High school radio station KBPS AM in Portland, Oregon is celebrating a very special anniversary this week: 100 years on the air. It’s an accomplishment that few radio stations can lay claim to. And it’s especially remarkable that this particular radio station has always been a student-focused educational radio station. It’s very likely the longest-running high school radio station in the United States, having launched in 1923.

I was lucky to visit KBPS in 2015 and even before that trip was enamored with its incredible history. Festivities for the 100th are ongoing, with a special live broadcast on KBPS AM 1450 (and KBPS.AM) at 9am on Thursday, March 23, 2023. Alumni are invited to join live on the air or by sending in audio. Details can be found on the KBPS website.

Additionally, KBPS is having a public open house on Thursday, April 20 and Friday, April 21st at 100th Tech Show. Visitors are invited to come by the station at the Benson Polytechnic High School, Marshall Campus in Portland, Oregon for live broadcasts, studio tours, and more. Historical memorabilia will be on display.

KBPS’ license is held by the Portland Public School District. According to the station’s website, “On March 23, 1923, the student body of Benson was licensed by the federal government to operate a radio station using 200 watts of power at 834 kilocycles. The first call letters of the station were KFIF. The station made its formal debut on the air and was officially dedicated in early May of 1923, between the hours of 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., on the opening night of the 5th annual Benson Tech Show. In spring of 1930, the call letters changed from KFIF to KBPS, for Benson Polytechnic High School.”

The post Happy 100th to High School Radio Station KBPS appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This week, we are joined by the hosts of the podcast Rice and Shine. Led by four Seattle-area teenagers, the chat-style program provides a glimpse into the lives of 9th graders beginning high school from a distance during a pandemic. Rice and Shine is an incredible time capsule of the current school year, as hosts Lauren, Sophie, Ava and Grace talk pop culture, discuss the challenges of remote learning, address anti-Asian American violence during the COVID-19 outbreak, and share their experiences as Asian-American girls. They launched the podcast in 2020 as part of their participation at high school radio station KMIH-FM.

Show Notes:

• Rice and Shine podcast
• High school radio station KMIH 88.9 FM The Bridge
• Jennifer’s tour of KMIH
• Podcast #177: Seattle’s Rich High School Radio Scene
• Podcast #263 – Broadcasting High School Radio through Wildfires and a Pandemic

The post Podcast #295 – High School Podcasting with the Hosts of Rice and Shine appeared first on Radio Survivor.

With wildfires raging up and down the west coast of the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic, many radio stations are facing different types of challenges than a year ago. Vacaville Christian Schools’ radio station KVCB-LP (aka VCS Radio) is in a community that was hit hard by a wild fire in August 2020. When a nearby commercial radio station was knocked off the air, middle school/high school station KVCB-LP stepped up to provide emergency broadcasting.

Conservatory Education Director Ralph Martin leads the radio station and managed the station’s response during this crisis. Martin is our guest this week and shares with us the work being done at KVCB-LP during not only an extended period of distance learning for students, but also during a local emergency. Martin also manages the school’s music program and is philosophical and upbeat about the importance of embracing new and creative ways to teach, perform, and broadcast, especially when faced with unique challenges.

Show Notes:

• KVCB-LP website
• VCS TV website
• Radio Station Visit #144: High School Radio Station VCS Radio
• Podcast #94 – The High School Radio Station That Went HD
• Podcast #147 – Prison Radio Exhibit and a High School Station in a Band Room

The post Podcast #263 – Broadcasting High School Radio through Wildfires and a Pandemic appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Jennifer, Eric and Paul sit down to review the latest research on podcasts from the Infinite Dial and Podcast Consumer reports, which leads to consideration of the transition between analog and digital media, inspired by Vinylthon.

From 78s to CDs, and music memories to smooth jazz, just how great is this episode? Ask Dr. Science.

The 20th anniversary of the birth of Indymedia at the Battle of Seattle is coming this November.

Underlying this is a nearly forgotten history of independent media that connects unlicensed radio, pre-social media open publishing on the internet and the birth of LPFM. With your help we want to record and document this important history at Radio Survivor.

To do this we need to get to 100 Patreon supporters by July 1. That will help give us the resources we need to begin this work in time for the N30 anniversary.

Show Notes:

• Vinylthon
• 10 Reasons Why CDs are Still Awesome
• Podcast #179 – Don’t Throw Your CDs away in 2019
• Ask Dr. Science
• Locked In: The Making of Vinyl Locked Grooves
• Christian Marclay
• Podcast #186 – African-American Preachers on Wax
• Podcast #184 – Hidden Women’s Radio History in Uruguay
• Radio Survivor Bonus Episodes
• Podcast #154 – One Tape at a Time: Preserving Music Memories
• Myspace, Once the King of Social Networks, Lost Years of Data From Its Heyday
• KFJC.org
• Foothill College Radio Station KFJC Plays More than 100 Straight Hours of Vinyl
• Podcast #8 – Bainbridge Community Broadcasting Chose Podcasting over LPFM
• Podcast #107 – Exploring Community Podcasting
• Edison Research: The Infinite Dial 2019
• The Podcast Consumer 2019
• College podcasting club at Hofstra
• Podcast #146 – Volunteer Radio in Antarctica
• History of Muzak: Where did all the Elevator Music Go?
• Podcast #150 – Sympathy for Kenny G
• Podcast #124 – Seattle Hosts Young Podcasters & a New LPFM
• Podcaster Lauren Shippen answers criticism about producing a new show behind a paywall
• Podcast #15: Retiring Rendered
• Radio Survivor Patreon Campaign
• Radio Survivor Affiliate Stations
• Help Us Tell the History of Indymedia and LPFM
• High School Radio Week Approaches
• VCS Marathon Reaches out to Interstellar Travelers
• Radio Station Visit #144 – High School Radio Station VCS Radio
• Podcast #147 – Prison Radio Exhibit and a High School Station in a Band Room
• Podcast #187 – Archiving LGBTQ Radio History
• Sounding Out!
• Podcast #132 – Sounding Out on the Cultural Politics of Sound and Listening
• Library of Congress’ Radio Preservation Task Force

The post Podcast #189: No Locked Grooves for Podcasts appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Mercer Island High School radio station, KMIH is the third in a trio of high school radio stations that I visited while in Seattle in October, 2018. First licensed in 1970, KMIH holds a class D FM license, currently over 88.9 FM in Mercer Island, Washington.

Founded in 1969, KMIH has bounced around the dial and was in danger of extinction in 2002.

According to a 2011-2012 Mercer Island School District communication:

In 2002, the station fought to stay alive when the Federal Communications Commission allowed a commercial station to take its place on the dial. Today, KMIH remains on the air at 88.9 FM and 94.5 FM, thanks to a group of former KMIH students who are now members of the volunteer staff and Booster Club.

A non-profit booster club helped out KMIH and even purchased an FM translator at 94.5 FM in order to expand the station’s signal into parts of Seattle. That simulcast ended in February, 2017 when the club sold the translator. At the time, Mercer Island School District reported, “The Booster Club plans to use the net proceeds from the sale to contribute to capital projects that will enhance the station, the 88.9 signal and will expand student experiences.”

KMIH’s enthusiastic General Manager, Joe Bryant, is in his fourth year at the station. During his tenure, he worked to rebrand and reformat the KMIH. For years, the station was known as Hot Jamz, playing “current hits with little interruption,” according to Bryant. In January, 2017, he worked with his student Program Director (she’s now a college student still assisting Bryant at KMIH) to create a new brand and format: “88.9 The Bridge: Music and Conversation That Spans Generations.”

The music mix ranges from Bob Seger to Arcade Fire, with a dose of music from the Pacific Northwest (Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Alice and Chains, and up and coming bands like Naked Giants and Ayron Jones). Bryant described the format, saying that KMIH “superserves” local music, playing artists from the area every hour. With a background in commercial morning radio, Bryant explained, “I got here” and “I wanted to teach kids to tell stories.”

In addition to putting his stamp on programming, Bryant has also worked to expand the radio program at Mercer Island High School. He relayed that he started with just one class and 18 students and four years later oversees 80 students in three full classes. On top of that, he’s the school’s assistant badminton coach and the adviser for a marketing club (DECA).

Although Bryant did high school radio himself at nearby KASB (see my tour) in Bellevue, Washington, he never imagined that he would some day be a teacher. In contrasting his 25 years in morning radio, he opines, “this is the future,” revealing that his current gig working with students “is a real passion project.”

As we began our tour, senior “Mariner Max” was launching into his solo stint at the helm of KMIH during a National High School Radio Network broadcast (see my Radio World piece about the network). An award-winning sports show host, Max deftly shifted between his take on the World Series and other sports topics to montages of edited clips that he’d prepared in advance of the show. With four years of high school radio experience (he started at KMIH as a freshman), he’s a rare teenager who is already a seasoned broadcaster. Bryant beamed that Max is “one of the greatest baseball minds of any age.”

In addition to Max’s show, KMIH airs live sporting events, a number of sports-themed shows, talk shows, and specialty music programs. A few highlights include a fantasy football call-in show (“Fantasy Island”), “Hip Hop News and Sneaker Talk,” “Science and Politics,” a bluegrass and American roots music show, a program about movies, and a show focused on the school marching band (“Band Camp”).

Bryant sees KMIH as a “learning lab” that is also open to students from outside of Mercer Island High School’s radio program who use the facility to create podcasts and more. In an interesting twist, Bryant even teaches a class over the airwaves. During “Joe’s Class” on weekdays at noon, “Broadcast Media teacher, Joe Bryant, teaches his class live on the radio during the lunch hour! Joe is joined by students, teachers, parents and even the occasional celebrity!” The show description speculates, “Tune in and check out the only high school class taught live on the radio (that we know of)!”

At the time of my visit, there were also some shows hosted by folks from outside the school community, including a progressive rock show, Grateful Dead show, and a long-running late night music mix show (see a station tour video shot by one of its hosts in 2017).

I was also excited to hear that KMIH has its own radio station vehicle. Bryant revealed, “We’re getting a Bridgemobile,” and told me his plans for the remote broadcast van that was handed down from commercial radio station KMPS. “It’s going to be a bright red van and we’re going to have to get it wrapped with our logo…It’s going to have an old Marti unit,” Bryant shared.

His enthusiasm for high school radio was infectious. Reflecting back on his entire career, he told me, “25 years of morning radio was great and I loved being able to do that…but what I love more is being able to sit here and make the next generation get really excited about story telling…”

Thanks so much to Joe Bryant and everyone at KMIH and Mercer Island High School for the warm welcome. This is my 154th radio station tour overall and my 11th high school radio tour report. Don’t miss my recap of all three Seattle-area high school radio station tours on Radio Survivor podcast/radio show episode #177. Scan through my radio station tours in numerical order or by station type in our archives.

The post Radio Station Visit #154: Mercer Island High School Radio Station KMIH-FM appeared first on Radio Survivor.

High school radio station KASB-FM in Bellevue, Washington was my second stop during a hectic day of radio station tours in the Seattle area in October, 2018. Bellevue High School’s Career and Technical Education Department Chair Brad Conger reached out to me awhile back, encouraging more coverage of high school radio on Radio Survivor. I was happy to oblige.

Dating back to 1974 (see some early photos), KASB is a class D non-commercial high school radio station on 89.9 FM near Seattle. Housed in modern digs (Conger helped with the station’s redesign in 2012), KASB’s welcoming on-air studio overlooks a busy hallway at Bellevue High School. Unlike its former, tucked-away location, KASB’s current on-air studio is immediately seen and heard (thanks to an overhead speaker) by students and staff walking by.

Part of a broader media program, it is both physically and philosophically linked with television, film and photography studios and work spaces, with many of the rooms purposely built to be shared across disciplines.

I arrived after the school day had ended on an early release day, so things were pretty quiet on campus after the stream of parents picking up students departed. A handful of students were quietly working on computers in the large classroom where radio, film, and TV classes take place.

Around 40 students are involved with KASB, with participation open to high school students from across the district. Station members are required to have taken the school’s radio class at some point. Conger is himself an alumnus of the program, starting at the station in 1983 when he was a high school student (take a look at these 1980s photos of the station staff). He graduated in 1985 and then returned in 2002 to lead the program.

As the semester was just getting underway at the time of my visit, the schedule of student radio shows was still developing, with participants getting assigned their first solo DJ show the following week. Student leaders (second year radio students and beyond) were in the midst of training, just getting settled into their station roles, including Music Director and Public Service Announcement Director.

When there isn’t a live show on KASB, programming plays from a “jukebox” of music and station IDs. Students can host shows whenever they’d like, with most taking place during and adjacent to the school day. A morning talk show starts one hour before school and other shows run during 1st period, lunch, after school, and in the evenings. KASB’s format is Top 40 music, although live student shows are mostly talk.

Interestingly, back in Conger’s high school days, KASB also ran a Top 40 format. He told me that in the 1980s the station either aired live shows or turned off the transmitter. He fondly recalled playing Monty Python sketches over the air, telling me that back then the station relied on cart machines and turntables.

These days students play material from online sources or from their phones and Conger speculated that the CD player in the studio hasn’t been used by students since it was installed in 2012. However, he added that every year one or two students ask for turntables. One bit of technology that wasn’t around in the early days of the station is live video streaming, which is now shared on Twitter and Facebook during KASB’s live talk shows and archived there as well. The station’s live audio stream can be heard on MIXLR.

While there is a music format for KASB overall, students are asked to select the music and format for their hour-long shows. Conger tells them to think about their chosen format and how it might fit into a big city’s overall radio landscape and ratings. With that, there’s freedom to stray from the official Top 40 format.

Walking around the KASB on-air studio, one quickly grasps the variety of student shows that have aired on the station. As part of a class assignment, everyone is required to create a promotional poster for one’s radio show. Those posters plaster the studio walls, offering glimpses of the teen personalities that grace the Bellevue High School station’s airwaves. A smattering of show titles include, “Three Sleep Deprived Teenagers Talking about Things,” “Morning Waffles,” “The Child Laborers,” “The Cool Kids Club,” and “Thrash Zone with DJ Severed Limbs.”

The Seattle area is full of high school radio stations and I visited three in one day. Conger told me that there are around six stations that keep in regular touch through an email list and an annual high school radio festival. They provide a support network for each other, sharing tips and advice.

