No Cover is a collaboration between KCSU FM and CTV, aiming to highlight local artists and KCSU's local music events through recorded sets and interviews. All episodes are released on CTV Channel 11, CTV's Youtube platform, and KCSU's Podcast platforms.
Rebranding a struggling show
Live and Local was a house podcast at 90.5 KCSU FM that brought local bands into the KCSU studio to play a set live on air with an interview after. This show was hosted and mixed by the Local Music Director who held many other responsibilities in the station. In 2025 there was an effort to turn it into a video podcast which brought more bodies into the studio and complicated the workflow. This resulted in a lack of quality in the podcast. Bands were often left unsatisfied by their local sessions at times requesting for the show to not air and be taken down. These sessions hurt KCSU's reputation in the local music community.
When I became Programming Director for CTV 11 I immediately had a conversation with staff at KCSU to provide producer and video support to the show. This benefitted both parties reducing the labor needed for pursuing two shows independently. I decided that the show should be pre-recorded to ensure we have quality mixes to remove risk of bands being unsatisfied in the product. The show also needed to be rebranded to remove live from the name and start fresh in the community. I developed our artist contract to protect us from legal liability from bands. The new show was named "No Cover: Local Sessions" for two reasons; the show was publicly available and required no cover charge to watch or listen to and for Northern Colorado which was built into the branding of the show.
Since No Cover began we have recorded 11 studio sessions and seven community sessions. These community sessions consist of KCSU concerts, Battle of the Bands and Fool's Fest. We also shot at FoCoMX, Colorado's largest music festival, after being invited by the organizers to run a stage inside of a record store and work with five more bands.
No Cover has now become a recognizable show in the community that bands are requesting to be on regularly while acting as some of CTV and KCSU's strongest regularly produced content.
Creating documentation for the future of No Cover:
No Cover relies on local artists generosity and willingness to engage with our show that works to highlight musicians at their best. This means we need to do everything in our effort to avoid showing bands in a poor light. Due to the nature of student work this means people of all levels will be in charge. This demands a system and workflow be developed that is easily transferable and understood. We also work with musicians material and needed to establish a proper artist agreement to help protect both the show and respect artist rights.
Documents I created:
Artist Agreement
No Cover Handbook
Producer Handbook
Season 2
CD Wall overhaul
The KCSU CD wall was created over 4 years ago and had little upkeep over the years. Studio chairs had wheels as well and people would often lay back and knock CD's off the wall and damage the wall.
In between seasons I took all CDs off the wall, sorted them by color and created a grid for CDs to be properly aligned in the studio. This improvement not only makes our visual products pop more but helped with musician relationships by presenting a well designed studio space for them to perform in.
Establishing an Assistant Producer
No Cover is technically demanding and requires a high level of baseline ability to produce successfully. For season two I implemented an assistant producer role to be filled by an interested volunteer. Throughout the course of the season the assistant was tasked with more and more work that a producer would typically fill. This position exists to keep workflows efficient and effective when transition is inevitable. Now leaving the show I can feel confident that the upcoming crew knows how to manage and operate a show like No Cover and the assistant position will continue to train staff who desire to be involved with the show.