BROOKS OF THE US ATTORNEYS OFFICE ALWAYS ON

THE FOUNDER OF 99.9 THE BEAT IS DOING

Byron Powdrell is a natural storyteller and that’s undoubtedly how he keeps customers and business associates. He’s expanding 99.9 The Beat, the first Black-owned radio station in New Mexico. He’s also an APD liaison to the Community Policing Councils, trying “to find ways to mend that fence between the community and the police.”

Powdrell started in radio in the ’80s at KANW. He moved to KOAT, then AMG in the ’90s. Around 2000 he thought, “I’m gonna start my own radio station,” quit Wild 106, read everything he could about the FCC online, and applied for his license. In 2013, the FCC was like, you’re on. “I had 30 days to become a nonprofit. Man, I was scrambling.”

Powdrell went to the Black community for support, but not money. Straightway, he invited friends over for his family’s famous barbecue; they put up his 70-foot antennae and The Beat went live on July 4, 2014. Having a Black-owned station in Albuquerque is important “because it gives us a Black voice,” which the other stations aren’t doing.

Next, Powdrell’s moving to public TV and eventually a streaming service. His pragmatic outlook is key. “Every network started with one station—NBC, CBS—and look what they’ve become. That’s where I’m headed; we’re gonna do it all.”