Conger’s students also participate in larger student media organizations, taking part in regional and national competitions. An impressive collection of trophies and certificates represent recognition from the Washington State High School Radio Awards, Northwest High School Film Festival, and the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS).

KASB is also a member of the National High School Radio Network, a group of high school stations that share programming across the network every Wednesday. On the day of my visit, KASB was preparing to air the week’s live National High School Radio Network show from nearby Mercer Island High School station KMIH (my next tour!). As I wrapped up my visit, Conger summarized his passion for high school radio, explaining, “I love the creativity of the students…It makes my job exciting every single day.”

Thanks to Brad Conger for taking the time to show me around KASB-FM and for encouraging me to visit more high school radio stations. You can hear about my three Seattle-area high school radio station tours on Radio Survivor podcast/radio show episode #177. Peruse all of my radio station tours in numerical order or by station type in our archives. This is my 153rd radio station visit report and my tenth high school radio tour report.

The post Radio Station Visit #153: Bellevue High School Radio Station KASB appeared first on Radio Survivor.

For the past four years, I’ve been sharing tidbits of my radio station tours on the Radio Survivor show/podcast. My travels have taken me across the United States, visiting a variety of stations from California to New York.

In this collection of podcasts featuring radio station tours, you’ll hear interviews with enthusiastic radio participants working in high school radio, college radio, and community radio. Numerous low-power FM stations are represented, some of which were just getting on the air.

Every station has a unique story and it’s been my pleasure to bring more attention to intriguing radio happening in every corner of the United States. Read on for a list of radio station tours that have been featured on the podcast.

To dig into all of my tours, peruse the full list in chronological order.

• Field Trip 91 – Radio K at University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN  (2015); podcast #22
• Field Trip 97 – KBPS at Benson Polytechnic H.S., Portland, OR (2015); podcast #24
• Field Trip 99 – WHCS at Hunter College, New York, NY (2016); podcast #47
• Field Trip 100 – WPRB at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (2016); podcast #48
• Field Trip 103 – WOWD-LP Takoma Radio in Takoma Park, MD (2016); podcast #57
• Field Trip 104 – WERA-LP Radio Arlington in Arlington, VA (2016); podcast #57
• Field Trip 105 – CHIRP Radio in Chicago, IL (2016); podcast #60
• Field Trip 106 – Met Radio at Metropolitan State U of Denver, CO(2016); podcast #56
• Field Trip 108 – The SOCC Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO  (2016); podcast #63
• Field Trip 110 – KVCU Radio 1190 University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (2016); podcast #63
• Field Trip 112 – KBPK at Fullerton College, Fullerton, CA (2016); podcast #66
• Field Trip 113 – KEPC Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado Springs, CO (2016); podcast #66
• Field Trip 115 – KXUA at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (2016); podcast #69
• Field Trip 116 – KHDX at Hendrix College, Conway, AR (2016); podcast #70
• Field Trip 117 – KCHUNG Radio in Los Angeles, CA (2016); podcast #74
• Field Trip 118 – KPSQ-LP in Fayetteville, AR (2016); podcast #82
• Field Trip 119 – KUOZ-LP at University of the Ozarks, Clarksville, AR (2016); podcast #82
• Field Trip 121 – KUHS-LP in Hot Springs, AR (2016); podcast #68
• Field Trip 124 – WRIR-LP in Richmond, VA (2017); podcast #88
• Field Trip 138 – WPPM-LP at PhillyCAM in Philadelphia, PA (2016); podcast #97
• Field Trip 141 – WKCR at Columbia University in New York, NY (2017); podcast #136
• Field Trip 142 – WIIT, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL (2017); podcast #136
• Field Trip 143 – WHPK at University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (2017); podcast #142
• Field Trip 144 – KVCB-LP at Vacaville Christian Schools, Vacaville, CA (2018); podcast #147
• Field Trip 145 – Wave Farm and WGXC in Acra, NY (2018); podcast #151
• Field Trip 146 – WGXC Hudson in Hudson, NY (2018); podcast #151
• Field Trip 148 – WVKR-FM at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY (2018); podcast #161
• Field Trip 149 – KDVS-FM at University of California, Davis in Davis, CA (2018); podcast #175
• Field Trip 152 – KNHC-FM at Nathan Hale High School, Seattle, WA (2018); podcast #177

The post Radio Station Tours on the Podcast appeared first on Radio Survivor.

My marathon day of Seattle radio station visits last October launched with a trip to see high school radio station KNHC-FM aka C89.5. As I approached Nathan Hale High School in my rental car, I tuned in to the dance music station while delighting in the dramatic Pacific Northwest scenery: dark grey skies and vibrant fall foliage.

Vibrant fall foliage adjacent to track at Nathan Hale High School. Photo: J. Waits

While listening to the morning show, I heard chatter about “Lap Day,” and later learned that as part of the on-air fundraiser, station staff agreed to run a lap around the school track for every $1,000 raised. I was amazed to hear that the morning show brought in $9,000 that day, meaning that the whole morning staff agreed to run 9 laps! A dedicated donor even stopped by to run with them for the final hour of the show.

Sign for fall pledge drive at high school radio station KNHC C895. Photo: J. Waits

Fundraising is a big deal for KNHC, which holds two on-air fundraisers a year as well as an end of the year online campaign. Overseen by a small paid staff, C89.5 is run by professionals who manage day-to-day operations and guide the student participants. There are around 17 volunteer hosts in addition to the more than 100 students who take part in station activities.

KNHC lobby. Photo: J. Waits

When I stopped by, morning drive host Drew Bailey was on the air and was joined by a student in the studio. A station veteran, he began at KNHC as a student at age 16, making this his 24th year on the air. The sole paid DJ, he’s on the air every day from 6am to 10am and used to volunteer as a Saturday night show host for 14 years.

DJ Drew Bailey in the KNHC studio. Photo: J. Waits

Although students pop in and out of the station throughout the school day (including before and after school and during lunch), they were largely absent from the station during my visit, owing to Nathan Hale High School’s complicated bell schedule, which is different every day. General Manager June Fox explained that students are adaptable and “they just plug in [to the station’s schedule] when they’re here.”

Student schedule of radio activities at KNHC. Photo: J. Waits

To get on the air students either have to pass the semester-long “Introduction to Electronic Media” class or an intensive 5-week summer radio class. For students, the work at the station is all hands-on, with “something different every day,” according to Fox. Students not only work with experienced DJs during live shifts, but they also do voice tracking and production work behind the scenes. Music is mostly played from a hard drive and I didn’t see a physical music library during my visit.

On-air studio at high school radio station KNHC C895. Photo: J. Waits

Fox has been with C89.5 since August, 2015 after stints at a wide range of radio stations, including public radio, high school radio, commercial radio, and college radio.

June Fox in front of C89.5 mural at the high school radio station. Photo: J. Waits

Since it was mid-pledge drive at the station, I enjoyed checking out the latest station swag (including customized Lego figures and rainbow socks) as well as the closet full of prior promotional items. Packed with CDs, stickers, buttons, fabric flying discs, music-loaded USBs, temporary tattoos, and more; the station branding emphasizes positivity and inclusivity, with rainbow motifs and purple and pink hues on many of the materials.

Bin marked “pronoun buttons” at KNHC with rainbow temporary tattoos. Photo: J. Waits

A sign on the wall reminds participants that the station is a safe space for all and C89.5 regularly participates in LGBTQ pride festivities. Fox shared that during Seattle Pride, station members affixed six thousand C89.5 temporary tattoos on attendees, remarking, “It was so much fun!”

“We Welcome ALL” sign at KNHC. Photo: J. Waits

An electronic dance music station, KNHC shows cover a wide variety of sounds. Although the daytime features more mainstream music, things get more adventurous at night, when sub-genres like house, trance, drum & bass, world dance, industrial, and downtempo/chill are highlighted.

DJ gear at KNHC. Photo: J. Waits

Additionally, Thursday mornings are devoted to 1980s new wave music. In the evenings, different resident DJs spin during the station’s “The Drive at 5” mix show.

KNHC sign outside the high school radio station. Photo: J. Waits

Conveniently located next to a small parking lot by an athletic field, C89.5’s digs (which it’s inhabited since 2009) include a large open space, with cubicles for the professional staff on one side and five production studios on the other. The on-air studio faces into the main room on one side and borders a live music studio on the other. Performances recorded in this room are archived on the station’s website as “live exclusives.”

Live music room at KNHC. Photo: J. Waits

One of the production studios (studio A) has a large window facing a main hallway in the school, with a quintessential high school view of lockers. Fox told me that this studio was the original on-air studio, but the window to the school proved to be too much of a distraction for students, as classmates would greet DJs by banging on the glass.

View of school lockers from studio at high school radio station KNHC. Photo: J. Waits

A nearby doorway leads into the school and there’s a classroom (not exclusively for radio classes) adjacent to that. During my visit, Fox and I quietly passed through a “dry art” class in that room in order to visit the promotions closet.

CDs in KNHC’s promotions closet. Photo: J. Waits

Signed artist photos, posters and framed gold records appear throughout the station, including a photo of Lady Gaga with the inscription, “C89.5! Thank you for spinning my record, babe” and signed by Lady Gaga. Fox told me that C89.5 was the first station in the country to play Lady Gaga, even inviting her to perform at the station’s listener appreciation party at the high school in 2008.

Signed Lady Gaga photo at high school radio station C89.5. Photo: J. Waits

I was especially charmed by a collection of artwork on the station’s wall and learned that the small canvases were decorated by musicians who’ve stopped by C89.5. Artists are asked to pick up sharpies and create a special drawing for the station. Pieces vary from simple signatures (sometimes with a mounted CD) to colorful abstract designs to stunning line drawings. It’s a crafty way to pay tribute to the musicians that pass through the station.

Drawings by artists who have visited KNHC. Photo: J. Waits

A veteran station, KNHC launched over FM nearly 50 years ago in 1971. Well-regarded in dance music circles, it’s received both local and national accolades. On its website, KNHC reports, “In 2003, The Village Voice recognized KNHC as ‘Best of New York’ high school radio stations thanks to its internet streaming, and the next year became the first non-commercial station in the United States to join the Billboard Magazine Dance Radio Airplay panel.”

Vintage C89.5 jackets on the wall of the high school radio station. Photo: J. Waits

Thanks so much to June Fox for the wonderful time at C89.5! This is my 152nd radio station tour and my 9th visit to a high school radio station. You can hear more from the tour on Radio Survivor podcast #177. All of my station visits are cataloged in numerical order and by station type in my tour archives. Stay tuned for more reports from my October, 2018 Seattle travels.

The post Radio Station Visit #152: Dance Music-Oriented High School Radio Station C89.5 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

In addition to co-hosting the show, Eric Klein edits most episodes, and is a professional freelance audio editor. He put some of his philosophies of editing radio and podcasts in writing for last year’s Grassroots Radio Conference, and for a recent post at Radio Survivor. On this episode Eric elaborates on his advice to “know your values,” and “do no harm.”

Then Paul puts Jennifer on the spot on order to do a little market research for Radio Survivor, asking her why she doesn’t listen to more podcasts. Her answers will probably resonate with many radio lovers, who have so many great sounds competing for their attention.

Then Jennifer takes us on a short tour of three Seattle-area stations, where there’s a rich high school radio scene, including one with a dance music format, and one where every DJ designs their own show poster.

Radio Survivors supporters on Patreon can listen to a bonus “after dark” episode, where Jennifer, Eric and Paul dig deeper into why even radio nerds don’t listen to podcasts, and even more podcast nerdery. A contribution of just $1 a month gives you access to this bonus episode and more exclusive content.

Show Notes

• Eric’s “Philosophies of Editing for Radio“
• KNHC-FM aka C89.5
• Radio Station Visit #152: Dance Music-Oriented High School Radio Station C89.5
• Alex Bennett
• Radio Station Visit #153: Bellevue High School Radio Station KASB
• KASB-FM
• National High School Radio Network
• Jennifer’s piece about the HS Radio Network for Radio World
• KMIH-FM
• Radio Station Visit #154: Mercer Island High School Radio Station KMIH-FM
• Jennifer’s Radio Station Tours

The post Podcast #177 – Philosophies of Podcast & Radio Editing; Seattle’s Rich High School Radio Scene appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Tucked behind the gymnasium at Mendocino High School is the most magical building full of audio-visual delights. Home to high school radio station KAKX 89.3 FM; the warehouse-like space is a hub for all media arts at the high school. Just blocks away from the quaint seaside village of Mendocino, California, the school and its radio program exemplify some of the best aspects of small town life. With an enrollment of around 200 students, the tiny school’s radio station impressed me with its work and collaborations both on and off campus.

Athletic field at Mendocino High School. Photo: J. Waits

General Manager Marshall Brown greeted me as I walked past the school’s athletic field en route to the station. A Mendocino High School graduate; he’s also an enthusiastic alum of the radio program.

High school radio station KAKX’s General Manager Marshall Brown. Photo: J. Waits

A Sense of Community

Throughout my visit after school on Friday, September 7, I heard anecdotes about the ways that other nearby commercial and community radio stations had lent a hand to KAKX. Program Director Angela Carpenter is also interning at commercial radio station The Skunk (KUNK 92.7 FM in Fort Bragg) upon Brown’s suggestion. A high school senior, she’s about to have her own solo weekend program on the Skunk. The youth-oriented show will focus on music and talk and she hopes to bring in students and coaches from the school for on-air interviews.

Angela Carpenter in KAKX studio. Photo: KAKX

Clearly part of a tight-knit radio community, KAKX has also been the beneficiary of equipment hand-me-downs from nearby locally-owned commercial radio station KOZT-FM The Coast (which I rhapsodized about in a post in 2010). A 20-year-old plaque perched in the on-air studio gives thanks to the KOZT owners.

1998 Tom Yates and Vicky Watts Broadcast Facility plaque in studio of KAKX. Photo: J. Waits

Touring the Studio

The spiffy new studio has only been in that particular room for around six months. For ten years, the same space was a remote outpost for community radio station KZYX-FM (home to one of my favorite shows, “Trading Time” and the topic of a 2010 tour report).

