director to oversee fundraising and outreach activities for the station, including the biannual pledge drives. The following year, she was promoted to assistant general manager to support executive leadership while simultaneously continuing her work as development director.
Why is public radio important to the airwaves and communities far and wide?
“Public media reaches 99% of the U.S. population and serves millions of Americans every day,” McBride said. “Each station is locally managed and makes programming and service decisions to address unique community needs and interests. For example, at KCBX these programs and services include the national shows like NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” and “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me,” as well as 24 locally hosted music shows like “The Morning Cup,” “The Road Home,” “Broken Spoke” and “Global Spin.” KCBX also airs local news and information shows along with being part of the lifesaving emergency alert system.”
Of all that the station offers, NPR’s “Morning Edition” and locally “Morning Cup,” hosted by Music Director Neal Losey, are the most listened to shows.
The station has been a constant part of McBride’s life well before her hire date, from listening to news and music to attending the Live Oak Music Festival, 8 to 10 times with her family.
For fun, Estero Bay News asked about skits such as on Saturday Night Live and others that poke fun at perceptions about public radio personalities and crew.
“I think most of the skits and jokes about public radio capture the essence of public radio people – a little bit quirky, a little bit nerdy, great storytellers and over the top knowledgeable about music or current events.
McBride succeeds KCBX’s previous President and General Manager Frank Lanzone, who will now serve as executive director of Live Oak Music Festival. “I believe Chris to be an outstanding choice to meet the expected and unexpected challenges ahead of us,” Lanzone said in a news release. “Her expertise in planning, fundraising, collaborating, and troubleshooting will serve KCBX well. Chris has also been a longstanding member of the community with deep roots in San Luis Obispo County, just like KCBX, making her a great match for this position.”
Prior to joining the team at KCBX, McBride worked in development, communications, and marketing. She served as director of annual giving for over a decade at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and as the first outreach director at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo.
That fundraising experience could be vital to the future of the station after Congress’ rescission of funding for public media in 2025, which led to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) ceasing operations.
“Federal funds, allocated by Congress and distributed to stations like KCBX through CPB, have been instrumental in building a public radio network that now reaches 99% of the U.S. population,” Frank Lanzone said at the time. “For KCBX, our first CPB grant, received in 1978, provided a launch point to help the station grow listener support, pay for programming, and bring in paid staff. Since that time, just as the system has grown and changed, so have we.
“KCBX must now secure a total of $420,000 per year to fully replace the funding previously provided by CPB. CPB provided direct funds, in the form of grants, for programming and infrastructure costs and paid in-direct expenses for music rights, satellite interconnections, and emergency alerts. This represents a significant 40% increase in our annual fundraising efforts.”
McBride resides in San Luis Obispo with her husband, where they spend most weekends riding bicycles along backroads throughout the Central Coast and enjoying the outdoors together with their dog, Red.
KCBX has 11 full-time staff, plus part-time staff and more than 30 volunteers that serves an average weekly audience of over 35,000 listeners in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and south Monterey Counties.
For those tuning in on the radio, KCBX FM broadcasts on 90.1 in San Luis Obispo, 91.1 in Cayucos, 95.1 in Lompoc, 91.7 from Paso Robles to Salinas, and 90.9 in Santa Ynez, Goleta, Avila Beach and Cambria. KCBX streams online at kcbx.org. Live Oak tickets are on sale on the website.
