By Saige Mattson
MOORHEAD – Concordia-On-Air (COA), Concordia’s co-curricular live news and entertainment program, aired its first show of the 2025-2026 season at 6 p.m. on September 17, 2025. T
The student-led COA team, which receives guidance from communication studies and theatre arts (CSTA) department faculty, works to put together both informational and entertainment-based segments to appeal to viewers.
“COA is all student run, and it’s kind of like a regular news show. We have the news segment, we have the sports segment, arts and entertainment. It’s a 30-minute live experience,” junior executive producer of COA, Reagan Mueller, said.
COA’s exact origin date is unknown, but according to Greg Carlson, the CSTA Department Chair, it predates his time at Concordia. Carlson is beginning his 25th year at the college and his second year as department chair.
“The idea was to provide, we call it a co curricular and not an extracurricular, because it’s linked to things that students might be doing in the classes. Things that are made in class can be integrated into the show, and then things that you would do on the show, those things complement one another,” Carlson said.
Carlson plays a key advisory and support role in COA in which he helps guide students, creates a supportive environment, and ensures the show runs smoothly. He utilizes his extensive experience in Communication Studies and media to mentor students and encourage them to try new things, both on and off camera.
“(COA) is a laboratory in the sense, you know, that you want to just try everything out. And, yeah, it’s okay if it isn’t always perfect and flawless. So, when we have a victory, everyone’s like, ‘that was pretty great!’ Having fun is key,” Carlson said.
Connor Wilcox, another member of the Communication Studies Department faculty, also plays an advisory role in media co-curriculars, including COA.
“(COA) can seem so scary, but it’s not, and once you learn something, you’re in this very supportive, goofy, goofy is a prominent descriptor, I would say, environment. But once you get the confidence to do one thing, you’ll try some other things,” Wilcox said.
According to Mueller, the yearly interest meeting for COA drew an audience of almost double the number of students, approximately thirty, that usually attend.
“Over the past two years, I’ve seen a lot more engagement with (COA) and more consistent social media posts. More people are aware that it’s a thing, because before it was kind of like, ‘oh, I didn’t know we had that,’” Mueller said.
COA is different from other media-based co-curriculars on campus, primarily because of the live aspect of the program. Episodes are streamed live and are then available for playback via the Concordia On-Air YouTube channel and Concordia’s Ustream channel.
“I don’t know if we’re ever going to get nominated for an Emmy for our large viewership, but that’s okay. I think a lot of the fun is you have this tangible thing that you’re a part of, and you learn things, and you make friends. You’re just getting to do all that at the same time,” Wilcox said.