Studio at high school radio station KAKX. Photo: J. Waits

Today, the room contains a small collection of CDs, audio equipment, music-poster adorned walls, and a vintage dot matrix printer for KAKX’s EAS messages. A handful of additional studios in the building have tools for editing, music production and video production, as well as musical instruments (I spotted a piano, several keyboards and guitars) and Brown’s prized LaserDisc collection.

EAS printer at high school radio station KAKX. Photo: J. Waits

Having spent much time in Mendocino County over the years, I’m not surprised to hear these reports of stations helping each other out in these rather remote locations. Although I’m well aware that Mendocino is several hours away from larger population centers like Santa Rosa; I hadn’t really comprehended what that might mean for a music-obsessed high schooler. Kids in Mendocino might have to drive three  or more hours to see big name acts touring through San Francisco. I was told that the nearest record store was two hours away in Santa Rosa. Music can of course be found in shops in and near Mendocino, but one may have to scour miscellaneous music stores, gift shops, book stores, vintage outlets, and thrift stores or search online to find specific titles.

Henry Thomas points at music posters on wall of KAKX studio. Photo: J. Waits

Campus Collaborations

In just the production arts classes alone, 75 students gain experience with the station. Additionally, a new collaborative live news show will be produced with help from students in classes in the History, English and Journalism departments. A few weeks into the school year, Brown and the KAKX student staff were enthusiastic about an upcoming meeting of the KAKX Residency Program during which they would begin to plot out this year’s schedule. Essentially a radio club now, this means that any student at the school can join up with and volunteer at the station.

Flyers for student radio shows posted on wall at KAKX. Photo: J. Waits

Music of all Types

KAKX also airs a broad range of music. Carpenter told me that last year’s shows included a mix of oldies from the 1970s and 1980s to EDM to original music by students to country. She relayed, “it’s really for everyone,” sharing an anecdote about a baby even asking to listen to KAKX. Student Manager Henry Thomas (also a senior) explained that working at KAKX has expanded his taste in music and gave specific credit to Tito, a former DJ who influenced music at the station in general.

High school radio station KAKX’s Student Manager Henry Thomas in lobby of station. Photo: J. Waits

A fan of aggressive EDM and glitch metal, Tito’s mark on KAKX had led to participants labeling certain types of music “Tito music.” Because of that legacy, I was excited to randomly catch an archived show hosted by Tito while listening to the station after my visit. Throughout my time tuning in, I heard a great deal of interesting music, some of it familiar favorites (yay for Sleater-Kinney!) and some entirely new to me. I was also charmed by a Star Trek-themed station ID and intrigued by a bluegrass hour.

KAKX flyer in the high school radio station’s studio. Photo: J. Waits

Students can play music from vinyl, CDs, cassettes, and digital sources. Brown revealed that there is a hidden stash of KAKX vinyl and student interest in playing LPs. With that in mind, Thomas talked of his plans to do an all vinyl show this school year.

CD players in KAKX studio. Photo: J. Waits

Live Sports Broadcasts

Beyond music, KAKX also produces live sports broadcasts, including basketball games and even a Quidditch match for homecoming festivities. Since the department does more than radio, students also film the games and play music during half-time from the studio. I was amazed to hear that not only does Thomas do sideline reporting, but he also is the school mascot. Deft at multi-tasking, he and his fellow students take on many roles at the small high school.

Sign on wall at KAKX: “Quiet Please! Live Radio in Progress.” Photo: J. Waits

Live Shows and Recorded Shows from the Archives

KAKX, whose moniker is “student powered radio,” strives to have around five to six live programs a week during class time. When there isn’t a live DJ or host in the studio, the station has a stockpile of 106 hours of pre-recorded radio shows from mostly the last five years of the station. A deeper archive includes some shows from the late 1990s and early 2000s with “wicked playlists,” according to Brown.

CDs and view out of studio at KAKX. Photo: J. Waits

General Manager is an Alum of the Program

KAKX launched nearly 25 years ago and Brown joined up while a student in 2006. After he graduated in 2009, he kept tabs on the station, telling me, “I was in love with this station and program and wanted to give back.” Eventually an opportunity to work at KAKX was presented to him and he returned in 2013 to oversee the radio program and more. Leading all of the production arts disciplines, Brown not only oversees the radio station, but also leads classes and activities in video production, music production, and the yearbook. His 4-hour live show, “Coffee with Brown Sugar” airs the second Friday of the month and features mainly lofi hip hop instrumentals as well as talk show elements.

Reel-to-reel equipment in studio at Mendocino High School. Photo: J. Waits

Exuding enthusiasm for both radio and his students, Brown shared his optimism about the growing production arts program, with KAKX being the “heart of the program.” He likes to give students a “baseline” amount of knowledge about station operations, letting them “go at it,” telling me that doing radio “just expands their horizons automatically.”

Radio in studio at high school radio station KAKX. Photo: J. Waits

Thanks to Marshall Brown, Angela Carpenter, and Henry Thomas for taking the time to meet with me and show me around KAKX. It’s always a treat for me to visit high school radio stations. You can peruse all of my high school radio tours and other high school radio news on Radio Survivor.

The post Radio Station Visit #147: KAKX at Mendocino High School appeared first on Radio Survivor.

On this week’s episode we venture to prison and to a very unusual high school radio station. Members of the artist collective Provisional Island (Heidi Ratanavanich, Eileen Shumate, and Michael McCanne) speak with us about their prison-radio-themed exhibit, An Electric Kite, which is on view at the historic site/museum Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia through at least fall, 2018. The installation incorporates a low power radio transmission as well as a visual components.

Additionally, Jennifer shares her tour of VCS Radio at Vacaville Christian Schools in Vacaville, California. The high school radio station is part of the school’s music program and has many unusual elements. Not only is it a low power FM (LPFM) station, but it also broadcasts in HD and is housed in the band room. It also has secret Morse Code and carrier current broadcasts.

Show Notes

• Radio Survivor Inaugurates Podcast (Radio World)
• Behind the Scenes of the Radio Survivor Podcast (YouTube)
• Provisional Island
• Eastern State Penitentiary
• Eastern State’s An Electric Kite exhibit page
• Provisional Island’s An Electric Kite page
• The iPod of Prison (The New Yorker)
• Whatever Happened to the Phone Phreaks? (The Atlantic)
• Early Hackers’ Supersecret Spyware: Toy Whistles (Slate)
• Maurice Chammah’s “Guerrilla Radio” article (The Marshall Project)
• Radio Survivor Podcast #94: The High School Radio Station That Went HD
• Radio Station Visit #144: KVCB-LP at Vacaville Christian Schools
• KVCB-LP/VCS Radio
• VCS Radio Conservatory
• VCS Radio Symphony performance of Modern Times (YouTube)
• National High School Radio Network

The post Podcast #147 – Prison Radio Exhibit and a High School Station in a Band Room appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It was with great anticipation that I arrived at VCS Radio at Vacaville Christian Schools in Vacaville, California for a full day of immersion into the highly unusual middle school/high school radio station. Having spoken with energetic station manager Ralph Martin previously for the Radio Survivor podcast, I expected that it would be a visit full of surprises. The trip did not disappoint. Not only was I interviewed by middle school broadcasters, but I also was treated to a spooky Tesla coil demonstration.

Middle school students on the air at VCS Radio. Photo: J. Waits

KVCB-LP (the “V-C-B” stands for Vacaville Christian Broadcasting) is a wonderful oddity, not only because of its youthful participants. Radio geeks will be amazed to learn that it operates as an HD low power FM station (at 100.9 FM), perhaps the only one of its kind. The topic of Radio Survivor Podcast #94 (“The High School Radio Station that Went HD”), this unique broadcast configuration allows KVCB to program 96 hours of material every day across its four HD channels.

HD radio in VCS studio. Photo: J. Waits

The main channel, HD1 (also heard on the VCS Radio online stream) is where listeners can hear student programming, including live shows many afternoons and mornings. HD2 is focused on sound art and includes student compositions as well as pieces performed by the VCS Radio Symphony and VCS Radio Jazz Ensemble. Old time radio shows like The Shadow (one of my all-time favorites!) and Father Knows Best can be heard on the HD3 channel and HD4 plays school announcements. Some programming from the HD channels is interspersed within the main channel’s programming. Sound art and experimental music fans can hear “student produced and performed sound art, poetry and music” on Saturday nights at 7pm on the main channel, HD1, and online.

Production studio for high school radio station VCS Radio. Photo: J. Waits

While we may typically think of school radio stations as being connected with broadcasting, multi-media or journalism programs; KVCB’s origin story has a musical bent. Martin, who is also Conservatory Education Director, is primarily a music teacher in the VCS Radio Conservatory. With all conservatory students involved with VCS radio, it means that around 200 kids participate directly and, as Martin points, out, “the entire school is involved in some form of broadcasting through our event coverage.”

Signage for VCS Radio and music programs outside the classroom. Photo: J. Waits

I was excited to hear that younger students have an opportunity to get involved with VCS Radio. According to Martin, “…we started elementary student segments this last semester. All of our ‘top-of-the-hour’ legal ID’s are broadcast by 5th and 6th graders. Sometimes when you hear, ‘This is a test of the Emergency Alert System!’, it is often done live by a 3rd or 4th grader. The younger kids love doing the EAS tests. It’s an important job!”

Student at VCS Radio. Photo: J. Waits

With the music and radio programs intertwined, it means that KVCB is likely the only radio station in the United States with its own symphony orchestra. Some of the conservatory’s enviable projects are performing and composing film scores to numerous silent films, including early works by Thomas Edison. The conservatory’s website points out that the “VCS Radio Symphony has achieved international recognition for its work in restoring, preserving and recreating performances of classic cinematic musical scores – especially from the silent film era. The ensemble was the first in the United State to premiere the restored Fritz Lang’s Metropolis with its original score in 2007, prompting the mayor of Vacaville to proclaim a day in their honor.”

Poster in VCS music room for Metropolis performance. Photo: J. Waits

Martin first started up a radio station at VCS as a tool for his music students to share their opinions about music; for that reason, VCS Radio participants are typically music students and musicians who might be taking music classes on one day and doing radio the next. Others are welcome to join in after school. Lines blur between the radio and the music programs, particularly since the radio studios are housed along the edges of the music room, with several of them doubling as music practice rooms.

Overhead view of VCS Radio studio and production rooms. Photo: J. Waits

When I approached VCS Radio’s headquarters, it was impossible to miss the music department’s colorful, radio-themed truck parked out front. The bright blue vehicle is adorned with an “On-Air” sign, microphone graphic, and branding for both the radio station and the school orchestra/jazz band. A reconditioned U-Haul truck, the spiffed up vehicle is now used for transporting music equipment to gigs.

VCS Radio Conservatory truck. Photo: J. Waits

Although Martin would say that music came first at VCS, the truth is that he has a long history as a radio buff. He’s been at Vacaville Christian Schools for 33 years and in his radio role, he’s been the mastermind of some intriguing projects, including a few “secret” stations and broadcasts, including hidden Morse code messages over KVCB.

Ralph Martin at VCS Radio. Photo: J. Waits

Over email, Martin told me VCS Radio’s back story, explaining,

VCS Radio started around 1997 (or close) as a classroom exercise for my music students. They were mock radio segments where I would have my students select a piece of music and describe what they like or dislike about it. They would provide a little information about the artist and reflect on how their selection moved them. From there it morphed into event broadcasting online and on a part-15 free radiate system that I had set up on campus.

AM carrier current equipment at VCS Radio. Photo: J. Waits

While doing the unlicensed part 15 broadcasts, Martin experimented with carrier current, using it to broadcast to the music building. He still utilizes AM carrier current today to broadcast a message to his students for a final exam project in which they are required to build a crystal radio. Martin poses a question to his students that can only be answered by listening to the mysterious AM broadcast. “I give my students an empty toilet paper roll, a safety pin, a dulled razor blade, a broken pencil, some copper wire, and a wood or plastic block. Their job is to design and build a device to decode the broadcast and answer the question. Essentially, they’re building a ‘foxhole’ crystal radio. It works great and shows them a bit about early wireless technology,” Martin relayed.

AM carrier current equipment at VCS Radio. Photo: J. Waits

As far as the Morse Code broadcast, it’s something that Martin has rigged up with the FSK identifier function on KVCB’s transmitter. Martin pointed out, “To hear it, you would need equipment capable of detecting the code. I suppose if, in the unlikely event, we ever had any dead air, and a standard radio receiver was close enough to our transmitter, and you turned up the volume and listened really, really hard, you’d hear artifacts of the mysterious broadcast. And, of course, if you knew morse code… well, there you go! :)”

Posters and Charlie Chaplin upstairs at VCS Radio. Photo: J. Waits

While visiting radio stations, I always have an eye out for interesting artifacts. There’s a lot to see in the VCS music room/radio station, including instruments galore, countless movie and event posters, a cardboard Charlie Chaplin cut-out, a tiny Yoda, vintage radio equipment, and perhaps the most exciting item that I’ve ever seen: a Tesla coil. During our lunch break, Martin asked if I’d like to see it in action. How could I refuse?

Tesla coil at VCS Radio. Photo: J. Waits

The dramatic Tesla coil, which Martin built with the help of a special effects-focused Tesla coil expert, serves as another instrument of sorts for the music students and has appeared on stage during performances to heighten the drama and add “scary effects.” Martin explained that most recently he challenged his jazz band to create a work representing a plane flying through a storm. During our conversation in February, he told me that he anticipated that the imminent performance would likely use the Tesla coil to represent lightning.

Tesla coil in action at VCS Radio. Photo: J. Waits

Creativity is held in high regard at VCS Radio and I was glad to catch some student-crafted compositions on the station’s HD2 channel as I sat in my car in the school parking lot. One jazz piece turned out to have been the work of a student who I later met at the radio station; another was a funky beat poetry-infused jazz number. I also heard some interesting samples and bits of an interview where girls asked boys their thoughts about girls. As far as the “sound art”-oriented HD 2 channel, which often will feature nature sounds as well, Martin revealed that some “people like to tune in and just sleep” to it.

Mixing board in VCS Radio studio. Photo: J. Waits

In addition to music programming, VCS Radio has conducted numerous live broadcasts (sports, meetings, etc.) and even created its own science fiction radio drama series (Unit X-7), with performances done in the style of a live radio play, in front of an audience.

