Caryn Mathes
General Manager
Caryn G. Mathes assumed the post of General Manager for WAMU 88.5 on March 1, 2005. Since she began her tenure at WAMU 88.5, the station has seen tremendous growth and progress. WAMU 88.5 ranks third among the nation's public radio stations for total listening.
Under her leadership, a multi-year trend of contributor loss was halted, with the number of individual donors increasing by nearly 1,000, or 3%, between Fiscal Year (FY) 05 and FY 07. She led the station through a lengthy contractual process to acquire state-of-the-art technology to manage the contributor database, a strategic move which will bear fruit for many years to come. She also energized the Major Individual Giving program, including chartering a new, volunteer Development Advisory Council which will shepherd new major donors to WAMU 88.5.
Additionally, private sector revenue from individual and corporate sponsorship supporting the general operating budget increased by more than $3 million, or 36%, between Fiscal Year (FY) 05 and FY 07. The operating reserve — the amount the station keeps on hand for unforeseen opportunities or emergencies — has grown to nearly $4 million, up from less than $170,000 as of May 1, 2004.
Mathes oversaw the launch of additional terrestrial radio services utilizing HD radio technology, including a ground-breaking collaboration with Baltimore-based public radio station WTMD for content-sharing and co-branding; the expansion of WAMU’s Bluegrass Country, the station’s online bluegrass service, to a full-service, live-content HD Channel 2; and the launch of a news/talk station, WAMU-3, on HD Channel 3.
Responding to changes in the local media landscape that suddenly left WAMU 88.5 as the sole source for public radio news, talk, and information, Mathes led the programming staff to re-shape the entire program schedule in one week, increasing listener choice and satisfaction, and building tremendous community goodwill. WAMU 88.5 has strengthened its position as a national and international content provider, with its own Diane Rehm Show reaching a national audience of 1.7 million on more than 100 public radio stations, plus Sirius Satellite Radio, NPR Worldwide, and Armed Forces Radio.
In support of the programming goal of growing the next generation of radio journalists, she strengthened and stabilized the station’s youth journalism training project, Youth Voices. To uphold WAMU 88.5’s responsibility to youth mentorship and to the students at American University, the station put 34 students to work in 2007 as either interns or paid part-time employees.
Maintaining and building on WAMU 88.5’s commitment to community involvement, she expanded the volunteer Community Council, both the size and in geographical, ethnic, and constituent representation. In 2006, Mathes directed the launch of WAMU 88.5’s first cohesive marketing campaign in many years, including new imaging, branding, and promotional materials. This campaign began to focus the public’s attention on the station as THE community-oriented radio station in the nation’s capital.
In 2007, Mathes received a Women of Distinction Award from the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL), presented annually to pay tribute to women leaders who have made extraordinary accomplishments in their professions or their communities. Also in 2007, she was elected an at-large member of the Executive Committee of Eastern Region Public Media.
She came to Washington from WDET-FM in Detroit, Mich., where she served as general manager for 21 years and as news director for 2 years. During her tenure there, Mathes built an award-winning local news department; helped the station build a strong identity in the competitive Detroit market; instilled financial stability, including increasing external support by more than 500%; built a new transmission facility and new studios; and ushered in a web presence for WDET that included real-time gift processing.
Despite a print-focused bachelor's degree in Professional Journalism from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind., Mathes embarked on an electronic media career very early, working her way up to a weeknight television co-anchor position at CBS affiliate WTHI-TV Channel 10 in Terre Haute at the age of 19. Mathes held two other commercial radio reporter/anchor positions, at WCKY-AM 1530 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and WJR-AM 760 in Detroit before making the switch to noncommercial radio in 1982.
