Northwest Missouri State University has named John Coffey the station manager of its award-winning National Public Radio affiliate, KXCV-KRNW. 

Coffey has 36 years of experience in the broadcasting field, including the last 20 at KXCV-KRNW, where he has served as the station’s news and sports director, playing a central role in its news reporting and delivering play-by-play as the “Voice of the Bearcats.”

“John is passionate about helping our students become career-ready, as evidenced by numerous awards from the Missouri Broadcasters Association,” said Brandon Stanley, who is Northwest’s executive director of marketing and communication and has oversight of KXCV-KRNW. “His relationships with community leaders will assist the station and University moving forward, and his experience with underwriting, the Bearcat Radio Network, and FCC regulations and requirements are crucial toward the station’s sustained success.”

Coffey, a 1982 Northwest graduate, succeeds Rodney Harris, who died unexpectedly in June.  Both natives of Albany, Missouri, Harris, a 1978 Northwest graduate, was instrumental in helping Coffey get started in broadcasting. 

“I’m honored to take over the position,” Coffey said while praising Harris as well as previous station managers and mentors Cathran Cushman, Rollie Stadlman and Sharon Bonnett. “It’s bittersweet with Rodney’s death. He was such a mentor for me since high school in Albany. He helped me get started in the business and helped me get started at Northwest Missouri State and allowed to me job shadow him. I hope I can live up to what he was able to do and continue to help the station grow.” 

Coffey joined KXCV-KRNW as a full-time staff member in 1999 after nearly 16 years at KNIM Radio in Maryville, where he was news and sports director. Coffey moved to KXCV-KRNW at the inception of the Bearcat Radio Network, which was one of the first networks to cover NCAA Division II athletics and gave fans throughout the world access to Bearcat broadcasts online.

In addition to his play-by-play of all Bearcat football and basketball games, Coffey secures and produces underwriting and trains student staff, who gain valuable knowledge and experience through their work with the station’s programming. Coffey has led the Bearcat Radio Network’s expansion to six stations covering northern Missouri, southern Iowa, northeast Kansas and southeast Nebraska.

As KXCV-KRNW’s news and sports director, Coffey’s responsibilities include gathering local news, severe weather coverage and producing long-form interviews as well as training and advising students on news writing and radio announcing. Coffey also coordinates news partnerships with area radio stations.

Under his supervision, Northwest students have gone on to successful broadcast careers at organizations including the Cincinnati Reds Radio Network, ESPNU and other NPR affiliates throughout the country. Graduates of the program have received awards from the Missouri Broadcasters Association (MBA) for feature reporting, news series, and documentary and public affairs programming. Coffey has received recognition from the MBA for sports reporting and play-by-play.

“I am a strong supporter of KXCV-KRNW’s two-fold mission to provide unique programming for our listeners and student training so they can be job-ready on day one of their careers,” Coffey said.

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About KXCV-KRNW

Launched in 1971 as the first full-power public radio service in Missouri, KXCV (90.5 FM), a 100,000-watt NPR affiliate, provides in-depth news and information with an alternative music format. All of KXCV’s programming emanates from the Northwest campus, while a sister station, KRNW (88.9), founded in 1993, extends the radio programming across most of the northern 25 percent of Missouri.

As the flagship of the Bearcat Radio Network, KXCV produces all Northwest football and basketball broadcasts and game feeds to five other commercial radio affiliates throughout the four-state region.

KXCV-KRNW programming is accessible online at www.kxcv.org or via mobile apps such as Public Radio Player and TuneIn Radio as well as its own KXCV-KRNW app.

For information about KXCV-KRNW and supporting public radio through a membership, visit www.kxcv.org or call 660.562.1163.