Headphones in VCS Radio production studio. Photo: J. Waits

On the day of my visit, I was a fly on the wall during a few live middle school shows. Beforehand, Martin joked with me, “Some people are brave enough to visit while 6th and 7th graders are running a radio station!” For me, this was a huge bonus, as I haven’t seen a middle school radio program before. The team of boys (several shared hosting and engineering duties during each segment) selected music to play, shared light banter, and even invited me to be interviewed on-air.

Student in VCS Radio studio. Photo: J. Waits

Later in the day, I witnessed KVCB’s National High School Radio Network broadcast. On Wednesdays during the school year, different high school radio stations take turns broadcasting on fellow network stations across the country. Martin was the instigator behind the High School Radio Network, which now has around 25 participating stations. A crew of girls from VCS Radio produced that week’s episode, selecting music, fielding phone calls, and chatting on-air. As with the middle school broadcast, I was asked to make a cameo appearance, chiming in about my work as well as answering some pop culture questions.

High school students in the studio at VCS Radio. Photo: J. Waits

While the network shows will pause during the summer, VCS Radio will continue to broadcast online and to local Vacaville listeners. As Martin wraps up the academic year this week, he’s already looking ahead to the station’s summer schedule. “With our 4 HD channels, we’re responsible for 96 hours of programming each day, 365 days a year. The station is open all summer long. Our students can broadcast by reserving time in one of our studios,” he shared.

Instruments in music room adjacent to VCS Radio. Photo: J. Waits

Thanks to Ralph Martin and everyone at VCS Radio for the inspiring visit. This is my 144th radio station tour report, with more on the way. My most recent field trips are located on Radio Survivor and a full list of all my station tour reports is archived on Spinning Indie.

The post Radio Station Visit #144: High School Radio Station VCS Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Community radio KBOO-FM is hosting this year’s Grassroots Radio Conference on the occasion of the station’s 50th anniversary. The conference is happening October 5 – 7, 2018 and registration is open now.

Founded in 1996, the GRC is intended to be a space where broadcasters, producers and supporters can share skills, discuss important issues and learn together. The Grassroots Radio Coalition which started the conference is not a membership organization, so anyone is invited to participate. This includes folks involved in full-power and low-power FM community stations, college radio, internet radio, podcasting or other community media.

The GRC’s theme for 2018 is “The Future is Community Radio.” The organizers are now accepting proposals for sessions at the conference. It’s an opportunity to share skills and knowledge, hold a workshop or host a discussion. Some suggested topics include: technical workshops on things like automation and engineering; volunteer coordination; building networks and collaboration between stations in a region; community podcasting; and social media and digital strategy.

Personally, I’m hoping to see a diversity of attendees, with podcasters, independent producers, college radio volunteers, high school station broadcasters, and maybe even legal unlicensed Part 15 broadcasters joining the core group of people from full-power and low-power community stations.

You can submit your proposal online. Then, make your plans to be in Portland this October.

The post Grassroots Radio Conference 2018 To Be Held Oct. 5 -7 in Portland, OR appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This year, the annual High School Radio Day tradition has expanded to a full week, from April 21 to April 28, under the moniker High School Radio Week. For those wishing to pick a singular day to celebrate, Wednesday, April 25th is the official date for the 7th annual High School Radio Day. More than 80 stations are expected to participate.

Various festivities took place over the weekend, including a 50th anniversary shindig for Lyons Township High School radio station WLTL in LaGrange, Illinois. I visited the station back in 2014 and was intrigued by its long history, so it’s gratifying to hear of Saturday’s event.

More than 100 people stopped by WLTL for the anniversary gathering, which included an open house, a WLTL documentary film screening, and a first-hand account from one of the station’s founders, Terry Marsala. According to the Chicago Tribune,

Marsala, along with co-founder Wayne Terrell, spent two years setting up what would be WLTL. The two boys were in the school’s amateur radio club and both of the students were interested in broadcast radio. Orville Warning, a physics teacher, sponsored the radio club and he suggested the boys could broadcast out of some rooms in the Vaughn Building. When that building was built in the early 1950s, it included radio broadcast rooms with microphones in order to broadcast games and music performances.

On the west coast, VCS Radio in Vacaville, California kicked off High School Radio Week by celebrating Vinylthon (which was organized by College Radio Day). Station Manager Ralph Martin (who you may recall from Radio Survivor Podcast #94 – “The High School Station that Went HD”) wrote in with an enthusiastic recap, telling us,

What was it like to stay up all night doing a radiothon for a high school radio station? Ask just about any broadcast teacher; especially around about the second day of the last hour of an all-nighter! You’ll still get a thumbs-up; we’re a spirited sort!

There’s nothing like kids spinning vinyl like we used to do, and it’s more amazing when it’s to kick off National High School Radio Week, April 21 – 28, 2018! That’s why we did it this last weekend! 24 hours all LIVE through the night with guests and live music and records, and all to celebrate an entire week of special recognition of high school’s contribution to the radio broadcast landscape!

Martin also provided an overview of what some high school radio stations have planned for High School Radio Week this year for Radio World. I’ll note that Martin is the mastermind behind the National High School Radio Network, which is a group of high school radio stations that since fall, 2016 have been taking turns producing live programming every Wednesday afternoon/evening. In honor of the week, why not tune in to this week’s National High School Radio Network broadcast from WAHS at Avondale High School (Auburn Hills, Michigan) on Wednesday, April 25 at 3pm PT/6pm ET?

High school radio has a long and storied history, dating back to the early days of radio, so it’s worth flashing back to some of my prior posts about high school radio’s back story as well as taking a look at our archive of high school radio articles. Happy High School Radio Week!

High School Radio History + High School Radio Coverage on Radio Survivor

Where is the Oldest High School Radio Station in the United States?

Digging into the Early History of High School Radio Station KBPS

Radio Survivor’s high school radio coverage

The post Happy High School Radio Week: WLTL’s 50th, Vinylthon, and National HS Radio Network appeared first on Radio Survivor.

If you’ve heard of HD Radio it was probably in a spot on a major commercial station, not a high school station. KVCB-LP is the exception to that rule, a high school radio station that is likely the first and only low-power FM station to start broadcasting in digital HD Radio.

Ralph Martin is the operations director for the station, owned by Vacaville Christian Schools. He explains how and why KVCB went HD, detailing the challenging trail he had to blaze. He also shares the station’s unique approach to programming and integrating broadcasting into the school’s curriculum.

Radio Survivor is a listener-supported podcast. You can support us two ways:

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Show Notes:

• VCS Radio, FM 100.9 KVCB-LP
• Wikipedia: HD Radio
• About Low-Power FM (LPFM)
• LA’s KCHUNG Radio Demonstrates the Power of Part 15 Broadcasting
• Radio Station Visit #117 – KCHUNG Radio in Los Angeles

The post Podcast #94 – The High School Station that Went HD appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Happy High School Radio Day! Today marks the 6th Annual High School Radio Day and as I write this, 83 high school radio stations from 31 states plan to participate. I’m heartened that high school radio is going strong and hope that in 2017, I’ll be able to visit more high school radio stations. You may recall that last fall a new High School Radio Network launched, with live programs broadcast from high school radio stations all over the United States every Wednesday afternoon. Today’s show will air from KASB at Bellevue High School in Bellevue, Washington.

Have any favorite high school radio stations or do you do high school radio? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments. In the meantime, here are a few pieces that I’ve written about high school radio to get you into the spirit of the day:

High School Radio Coverage

High School Radio Network Launches (September, 2016)

Happy High School Radio Day Today (April, 2016)

My Visit to the Oldest High School Radio Station in the U.S.: KBPS (January, 2016)

Podcast #24: The Value of High School Radio (November, 2015)

Digging in to the Early History of High School Radio Station KBPS (June, 2015)

Where is the Oldest High School Radio Station in the United States? (April, 2015)

High School Radio Station Visits

Field Trip #20 – WGBK-FM at Glenbrook South High School (Glenview, Illinois)

Field Trip #62 – WHHS-FM at Haverford High School (Havertown, Pennsylvania) – founded in 1949

Field Trip #69 – WLTL-FM at Lyons Township High School (La Grange, Illinois)

Field Trip #84 – KBCP at Bellarmine College Preparatory School (San Jose, California)

Field Trip #97 – KBPS-AM at Benson Polytechnic High School (Portland, Oregon) – founded in 1923

The post Celebrating High School Radio Day appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It’s no secret that I have a soft spot for high school radio and it’s particularly nice to hear about projects that serve to build a closer high school radio community. Ralph Martin of KVCB wrote to Radio Survivor to let us know about the launch of a high school radio network, which is appropriately named HS Radio Network, on September 7. The way it works is that each station in the network will get a turn to be broadcast live over the signals of the other participating stations.

According to Martin,

So, here we are — just 5 days away from a first — a live coast-to-coast high school radio network. I don’t really know how to express the anticipation, and the wonder as to how well it will come off. I think this is going to be amazing! My students are certainly looking forward to it. Live radio is fun, no matter what happens and having multiple stations supporting the broadcast for the hour is a real thrill.

The student broadcasters from Vacaville Christian Schools in Vacaville Ca. will be the first to broadcast from our KVCB studios September 7th at 6:00pm ET / 3:00pm PT with 17 stations signed on so far. They’re expected to bring music / live interviews take calls — and generally have a great time for 57 minutes. The following week September 14th will be the student broadcasters from Lowell Area Schools — Lowell, Michigan. Not all stations have reserved their own production spots yet as many are still getting back from summer vacation.

The rules: Each High school in turn must be live for the whole hour — no voice tracking or other virtual live techniques may be used. No pre-recorded shows allowed. It’s live and real – that’s the point of the project. All stations signed on for the project have agreed to broadcast the network show every week for the hour so that every member high school gets a chance to go national twice.”

The post High School Radio Network Launches on September 7 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Today is the 5th annual High School Radio Day. By last count, 78 high school radio stations from 30 states planned to celebrate the day devoted to the power of student-run radio, high school style. I’ve been lucky to visit a handful of high school radio stations and I’m always in awe of the opportunity to do radio in one’s teen years.

In honor of High School Radio Day, I hope that you will take some time to listen to your local high school radio station. For inspiration, here are tours of the high school radio stations that I have seen during my travels:

Radio Station Field Trip #20 – WGBK-FM at Glenbrook South High School (Glenview, Illinois)

Radio Station Field Trip #62 – WHHS-FM at Haverford High School (Havertown, Pennsylvania) – founded in 1949

Radio Station Field Trip #69 – WLTL-FM at Lyons Township High School (La Grange, Illinois)

Radio Station Field Trip #84 – KBCP at Bellarmine College Preparatory School (San Jose, California)

Radio Station Field Trip #97 – KBPS-AM at Benson Polytechnic High School (Portland, Oregon) – founded in 1923

I’ve also been to a few other radio stations located on high school campuses, including KALW-FM in San Francisco and KCEA-FM in Atherton, California. Both have minimal student involvement.

Do you have a favorite high school radio station? Hear anything interesting today?

The post Happy High School Radio Day Today appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Three low-power FM applications associated with alleged serial-applicant Antonio Cesar Guel were dismissed by the FCC on Wednesday. In all three cases the Commission found that the applicant addresses provided to the FCC were not legitimate.

In perhaps the most absurd case, the headquarters location listed for Beaumont Iglesias Cristo Viene turned out to be a vacant lot. The same address was cited as the residence of one the organization’s board members. On top of that, the home addresses for two other board members turned out to be a different church and a daycare.

In the case of the North Longview Hispanic Education Family Foundation in Longview, Texas, the FCC found that the address listed for the organization and all three of its board members is actually a Church of Christ. However, staff at the church told the Commission that the organization had never been headquartered there.

The situation is similar with the South Victoria Hispanic Education Family Foundation. Again, the same address was listed for the organization and all of its board members. And, surprise surprise, turns out that the property is owned by a church whose staff say that organization was never there.

A cornerstone of LPFM is that stations are owned and operated by truly local non-profit organizations, and that organizations do not own more than one station. A major test of localness is that the applicant/licensee has its physical headquarters within 10 miles of the station’s transmitter in the top 50 urban markets, or within 20 miles in all other markets. Another qualifier is that 75% of board members must reside within these same geographical limits. Of course, that headquarters has to actually exist to even evaluate this.

In happier news, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports on KIOF-LP which just went on the air last month as Las Vegas Public Radio. In Springdale, Arkansas there is a relatively new LPFM that broadcasts in the Marshallese, according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, serving local residents who have Marshall Islands heritage. The station operates alongside a Marshallese newspaper.

Finally, the Harbor Country News reports that WNBI-LP, which is operated by New Buffalo Schools in New Buffalo, Michigan, is now broadcasting “around-the-clock” which a schedule that includes “easy listening and light rock to rhythm and blues, country and Motown music.”

The post LPFM Watch: 3 Applications Dismissed for Illegitimate Addresses appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This week, the FCC granted one construction permit for a new low power FM (LFPM) radio station and the lucky recipient is The Church in Lafayette, Inc. in Lafayette, Indiana. Competing applicant Great Lafayette Chinese Traditional Culture Association in West Lafayette, Indiana had its application dismissed. This is the first construction permit granted in 2016 and brings the grand total of construction permits from the 2013 filing window to 1,888.

In keeping with Paul’s update from last week, I’d also like to share a list of the LPFM stations that have been issued licenses to cover by the FCC. Many of these stations have plans to get on the air soon, including WXOX-LP in Louisville, Kentucky, which has set its launch date for Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2016), in a nod to its love-inspired call letters. The station will begin broadcasting 24 hours a day over 97.1 FM in Louisville, KY starting at 3:33pm on February 14. See my 2015 tour of WXOX aka ARTxFM’s former location here.

Stations issued licenses to cover since January 15, 2016

• WBIS-LP, Community Care Fellowship (Winterville, NC)
• WYML-LP, Local Community Broadcasting Inc. (Ingleside, IL)
• WVPJ-LP, Iglesia Evangelica Sion, Inc. (Mayaguez, PR)
• WASP-LP, Spring Valley High School (students) (Huntington, WV)
• WHIC-LP, Cornerstone Baptist Church (Carthage, TN)
• WMIV-LP, Peter Stebbins (Miami, FL)
• WXOX-LP, ART FM, Inc. (Louisville, KY)
• WXHR-LP, Hillman Community Radio (Hillman, MI)
• WGVR-LP, Radio Gainesville, Inc. (Gainesville, FL)
• WLAV-LP, Iglesia Cristiana Voz de Salvacion (Las Vegas, NV) – granted and then rescinded due to “invalid call sign”
• KWMG-LP, Wordcaster, Inc. (White City, OR)
• WOGJ-LP, Haitian Relief Radio and Community Services, Inc. (Orlando, FL)

LPFM in the News

Killeen ISD Launches Radio Station MY 95

Student-run high school radio station MY 95 hits the airwaves in Texas.

New JHS Radio, TV Stations Making Waves

New high school LPFM, WJHI-LP launches in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Hillsdale College LPFM Opens Remote Studio in D.C.

As I wrote in College Radio Watch, it’s interesting to see a Michigan LPFM building a studio in D.C.

The post LPFM Watch: More Stations Close to Getting on the Air, Including ARTxFM appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Radio Survivor readers are well aware of my passion for radio history and my appreciation for high school radio. For those reasons, it was a thrill to finally visit KBPS 1450 AM in Portland, Oregon a couple of months ago. Licensed to Portland Public Schools, the station is housed at Benson Polytechnic High School (thus the call letters, K-B-P-S). The historic AM station launched in 1923 and has been a haven for Portland Public School students ever since.

Plaque at high school radio station KBPS-AM. Photo: J. Waits

KBPS’ Storied Past

Last summer I wrote up an account of the early history of KBPS after reading a fascinating dissertation by the station’s former General Manager (from around 1947 to 1994) Patricia Green Swenson. The station launched in May, 1923 with the original call letters KFIF (changed to KBPS in 1930) and the early days of the station included mostly live programming ranging from music performances to lectures.

KBPS history and Patricia Swenson photo on wall of station. Photo: J. Waits

Over the years students played a large role in the station (Benson students ran the station from the beginning) and starting in 1939, students from all of the Portland public schools were invited to participate, including kids as young as elementary school age.

Equipment in studio at KBPS. Photo: J. Waits

Touring KBPS in 2015

On Sunday, November 8, 2015, I headed to Benson Polytechnic High School and met up with KBPS’ Operations Manager Kevin Flink. It was a treat talking to Flink as he has a long history with the station, beginning as a student sportscaster probably in the fall of 1969. After graduation he continued to work at the station over summer vacations and was hired in 1975 as a producer/production assistant. He eventually went on to teach radio classes and manage the station, retiring from teaching in 2007. The call of the station lured him back, however, and he’s been a part-time manager since 2012.

Entrance to high school radio station KBPS-AM. Photo: J. Waits

As he toured me through the station, Flink spoke passionately about not only radio, but about the station and the students. He said, “It’s been a wonderful ride.” Housed in its own building on campus, KBPS moved into its current location in 1992. Flink recounted, “When we moved in here I thought I’d died and gone to radio heaven.” I visited with my Radio Survivor colleague Paul Riismandel and when we approached the entrance to the station, it was impossible to miss the large call letters above the door and the welcoming entrance. We initially hung out in the station lobby, eyeing a collection of plaques commemorating those who helped fund the current station building.

Paul Riismandel and Kevin Flink in KBPS lobby. Photo: J. Waits

KBPS as a Learning Lab for High School Students

The lobby also has piano, some seating, and an homage on the wall to KBPS’ long-time General Manager Patricia Swenson. As we walked down the hallway, there were more displays, including student posters from radio classroom assignments. I was charmed to see posters about topics like the history of radio sportscasting and about important radio figures, including physicist Heinrich Hertz. There was also a poster outlining the Benson High School Bell Schedules. To an outsider, that might seem rather mundane, but the daily high school schedule is critical to know when running a high school radio station operated by students who are ruled by their schedules.

Student poster at KBPS. Photo: J. Waits

During higher budget years, KBPS had a large staff of around 23 people, but today there’s just a Flink along with a full-time teacher (Broadcast Program Teacher Steve Naganuma) and contractors who provide help with engineering and other areas. For a time, the KBPS space also housed KBPS-FM, which began in the 1980s as an all classical station. KBPS-FM (now All Classical Portland KQAC-FM) later separated from the school district and moved out of the building in 2014.

KBPS 90th anniversary poster. Photo: J Waits

Off of a long hallway are several classrooms where radio students take classes and do work for the station. Flink told me that between 25 and 30 sophomores rotate through a 9-week radio class each quarter, which is around 80% of the entire sophomore class. Sophomores have their own radio classroom, which also has two production rooms attached to it.

Classroom at KBPS. Photo: J. Waits

KBPS also has a classroom for high school seniors, where I spied a collection of LPs, 7″s and carts. There were also quite a few carts in the other classroom and Flink told me that some of them came from other radio stations and were used for assignments. I also noticed many with KBPS work on them, including a cart that hints at the period of time when KBPS offered up its airwaves to Portland State University station KPSU (which didn’t have its own terrestrial signal – see my KPSU tour here).

Carts at KBPS. Photo: J. Waits

Flink said that the main senior project requires doing a 30 minute radio program. After spying the records, I asked Flink if there were turntables and he told me that there was one turntable and one stylus, joking that it’s like Barney Fife with “one bullet in his pocket.” The stylus is kept under lock and key mainly because of issues in the past with students trying to do scratching maneuvers using the turntable. Flink guessed that around 65 students take radio classes each quarter, when one accounts for sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

Vinyl records at KBPS-AM. Photo: J. Waits

As we made our way to the KBPS studio, Flink told me that the control room could only be used by radio majors, which means that no sophomores have access. When on the air, students can play pre-screened music on the station’s computer. They are asked to stick to a particular format, which could include new music, rock, or teen music. During our visit there were no students at the station and we heard a mix of music, including David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” Flink said that they were splitting the station’s stream during the weekend of my visit in order to run sports over AM and music over FM. For cases like this, they have two separate control rooms, one for the AM broadcasts and one for streaming broadcasts. Ultimately, Flink said they’d like to run two streams simultaneously so that more students can get on the schedule.

KBPS on-air studio. Photo: J. Waits

Besides sports broadcasts and music shows, KBPS also airs school board meetings. In addition to playing music, DJs also do breaks to report on news and weather and Flink said it’s typically “2-man shifts.” That phrase piqued my curiosity about the number of girls at the station. When asked, Flink told me that up until 1972 the station was all boys, but that things have changed dramatically and that today there are probably more girls than boys in the radio program. In part he surmised that it’s because “it’s a clean major,” as opposed to say the school’s building construction major.

Sign at KBPS. Photo: J. Waits

As we continued our tour, Flink pointed out a room that is being converted into a workroom for music production. The school is in the process of getting keyboards and guitars and already has some work stations where students can produce music. He explained, “not everybody wants to be a DJ.” When we reached Flink’s office and the end of our tour, we got to see some historic gems, including old black and white photographs of the station and vintage transcription discs containing KBPS-AM programming dating back to the 1940s. Flink had just found the stack of dusty records and it was amazing to glance through them and see the types of programs that the station used to produce with elementary through high school-aged kids.

Transcription disc containing KBPS-AM programming from 1949. Photo: J. Waits

Back in the days before tape recorders, radio transcription discs were used to archive live radio. Housed on oversized records (around 16 inches compared with the 12 inch records that we are generally familiar with), the discs at KBPS contained a variety of educational programs, drama, and even a 1948 interview with the U.S. Office of Education’s Chief of Educational Radio. I’m sure this would be a fascinating listen, as it’s from around the time that he published a short Office of Education book on FM educational radio.

1940s transcription disc at KBPS. Photo: J. Waits

After wrapping up inside, we took a short walk to the back of the building to take a look at the KBPS AM radio tower. It was a rare opportunity for me to see such a commanding radio tower close up, made even more special because of its location at a high school station and its incredible legacy.

Radio tower at high school radio station KBPS-AM. Photo: J. Waits

Thanks so much to Kevin Flink for the great tour of KBPS-AM, particularly since it was on a Sunday morning! You can hear some of my interview with Flink on Radio Survivor Podcast #24, which is worth a listen if you want to learn more about high school radio and KBPS. This is my 97th station tour report. I have one more tour recap left from 2015 and I’m already planning for some radio station tours in 2016. It’s hard to believe that one of those stations will be my 100th tour. See my most recent field trips on Radio Survivor and see all of my station tour reports on Spinning Indie.

The post My Visit to the Oldest High School Radio Station in the U.S.: Portland’s KBPS appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Last week I wrote about the FCC’s decision regarding a group of low power FM (LPFM) applicants in Baltimore, Maryland and noted that two college radio groups will likely have their applications dismissed. Although not a college radio station, it turns out that one of the tentatively selected winners of a frequency in Baltimore has some plans to work with college students. According to the application for Center for Emerging Media (CEM),

…CEM has begun working with the Breaking Ground initiative at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, under which professors and students have already begun collecting the stories of working people in Baltimore. We anticipate that this low-frequency station would be a good training ground for the UMBC students to learn how to express these stories through media.”

Around since 2000, CEM was founded by a radio journalist “as a vehicle to produce educational pieces for broadcast on public radio venues, both local and national,” according to its application. CEM will likely share its frequency with United Workers Association and Benedictine Society of Baltimore City, as the three groups are the FCC’s tentative selectees. Read more about the ins and outs of the competition for a frequency in Baltimore on REC Networks.

In other LPFM news, Matthew shared some details yesterday about KFTW-LP aka “the Southside Pirate” in Fort Worth, Texas.

I was also interested to read that an existing LPFM high school radio station that’s been around since 2002 is changing frequencies due to potential interference from a full power station that wants to use its 97.7 FM channel. According to the Jackson Hole News & Guide, the Jackson Hole High School radio station in Wyoming will be moving to 104.3 FM. The article states, “‘Being a secondary service, it has to give way to a full-power station,’ said Bob Culver, who encouraged staff at the high school in 2002 to start the low-power station.'”

Finally, on Saturday, a new LPFM station, Lexington Community Radio, launched in Lexington, Kentucky. The Lexington Herald-Ledger reports that, “WLXL-95.7 LPFM founder Debra Hensley, insurance agency executive and former Urban County Council member, introduced the low-power FM broadcasting station at Fayette County Public Schools’ STEAM Academy on East Sixth Street amid bands playing and people taking part in scavenger hunts.”

LPFM Watch is a weekly feature on Radio Survivor appearing every Thursday.

The post LPFM Watch: Lexington Community Radio Launches, High School Station Must Move Up Dial and More LPFM News appeared first on Radio Survivor.

In late 2014, St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California submitted paperwork to sell its KSFH-FM license to Mountain View Public Broadcasting. The assignment of the 87.9 FM non-commercial class D high school radio license (a rarity, as there are only a few licensed radio stations on 87.9 FM) was just approved by the FCC on June 18, 2015.

As we wrote previously, Mountain View Public Broadcasting plans to air programming for the South Asian community. In a recent filing, the group enumerated the live programs that it plans to air during weekdays. Planned programs will be in Punjabi and English and will include daily talk shows focused on finance, politics, consumer affairs, legal topics, and more. Other public affairs shows will provide programming for new immigrants.

Over the past few months, KSFH has filed several Special Temporary Authority applications. Back in November, 2014 it asked for, “an extension of the special temporary authority to operate noncommercial educational FM station KSFH from the temporary location as authorized…until the station’s permanent facilities can be reconstructed.” On May 20, 2015, KSFH asked for another extension, which was granted on May 21, 2015.

It’s also worth noting that KSFH’s days on 87.9 FM may be numbered, as a February, 2015 request in with the FCC is proposing a license modification, potentially moving to 100.7 FM with 10 watts of power. According to the KSFH request,

Due to operational challenges faced on this channel, which is outside the normally-used FM broadcast band, the station is filing this request to move to a channel in the non-reserved band in connection with a proposal to change transmitter site. At present, KSFH receives extensive first-adjacent channel interference from Low Power TV station KBKF-LP San Jose, which operates on Channel 6 and is thus effectively on the first-adjacent channel to KSFH.”

As we’ve written before, the lower end of the FM dial (around 87.7 FM) has been a back door of sorts for lower power television stations operating on channel 6. Sometimes those stations can be heard spilling in to 87.9 FM as well.

I’m sad to see the loss of a high school radio station and I haven’t seen an active KSFH website in awhile. The old site indicates that streaming radio will continue at St. Francis High School, so hopefully we’ll hear some good news in the fall when classes resume.

The post FCC Approves St. Francis High School Radio Station’s Assignment to Mountain View Public Broadcasting – Is this the End of 87.9 FM? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

A few months back, in honor of High School Radio Day, I wrote about possibly the oldest high school radio station in the United States, KBPS-AM in Portland, Oregon. In the course of researching the Benson Polytechnic High School radio station, I learned that one of its General Managers, Patricia Green Swenson (who led the station from around 1947 until 1994), wrote a doctoral thesis in 1958 about the history of the station.

I tracked down the thesis, Radio in the Public Schools of Portland, Oregon: The Historical Development of Educational Broadcasting in the Public Schools of Portland, Oregon, and of the Schools’ Radio Station, KBPS, and found some fascinating tidbits about the early history of high school/educational radio. The dissertation specifically looks at the period of 1923 to 1950 and it offers an incredible glimpse into the early days of radio.

She explains that “broadcasting to schools began as early as 1923. In 1923 Haaren High School in New York City broadcast programs on accounting, and in the following year schools in Oakland, California, were receiving geography, history, and English lessons broadcast to their classrooms.”

As Swenson’s degree was from New York University’s School of Education, much of the dissertation focuses on the educational uses of high school radio. In her introduction, Swenson writes that the project, “…examines a program of educational radio in a public school system in the light of established principles relating to radio as a source of enriched learning experiences for schools.” Radio programs with specific educational goals were broadcast into elementary school through high school classrooms over KBPS during the period of the study.

For me, however, the back story of how the station came to be is perhaps one of the more interesting tales.

High School Radio as an Antidote to Juvenile Delinquency?

Located at a technical/vocational high school, KBPS launched in 1923 and its beginnings were described to Swenson by the station’s first technical advisor, W.D. Allingham. According to Allingham,

In the year 1922-1923, the Benson Polytechnic School had an enrollment of around 350 to 400 students. There occurred just at this time considerable rowdyism in the city, perpetuated by some of the Benson students. Several Benson faculty members led by Principal Cleveland were seeking a means to ‘whitewash this surge of juvenile delinquency,’ to give students an outlet for their interests, to sway public opinion more in favor of Benson, and to increase enrollment of the school.”

The AM station KYG was offered to the school and it was decided that the student body would purchase it. There was already an active Benson Radio Club, which helped to install the new radio station on campus. KFIF were its initial call letters (up until 1930), with the station officially debuting on May 9, 1923.

KFIF’s Early Days of Live Programming

According to Swenson, “During the first eight to ten years of operation all the programs were live programs. Records were too poor to be used in those early days and the station continually tried to bring in the ‘artists’ of the community to its listeners.” Numerous musicians came to perform live over KFIF during its first year and the addition of a grand piano to the station enhanced its appeal to the “many accomplished pianists, singers, and instrumentalists….” as well as performers from “visiting opera and touring musical companies,” according to Swenson.

In addition to music, KFIF also presented lectures and programming from a wide range of experts and local organizations, aired sports broadcasts and school assemblies, as well as “portions of Benson class plays, pep rallies…” and more, writes Swenson.

Through it all, the station was also training students in radio broadcasting, although, “Adult, rather than student talent, had been used for the majority of early programs,” according to Swenson.

Educational Programming in the Evening Hours and In the Classroom

Between 1928 and 1938, KFIF/KBPS worked increasingly to create educational programs for both in-school use and for after-school time. After school programs included concerts, sports, classes, and local government broadcasts. Additionally, local commercial radio stations also created educational content, including the weekly “Great Moments in History/Talking Text-Books” program, which launched over commercial radio station KEX in 1931. Another series that followed in 1934 is described in a story in the Oregonian, as quoted by Swenson:

Books and pencils will be shunted aside by Portland public school children every Wednesday morning while radio waves carry dramatizations of important news events from KEX, The Oregonian, directly into the classrooms…Adoption of radio as an effective method of instruction is a part of the progressive policy of the Portland Public School administration.”

The problem, though, was that schools didn’t necessarily have enough radios on which students could listen to these educational programs. Proponents worked to rally schools and PTAs in order to purchase enough radio sets so that programming could be heard.

It’s interesting to read about radio in the schools as “progressive” education and it reminds me of more recent attempts to get more laptops, iPads, and other forms of technology into schools. At the same time, as I read about commercial radio stations in the 1930s producing programs to air in public schools, I’m also reminded of organizations like Channel One, which brought school-specific television programming into schools beginning in 1989. Ever since its national launch in 1990, Channel One stirred up controversy, as it provided free equipment and programming to schools who aired the shows along with accompanying commercials.

Although educational programs from commercial radio station were a staple at KBPS, there’s no mention of whether or not commercials were actually aired in the classroom.

More Students on the Air Starting in the Late 1930s

Starting in 1939, following the appointment of a new KBPS advisor, Hazel Kenyon, the station was “opened for the entire school system” with students from every school in the district eligible to get on the air. This led to a “daily all-city school and community group news series” called “What’s Going On?”, live drama from local high schools, an increase in the number of student announcers, as well as “the establishment of a new, weekly, after-school course for these students in radio announcing techniques and board operation,” according to Swenson.

During Kenyon’s tenure, a dizzying number of interesting projects were established, including the addition of radio writing and production classes at three high schools, the launch of an elementary-school created radio interview series, and a range of high school radio series (including a singers club, Spanish lessons, news, and “dramatized Oregon history programs”).

Kenyon left KBPS in 1941 to become the Director of Education for a new Seattle station, KIRO.

Portland Schools Rejects Offer to Buy KBPS + High Interest in Radio in 1940s

In 1945, the school district received two offers to purchase KBPS and both were rejected. For KBPS this was affirmation of “the increasing value put upon the station by the schools’ Board of Directors and administrative leaders,” according to Swenson. By the late 1940s, schools in Portland were deeply interested in participating over the air on KBPS. Swenson points out that more than 400 children and adults passed through the KBPS studios in a given week, which made scheduling studio time a logistical challenge.

Number of KBPS Programs in 1948-1949

Student Operation

Throughout the entire period of her study, students were in charge of technical operations of KBPS. Swenson writes, “Since 1923, KBPS has maintained (under a carefully planned, though minimum, of adult supervision) complete operation of its studio, transmitter, and remote broadcast facility controls by Benson Polytechnic High School students in order to give these Benson students who were technical radio majors actual on-the-air experiences in the operation of all phases of a real broadcast radio station.”

KBPS Proposed Program Logs Submitted to FCC in 1948

Additionally, students covered high school sports competitions, doing all of the play-by-play for several different sports, including football, basketball, and baseball.

At the conclusion of the study, Swenson does not reflect back on KBPS’ original noble goals of improving the school’s image in light of the scourge of juvenile delinquency, but the extensive radio program seems to speak for itself, as it grew into a highly regarded place for students to learn about and participate in radio.

Fast forward 65 years and in 2015, radio education continues at KBPS with a rigorous broadcast curriculum at Benson High School.

The post Digging in to the Early History of High School Radio Station KBPS appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This week ten more groups were granted construction permits for new low power FM (LPFM) radio stations. I’m thrilled to see two colleges and one school district in the mix, as not many schools have received grants in the past few months. By my count, 76 colleges/universities have now received new LPFM construction permits (out of 1,849 total construction permits across all groups) resulting from the fall 2013 application window.

Reed College’s Radio Station to Return to FM

One of the granted college radio stations this week is at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Once home to the long-time (since 1954) licensed class D FM station KRRC (see my tour on Spinning Indie), Reed has been operating an Internet-only station after donating its license to Common Frequency in 2012. KRRC had been forced to change frequencies a number of times and struggled to be heard on campus. After acquiring the license, Common Frequency worked to move KRRC (then at 97.9 FM) to a different frequency and found a group to run the new station, KXRY, now called X-Ray FM. X-Ray FM launched in March, 2014 and now broadcasts over 91.1 FM.

Reed College’s new LPFM station will broadcast from 4pm to 3:59am every day, sharing its 105.5 FM channel with the Portland Russian Media Center.

Another college radio station, KPSU at Portland State University, was initially in the running for this frequency as well, but its application was dismissed (despite numerous appeals) because the school was awarded fewer diversity points because at the time of the application, it was part of a larger university system that held additional radio licenses. KPSU (see my tour of the station on Spinning Indie) used to broadcast over AM through a deal with high school radio station KBPS 1450 AM (which I recently wrote about, as it’s potentially the oldest continuously operating high school radio station in the United States, having been on the air since 1923).

New LPFM Grants This Week

Churches/Religious Organizations

Portland Russian Media Center (105.5 FM in Portland, OR): In a time-share with The Reed Institute (Reed College), this organization “operates a Russian-language audio Internet service,” which it plans to develop into a new LPFM station. According to its application, its main educational objective is “to provide religious instruction and moral teaching.” Programming will air between 4am and 3:59pm daily.

Fundacion Arte Catolico Christiano (92.5 FM in Houston, TX): This religious station plans to air a Catholic talk format.

New Birth F. Baptist Church, Inc. (105.7 FM in Palm Bay, FL): This church plans to air religious programming, community programming, music, as well as programming for the local “French and Creole’s speaking population,” according to its application.

Jehovah Jireh International Mission (100.7 FM in Portland, OR): The group runs a missionary school and works with “Christ-based rehabilitation centers.” It plans to air locally produced religious-oriented programming and will broadcast from 2am to 1:59pm daily, sharing its channel with Slavic Community Center of NW, Inc.

Charles F. Martin Ministry, Inc. (98.7 FM in Live Oak, FL): According to its application, this station’s “…primary purpose is the outreach of non-denominational religious and moral doctrine that is inspirational, informational and educational to target populations and individuals in the general population of the Live Oak, Florida area.” It will specifically focus on “Black members of the Live Oak, Florida and surrounding rural areas” and its programming will “address the foundation of the breakdown of the family and crime.”

Colleges/Universities/Schools

The Reed Institute (Reed College at 105.5 FM in Portland, OR): See above. Sharing with Portland Russian Media Center.

Drury University (98.1 FM in Springfield, MO): Drury University used to run a very low power FM station on campus (KDRU), which currently operates as an Internet-only college radio station and has connections with its programs in Multimedia Production and Journalism. According to its application, “An FCC-licensed Low Power FM station with the concurrent administrative responsibilities required would enhance and further our educational program by providing an experience closer to the professional radio-station workplace.”

Terrell Independent School District (95.5 FM in Terrell, TX): According to its application, this school district plans to operate its LPFM radio station at a high school in its district (Terrell High School) and “will integrate the station into its curriculum,” using it to “teach its students communication, management, and technical skills.”

Other Non-Profits

Radio America Media, Corp. (103.1 FM in Littleton, NH): The non-profit plans to offer “audio production facilities” and intends to collaborate with “the Communications program at Hugh J. Gallen Career Technical Institute” at Littleton High School, according to its application. Additionally, future programming will include live music (including local elementary school and high school groups) and remote broadcasts of events.

Slavic Community Center of NW, Inc. (100.7 FM in Portland, OR): In a time-share with Jehovah Jireh International Mission, this organization plans to run “locally produced public affairs programming” and will also provide radio training. It will operate from 2pm to 1:59am daily.

LPFM Watch is a weekly feature on Radio Survivor appearing every Thursday.

The post LPFM Watch: Reed College and Drury University to go LPFM and More LPFM News appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Happy High School Radio Day! Because of my fascination with radio history, it seems like a great day to delve into the history of high school radio. As is the case with college radio, multiple stations lay claim to being the first on the air.

High school radio stations were launched in the very early days of radio in the 1920s, but I’m only aware of one station from that era that is still on the air. As with college radio, another batch of stations began in the 1940s during the early days of FM. Internet broadcasting has meant that streaming stations have also emerged on high school campuses. And, finally, the most recent low power FM (LFPM) licensing opportunity saw a flurry of high school applicants as well.

Here are a sampling of some pioneering stations, as well as a few of the oldest high school radio stations to my knowledge. Please let me know if you are aware of other high school radio pioneers that are still on the air.

High School Radio Stations in the 1920s

According to the 1937 work, Education’s Own Stations, some of the high schools operating radio stations in the 1920s included: Atwood Township High School (Atwood, Illinois) from 1926-1928, Dayton Cooperative Industrial High School (Dayton, Ohio) from 1924-1925, Gardenville High School (Gardenville, New York) broadcast commencement in 1925, Lane Technical High School (Chicago, Illinois) from 1923-1928, Moberly High School (Moberly, Missouri) from around 1924-1926, North Central High School (Spokane, WA) from around 1921-1929 (although it may not have broadcast until after 1923, see more history here), Omaha Central High School (Omaha, Nebraska) from 1923-1928, Omaha Technical High School (Omaha, Nebraska) from 1924-1928, Parker High School (Dayton, Ohio) from 1923-1925, Petoskey High School (Petoskey, Michigan) from 1924-1928, Savannah High School (Savannah, GA) had an experimental wireless station beginning in 1918 and a licensed broadcast station in 1923, Scott High School (Toledo, OH) from 1923-1927, Seneca Vocational High School (Buffalo, NY) from 1925 began as WJBP and changed to WSVS in 1926 and was in existence until maybe 1941, Technological High School (Atlanta, GA) from 1928-1929, Trinidad High School (Trinidad, CO) from 1925-1927, Union High School (Kellogg, Idaho) from 1927-1929, and the Ward-Belmont School (Nashville, TN) from April to November, 1922 (see today’s Radio Survivor Bulletin exclusive for some fascinating accounts of this station’s first broadcast).

In reading through the accounts of these early AM stations in the 1920s, it becomes clear that high schools and colleges faced the same challenges during that era, as they often were unsuccessful in gaining institutional support for their stations while simultaneously facing a growing radio landscape in which many stations were forced to either share frequencies or were denied license renewals by the government during an increasingly competitive time for radio.

The one surviving high school radio station from the 1920s that I’m aware of is KBPS at Benson Polytechnic High School and it’s my vote for the oldest high school radio station in the country.

KBPS at Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, Oregon Launched in 1923

This very well could be the longest running high school radio station in the United States, as it’s been on the air for 92 years. The Portland Public School District holds the license for KBPS 1450 AM, which operates out of Benson Polytechnic High School. According to the KBPS website, the station dates back to 1923. The website states,

On March 23, 1923, the student body of Benson was licensed by the federal government to operate a radio station using 200 watts of power at 834 kilocycles. The first call letters of the station were KFIF. The station made its formal debut on the air and was officially dedicated in early May of 1923, between the hours of 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., on the opening night of the 5th annual Benson Tech Show. In spring of 1930, the call letters changed from KFIF to KBPS, for Benson Polytechnic High School. In 1941 KBPS stopped sharing its frequency with other stations and moved to 1450 AM on the dial where it remains today.”

According to Education’s Own Stations, in the 1920s, the station could be heard for a typical radius of 100 miles during the summer and was said to have been heard as far away as New Zealand during night time winter broadcasts over AM.

Purported to be only the 2nd educational radio station in the country, KBPS has had very consistent management, with General Manager Patricia Swenson overseeing the station for nearly 50 years from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s. I was also interested to read that Swenson wrote her dissertation on the history of educational broadcasting in the Portland public schools, specifically focusing on KBPS.

Over email, KBPS’s long-time Operations Manager Kevin Flink told me of the station’s plans for High School Radio Day. Flink said, “We kind of feel like every day is high school radio day, we will just read some liners and have our announcers announce that it is National HS Radio day and KBPS is proud to be a part of the organization.”

When I asked if he knew of any high school radio stations older than KBPS, Flink said,

I really don’t know of any high school stations older than we are, that are still on the air. There is only one commercial station in Portland that is older than we are, and they have changed owners and formats several times over the years.  But being on the air since 1923 certainly makes us one of the oldest stations in the country and we are very proud of that.”

You can tune in to hear students live on KBPS from around 10am until 11:30am and from noon until 1:40pm Pacific time on most weekdays. Local listeners can tune in over 1450 AM and people from all over the world can listen to the online stream.

Here’s a short video about the station.

WNAS-FM at New Albany High School in New Albany, Indiana Launches in 1949

Claiming to be the first “FM high school radio station,” WNAS-FM launched at New Albany High School in May, 1949. According to the WNAS website,

The staff is made up entirely of students, which makes it unique among other local media outlets.  Currently, the radio / TV  programs at New Albany High School has over 100 students who receive hands-on training in radio and television production and broadcasting.”

WNAS plans to air special programming for High School Radio Day 2015. See the schedule here. I’m not aware of an older FM high school radio station, so please let me know if you know of any pre-1949 FM high school stations.

WHHS-FM at Haverford High School in Havertown, Pennsylvania Launches in 1949

While WHHS-FM claims to be the “oldest high school radio station in the country,” WHHS-FM is actually younger than both WNAS-FM and KBPS-AM, having launched in December, 1949. It celebrated its 65th anniversary last December. I visited the station last year and was impressed by WHHS-FM’s appreciation for its history. See some historical documents on its website, including the program from its debut broadcast.

The post Where is the Oldest High School Radio Station in the United States? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Last last year I received an email inviting me to visit high school radio station KBCP (aka “the Bell”) at Bellarmine College Preparatory School in San Jose, California. I’m always excited to see stations and it’s rare that I get to visit high school radio stations. After exchanging a few emails, I arranged to visit the nearby station last week. KBCP’s General Manager Robby Leano met up with me on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 14 and took me on a quick tour of the station at the all-male Jesuit school.

Entrance to KBCP. Photo: J. Waits

This was excellent timing, as High School Radio Day is coming up this Wednesday, April 22. Leano said that KBCP is planning to bring out the station’s banner to display while DJs play music in the school’s quad to celebrate High School Radio Day.

Bellarmine College Prep’s campus. Photo: J. Waits

A high school senior, Leano joined up with the station when he was a freshman and said that it’s been a “fantastic” experience, telling me, “I really enjoyed it from day one.” I joked with him that kids in his generation are rumored to have little interest in radio and asked how he’d decided to work at his high school station. He said that people had told him that he had a “radio voice” before he even got to high school. He found out about the station after arriving on campus and receiving an email from the station’s advisor at the time (they call them “moderators” at KBCP). Leano said he was really surprised to find out that there was a Bellarmine radio station and subsequently joined the club.

Board at KBCP. Photo: J. Waits

Over the years Leano has gotten more and more involved with KBCP, not only doing music shows with his friends, but also doing sports broadcasts. He told me that it’s been fun to “talk about what I was seeing” during games. He also explained that there have been some ups and downs at the station and during his sophomore year it was in a bit of a downturn. A new advisor stepped up and things seem to be on an upswing now, after a bit of a “rebuilding year” last year.

Robby Leano in KBCP studio. Photo: J. Waits

Leano’s passion for radio has grown and in addition to his work at KBCP, he’s also interned at local commercial radio station KLIV. He definitely wants to do college radio after he graduates from Bellarmine and he told me that the presence of a college radio station on campus definitely factored in to his decision-making process for college. He said that for him having a college radio station at his future school was a “huge priority.” He’s also on Bellarmine’s student newspaper staff and plans to major in journalism in college, with an emphasis on sports and broadcasting. He told me, “I’ve had my most fun doing play by play and color commentary for baseball games.”

Disclaimer statement at KBCP. Photo: J. Waits

According to the KBCP website, the station was founded by a student in 2007 as KBEL. Initially broadcasting at 1670 AM out of the basement of O’Donnell Hall, it subsequently changed its call letters to KBCP and moved to a new arts and humanities building on campus (Sobrato Center). With around 50 participants, KBCP airs live programming before school, at lunch and in free periods during the school day, and immediately after school.

Promotional artwork for lunch-time show at KBCP. Photo: J. Waits

The station functions as a club and the faculty advisor has to always been present when students are in the studio, which means that there are no night or weekend broadcasts. Luckily the station’s advisor is a Photography teacher and the station is located in a room just off of the photography room. KBCP’s broadcast also gets piped in to that room so that one can listen to the station while in the photography classroom.

Photography classroom, with radio station in background. Photo: J. Waits

KBCP is an unusual high school radio station in that it broadcasts over very low power AM as a legal, unlicensed station at 1650 AM. I was able to pick up the station on my car radio in the school’s parking lot and Leano told me that the range is so limited that it “barely gets off campus.” Most listeners tune in to the station’s online stream and some of the biggest audiences have been for sports events, with Leano saying that a Bellarmine/De La Salle football game his freshman year is rumored to have garnered the largest number of listeners.

Sign in KBCP studio. Photo: J. Waits

Sports is a big part of KBCP and the station mainly covers football, basketball, and baseball games. Leano said that he’d like the station to cover a wider range of sports and said that they have also aired some volleyball games, have tried to do hockey, and are interested in broadcasting track meets. With around 15 to 20 members in the station’s sports department, they are pretty well-staffed to do extensive coverage of games.

Poster for old KBCP show from 2010-2011. Photo: J. Waits

As far as music, DJs generally play digital music, but people also bring in their own music on iPods or can play tracks from CDs. I was surprised to see that KBCP uses a CD jukebox that Leano told me holds up to 400 CDs. He guessed that there are around 120 CDs in it currently and this is what is used as a make-shift automation system when there isn’t a live DJ at the station. He said that there is a wide range of music in the CD player, so a pretty diverse mix is played when it’s on shuffle. Leano said that there hasn’t been discussion about playing vinyl records at the station and most DJs opt for playing digital music.

CD player at KBCP. Photo: J. Waits

The station’s hosts and DJs seem to have pride in their programs, as the station’s walls are covered with promotional flyers and posters for KBCP shows. Some are super professional looking (including a beautiful water color painting pictured earlier), hinting at the artistic talents of participants. Leano also pointed out a hand drawn promotional message for his show, which a fellow student had etched in pencil on a post-it. The station itself is starting to attract more notice on campus too and Leano said that it’s even beginning to become a tour stop when prospective students are led through campus.

Promo on a post-it at KBCP. Photo: J. Waits

The small studio has an interesting mix of pop cultural references from many different eras, including 1980s movie posters from Gen X classics like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Breakfast Club, the classic poster of the artwork from Nirvana’s 1990s Nevermind album, as well as more contemporary artifacts like an abandoned Minecraft costume part, a sombrero and an accordion.

KBCP studio. Photo: J. Waits

Thanks so much to Robby Leano for inviting me to visit KBCP. I wish the station a very happy High School Radio Day on Wednesday! This is my 84th station tour report. I have one more Kentucky field trip to go (coincidentally, at Bellarmine College), as well as a few visits to stations in D.C., and Virginia. See my most recent field trips on Radio Survivor and see all of my station field trips on Spinning Indie.

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Next Wednesday, April 22nd marks the 4th annual High School Radio Day. Inspired by College Radio Day, the event is a celebration of high school radio. So far, 69 stations have signed up to participate in the day (see a list here). On the High School Radio Day website, stations can register for the event, get information about a few high school school radio discussion groups, as well as learn about a new high school radio app.

I feel lucky to have visited a handful of high school radio stations (my most recent trip was to see Bellarmine Prep’s station KBCP in San Jose this week – I’ll post a full report next week) and would love to see more. In honor of High School Radio Day, here are a few of my high school radio station tours:

2009 Tour of WGBK-FM at Glenbrook South High School (Glenview, Illinois) – see more on the WGBK website

2014 Tour of WHHS-FM at Haverford High School (Havertown, Pennsylvania) – see more on the WHHS website

2014 Tour of WLTL-FM at Lyons Township High School (La Grange, Illinois) – see more on the WLTL website

I’ve also visited a few stations located at high schools that can’t really be considered high school radio stations, since the majority of programming is not created by students. Those stations include KCEA-FM at Menlo-Atherton High School (see my field trip here) and community/public radio station KALW-FM at Burton High School in San Francisco (see my field trip here). Both stations have had some student involvement over the years, so they still deserve a mention.

If you know of special events planned for High School Radio Day, please let us know in the comments.

The post 4th Annual High School Radio Day is Happening on April 22 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

In the Buffalo News this week, Jeff Miers writes about radio’s role in the local concert scene in Buffalo. He points out that radio stations and promoters have differing views about the influence of radio on the types of artists that come to town, but he also acknowledges that college radio plays a unique role. Miers writes,

In cases where a strong college radio station continues to operate – SUNY Buffalo State’s WBNY FM, for example – a direct correspondence with the music community beyond the reach of the campuses among music lovers and musicians alike, can often be discerned as well. What has largely been missing from commercial radio is a local, community-based element, however. This is a national trend, not a regional one – playlists have been largely standardized across formats along demographic lines. There isn’t much in the way of ‘free form’ happening in commercial radio, at least during peak hours.”

What do you think? Are you in a city with a deep connection between college radio and music venues? Does airplay on college radio influence the types of bands that come to town? Some college radio stations actually run their own music festivals, as is the case with Corefest in New Jersey (see below).

Profiling RLC’s CoreFest Music Festival at Rutgers

CMJ did an interview with the Music Director at the Core (aka RLC or WVPH 90.3 FM) in order to learn more about the station’s music festival, Corefest, which takes place at Rutgers University this Sunday, April 12th. The radio station is run by Piscataway High School and Rutgers University and “Now in it’s [sic] fourth year, Corefest has become a celebration of the local music scene and a way to connect the station with its listeners. This year the lineup features Perennial Reel, Reward, El Americano, Romp, Sojourner and Young Instruments.”

Golden Eagle Radio Debuts at California State Los Angeles

University Times reports that a new streaming college radio station, Golden Eagle Radio, launched at California State University, Los Angeles this week. According to the piece, “[Faculty advisor Tony] Cox enthusiastically expressed the pioneering step the University is taking by introducing the student radio station. ‘This is a major development for Cal State L.A. and it brings us up to speed with other CSU campuses that already have their student-run radio stations.'”

KCSC Music Director Talks Shop

In a profile of a Chico State University senior, the Orion, features his work as Music Director at student radio station KCSC. According to the article,

Angel Huracha doesn’t have a musical preference. If it makes his heart beat, his leg move and his head swing, he’s sold. ‘Usually this is the part in the interview when someone rips country music or teenybopper central,’ he said. ‘But I would be lying if I didn’t break into a Britney Spears tune or admit that Dolly Parton is my life. I can be music director at KCSC and play Tame Impala and still roll the car window down and relate to Taylor Swift’s ‘1989.’”

KDVS to Hold Annual Fundraiser

University of California, Davis’ college radio station KDVS-FM is making plans for its annual on-air fundraiser later this month. The California Aggie writes that,

Since KDVS prides itself on being a student-driven organization, Nikki Schneider, a third-year design major and publicity director for KDVS, said that she wanted to make sure the premiums were curated by the KDVS community. ‘With KDVS we’re educating the community with our business and it’s entirely student-operated so it’s really rare and unusual,’ Schneider said. ‘It’s really special we have KDVS, which has the biggest college music library in California behind Stanford. Fundraisers are the way we add to that library and keep it maintained.'”

I have to agree that KDVS has a large music library, but I’m super curious how they have determined that Stanford’s record library at college radio station KZSU-FM is larger. I’ve been to both stations (see my KZSU tour here) and I’d be hard-pressed to make that determination. One of the biggest libraries that I’ve seen anywhere is at WMBR-FM at M.I.T. (see my station tour on Spinning Indie)

WLKL Sets up Endowment in Honor of Station’s 40th Anniversary

The Journal-Gazette and Times-Courier wrote about Lake Land College’s 40th anniversary festivities for college radio station WLKL. Alumni came back to the station and were also given the chance to see its broadcasting museum. Additionally, a radio station endowment has been established. According to the piece,

As part of the celebration, the Lake Land College Foundation has set up an opportunity to help future radio broadcasting students by establishing the WLKL 40th Anniversary Endowment. The fundraising goal for this endowment is $20,000 over five years. The first $4,000 in donations will be matched by a generous donor and friend of WLKL. This endowment will not only provide radio broadcasting students with scholarship money to pay for tuition, fees and books, it will also help the department replace outdated equipment to provide the most up-to-date, relevant training to students.”

Westminster Radio Student Wins Charles Parker Prize in UK

Every year exceptional radio students in the United Kingdom compete for the Charles Parker Day Prize. University of Westminster announced that “Joe Ovenall, third year Radio Production BA Honours student, has won the Gold award for Best Student Radio Feature in this year’s Charles Parker Prize. The award was presented at the Annual Charles Parker Day in Glasgow while competitors from the University of Sunderland and Goldsmiths took Silver and Bronze.” The winning feature will air on BBC4Extra next month and it is “an exploration into the strange and mystical behaviour of Black Shuck, the Devil’s dog. Legend says, he lurks along the Norfolk and Suffolk coastline. Old Shuck is a menace to anyone who crosses his path.”

WKDU Hosting Show in Gallery

Drexel University’s college radio station WKDU will be holding an acoustic show at the A.J. Drexel Picture Gallery. According to Drexel Now, “An event will feature acoustic sets from three Philly bands performing with the  esteemed art collection as a backdrop. All music will be broadcast on WKDU 91.7 FM, Drexel’s free format, student-run college radio station, during the concert held at 7 p.m. on April 30.” Take a look at the article to catch a glimpse of WKDU’s Leo Blais sign!

We cover the culture of college radio every Friday in our College Radio Watch feature. If you have college radio news to share, please drop us a note at EDITORS at RADIOSURVIVOR dot COM.

The post College Radio Watch: Role of Radio in Local Concert Scenes, New Station at Cal State LA and More News appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This week, a wide range of groups were granted construction permits for new low power FM (LPFM) radio stations, including 11 church-related organizations. Additionally, a high school that has had its permit for a year, just launched a streaming radio station in anticipation of building its LPFM, while another school district is working on plans for three new high school radio stations. The total count of new construction permits granted from the fall 2013 application window is now at 1,703.

KNHS to Launch at Northside High School

This week, online radio station KNHS launched at Northside High School in Lafayette, Louisiana and it’s hoped that the new LPFM station will debut by fall. The Northside High PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization) was granted a construction permit in February, 2014. According to The Advertiser, “Northside students will be responsible for all aspects of the station, whether it’s programming, scheduling, troubleshooting with equipment or managing the business. The station will air a variety of music, including hip-hop, jazz, country, Cajun, blues and more. Student-scheduled programming will run from 6 a.m. to midnight, with a jazz station taking over for the nighttime hours.”

Great Clark School District Approves Plan to Launch High School Radio Stations

The LPFM opportunity seems to have created a renaissance in high school radio. This week, “the Greater Clark County Schools’ Board of Trustees approved the implementation of radio and television programs at the district’s high schools in Indiana,” according to the school district’s website. Three high schools will be developing radio programs and the Greater Clark website includes detailed information about the plans for each station. It was granted a construction permit on January 9, 2015 in order to build a new station at Jeffersonville High School. Additionally, “through a inter-local agreement with the City of Charlestown, [it] will construct and operate a radio station at Charlestown High School.” The City of Charlestown was granted a construction permit in December, 2014 for a public safety LPFM. Finally, a studio will be built at New Washington High School, with programming airing over the Charlestown High station’s signal. 

Albuquerque Station Broadcasts from Owner’s Backyard

KOB 4 profiles Albuquerque’s newish R&B, gospel, and jazz station KMGG-LP, which began broadcasting last summer at 99.9 FM, after obtaining its construction permit in February, 2014. The owner calls it a “very expensive hobby” and works two jobs in order to keep the station running. The station is owned by the non-profit group Future Broadcasters.

Newly Granted Construction Permits This Week Include Numerous Churches and Religious Groups

Among the new grants this week, there are quite a few religious groups, including: Auditorium of Prayer and Worship Inc. (Kissimmee, FL), J.A.S. Community Radio Inc. (Norcross, GA), Love Commandment Ministries (Birmingham, AL), The Church in Birmingham Corporation (Birmingham, AL), the Omega Church International Ministry (Oakland Park, FL), His Sanctuary Ministries USA International, Inc. (Houston, TX), Ministerio de Dios Pentecostal (Tyler, TX), Iglesia de Dios Jesucristo Manantiales de Vida (Tyler, TX), Iglesia Cuidad de Refugio (Lowell, AK), Equality Broadcasting Network (Montgomery, AL), and Calvary Chapel of Dallas D/B/A Calvary Chapel Plano (Plano, TX). The Birmingham groups will share a frequency.

Student-Run LPFM Coming to University of Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma was granted a construction permit today for a new LPFM in Norman, Oklahoma. According to its application, the school already holds licenses for NPR stations, “the proposed LPFM is to be used exclusively for a student-run operation.” Additionally, it plans to air “public affairs programming,” “a diversity of musical programming to encourage musicology,” and “debates, independent news and issues of concern to the community.” University of Oklahoma is currently home to an Internet-only student radio station, The Wire.

Georgia Radio Hall of Fame Granted Construction Permit for New Station in Kennesaw, Georgia

Georgia’s radio history will be the focus of a new station, WWGW, being launched by the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame. Granted its construction permit this week, the new station will, “air programs devoted to the history of Georgia Radio, as well as old radio programs, and past induction ceremonies,” according to its application.

San Antonio Community Radio Plans to Bring R&B Music Back to San Antonio

The newly granted construction permit for San Antonio Community Radio means that broadcaster will claim a spot over traditional FM. It currently broadcasts over Trinity University’s HD2 FM signal (KRTU 91.7 FM) as KROV-FM. According to its application, “Our mission is to educate listeners on R&B music over the last 60 years, African-­American history, news, views, and issues, and  play local musicians of all music genres. The station was born from the loss of KSJL 96.1 FM, which was San Antonio’s only R&B and Black urban adult contemporary station…”

Public Safety Stations Coming to Jacksonville, Alabama and Conroe, Texas

The Calhoun County 9-1-1 District was awarded a construction permit for a public safety LPFM service in Jacksonville, Alabama and the City of Conroe was granted a construction permit in Conroe, Texas.

Other Grantees this Week Include A Range of Non-Profits:

NTD Public Media (Houston, TX): According to its application, “The mission focus will be to teach and inform the public on the Chinese culture for all people in Houston.” Bilingual programming is planned.

Supha Xayprasith-Mays (Little Rock, AR): This license is for the group Multicultural Expo Center, which runs various educational programs for youth, teens, and adults. According to its application, the non-profit has “partnerships with local television stations” and hopes to “provide additional community radio exposure.”

Pulaski County Learning Center, Inc. (North Little Rock, AR): According to its application, this station will “create a voice for African Americans in North Little Rock, Arkansas that do not have a voice dedicated to disseminating information particular to their health wealth, and social-emotional well being on a consistent and daily basis.”

Sunday Morning Glory Radio Inc. (San Angelo, TX): According to its application, the station will air “Sunday Morning Worship Services for the people who can not get to church…” as well as R&B music, jazz music, educational programs, news, weather, and music events.

Kates Media Group, Inc. (Killeen, TX)

Seminole County Community Broadcasters, Inc. (Altamonte Springs, FL): This group plans to “provide public service information” to local residents, including “updates on city board meeting schedules, agendas, issues, water quality, hurricane and storm preparations,” according to its application.

New Voice of Central Florida, Inc. (Southchase, FL): According to its application, this station expects to “offer community, family and educational programming.” It also plans to air high school sports, “public awareness programs,” music, news, and more.

Hispanic Arts of Tampa (Citrus Park, FL): This arts non-profit plans to “promote Hispanic artists, arts organizations, and intergenerational cultural exchanges.” According to its application, it expects to air interviews, remote broadcasts, live poetry, as well as music programming.

Running with Time Communication, Inc. (Winter Park, FL): Its application states, “In keeping with the diversity of our broadcasting area, we will seek to air a broad educational mix of culture and views, with priority given to those who have typically been denied access to the mainstream media. The station will enable residents to share music and opinions, as well as build community through bringing people together to work on a common project.”

LPFM Watch is a weekly feature on Radio Survivor appearing every Thursday.

The post LPFM Watch: New Radio Stations for Georgia Radio Hall of Fame, University of Oklahoma, Northside High and 11 Religious Groups appeared first on Radio Survivor.

St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California has filed paperwork with the FCC in the hopes of assigning its class D 87.9 FM high school radio license for KSFH-FM to Mountain View Public Broadcasting. According to the asset purchase agreement, the sale price is $20,000. The long-time high school radio station has been for the most part off the air following the loss of its studio during a campus remodeling project. Plans are in the works for student radio to come back in the form of a streaming radio station in 2015.

I’ve long wanted to visit KSFH and finally just stopped by in the summer of 2013. As it turned out, I managed to see the final days of the old KSFH studio, as it was slated to be torn down soon after my visit. The history of the station is a bit of a mystery, but it’s been on 87.9 since 1981 and according to an archived version of its website, the station started in 1977.

According to paperwork filed with the FCC, Mountain View Public Broadcasting’s

educational mission involves the presentation of musical, educational and cultural programming to serve the growing South Asian community in northern California’s ‘Silicon Valley’. Some of the programming will be in the Punjabi language. The exact program schedule will be determined when MVPB takes over KSFH. Tthe [sic] programming to be presented over KSFH will form a comprehensive daily effort to entertain and inform the area’s South Asian community as well as other interested persons…”

Mountain View Public Broadcasting’s President, Sukhdev Dhillon is also the president of the network Radio Punjab Broadcasting and is a principal in two Canadian radio stations. He’s also listed on the application for KIGS-AM as a Vice-President and 10% owner (which will go into effect when the Hanford, California station transfers to its new owner, New Media Broadcasting).

Messages to representatives at both St. Francis High School and at Mountain View Public Broadcasting were not returned, but I will update this article as details become available.

The post St. Francis High School Files Paperwork to Sell KSFH to Group Focused on South Asian Community appeared first on Radio Survivor.

As I compose this post, it’s “stormageddon” in the San Francisco Bay Area. On stormy days like this, I’m incredibly grateful for hyper-local media like low power FM radio stations. We’ve been glued to local TV news to see the trajectory of wind and rain today and I’ve also never heard so many Emergency Alert messages transmitted over the college radio station where I volunteer (KFJC). With all that said, here’s this week’s belated LPFM news, a bit delayed by technical difficulties.

Dismissals This Week

The following groups had their LPFM applications dismissed this week: Roots & Culture (Chicago, IL), Divine Redeemer Presbyterian Church (Chicago, IL), Minneapolis Believers in Christ (Minneapolis, MN), The Summit-University Planning Council (Saint Paul, MN), SEDC Communication Corporation (Washington, DC), Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA), Philadelphia Student Union (Philadelphia, PA), Asian Americans United (Philadelphia, PA), Action United (Philadelphia, PA), Media Mobilizing Project (Philadelphia, PA), Nuestra Gente Community Projects (Toledo, OH), Philadelphia Public Access Corporation (Philadelphia, PA), Kutztown University (Kutztown, PA), and Society of Assisi (Bartlett, TN).

New Construction Permits this Week to Churches, College, and other Community Groups

In the past week, 23 groups were granted new low power FM construction permits. Some of the following are subject to time-share agreements. Grantees include:

Schools and Colleges:

East Missisippi Community College (Mayhew, MS)

Tipton-Rosemark Academy, Inc. (Rosemark TN)

Churches/Religious Groups:

La Iglesia Cristiana de Oxnard (Ventura, CA)

Centro Cristiano El Sermon del Monte (Raleigh, NC)

Word of Life Christian Fellowship (Galloway, NJ)

Hearts Afire Ministries, Inc. (Egg Harbor Township, NJ)

Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration (South Bend, IN)

Cardinal Newman School (Columbia, SC) – Will air a Catholic talk format

Cities/Municipalities:

City of Charlestown, IN (Charlestown, IN)

Other Community, Arts, and Social Justice Groups:

Greater Philadelphia Asian Culture Center, Inc. (98.5 FM in Philadelphia, PA): As part of a time-share with the Uptown Entertainment and Development Corporation, this group will broadcast from 3am to 3pm every day. According to its application, the Greater Philadelphia Asian Culture Center is focused on cultural diversity and the local Chinese community. Interestingly, its application states that it will promote “the interests and needs of the Chinese language population in Cupertino.” This is similar to some applications for LPFMs in other cities, which may be why the application inadvertently left in the name of a non-Philly-area city.

Uptown Entertainment and Development Corporation (North Philadelphia, PA): In a time-share with Greater Philadelphia Asian Culture Center

New Culture Center in the Midwest (St. Paul, MN) – Focused on the Chinese community

African Community Senior Services (Minneapolis, MN)

Public Media Institute (Chicago, IL)

Center for Hmong Arts and Talent (St. Paul, MN)

Thomas Dale District 7 Planning Council (St. Paul, MN)

Greensboro Radio Project, Inc. (Greensboro, NC)

Women’s Civic Improvement Club of Sacramento, Inc. (Sacramento, CA) – Will air programming related to the group’s work in the community, as well as music (R&B, jazz, and church music)

Toledo Integrated Media Education, Inc. (Toledo, OH)

24-7 Broadcasting, Inc. (Cincinnati, OH)

Flint Odyssey House Inc. (Flint, MI) – This group is concerned with addiction services and education

Michigan Specialized Communications Group Inc. (Flint, MI) – This non-profit is devoted to amateur radio.

Radio Survivor reports on LPFM news every Thursday in our LPFM Watch feature.

The post LPFM Watch: New Community Radio Stations Coming to Chicago, Toledo, Philadelphia, and More appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It’s been a busy few weeks for low power FM radio, with 30 applications granted in the last two weeks, bringing the total to 1,506 new grants as a result of the fall 2013 filing window. Today is also the deadline for groups in the second settlement window to file certain types of amendments and settlements. REC Networks has more details, as well as a running list of the status of applicants from this window (primarily from the East Coast).

I was very interested to see that WRVU Friends and Family had its application granted today. Following the sell-off of the Vanderbilt University radio station’s FM signal, this group decided to try for a brand new LPFM frequency in Nashville, Tennessee.

A few other high schools and colleges are also in the mix of newly granted applications, as well as a variety of social justice non-profits, a museum, several cities, and religious organizations.

Dismissals This Week

The following groups had their LPFM applications dismissed since November 20th: REMNANT BROADCASTING CORPORATION (Murfreesboro, TN)- although it was subsequently amended and accepted for filing, DIVINE MERCY RADIO, INC (Apex, NC), NORTH LUBBOCK HISPANIC EDUCATION FAMILY FUNDATION (Lubbock, TX), REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION NETWORK, INC. (Burlington, VT), THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK FEMALE EXECUTIVES IN MUSIC (Memphis, TN), RESOURCES FOR SOBER LIVING (Bartlett, TN), RAHAB, INC. (Brockton, MA), QBSA JAMBOREE RADIO ORG (Mt. Hope, WV), TENNESSEE ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESS (Nashville, TN), OPEN TABLE OF NASHVILLE (Nashville, TN), NASHVILLE PEACE AND JUSTICE CENTER (Nashville, TN), UNIVERSITY OF HEAVEN WSDA BROADCAST GROUP (Chicago, IL), SOUND OF HOPE RADIO NFP (Chicago, IL), and GRAND RAPIDS ADVENTIST ACADEMY (Grand Rapids, MI).

New Construction Permits this Week to Churches, College, and other Community Groups

Over the past two weeks, construction permits were granted to 30 groups, including:

Schools and Colleges:

Northern Nash High School (Red Oak, NC): According to its application, the new LPFM will provide “real world opportunities” for its students, allowing high school students to “produce the programming heard by the community.” It’s expected that programming will be geared towards parents during school hours and will be aimed at students at other times. Students from many different departments will participate, including English, Marketing, Theatre, Band, and Social Studies.

Visible Music College (100.3 FM in Memphis, TN): As part of a time-share agreement with Soulsville Foundation, Visible Music College will broadcast Monday through Saturday from Midnight to 5am and from 5pm to 11:59pm. On Sundays it will operate from 5am to 5pm. According to its application, this “Christian college of music…trains and equips musicians, technicians, and business professionals in skill and character for effective service in the music industry and in the Church.” The planned LPFM radio station is expected to air “music from the college, shows with musical training content, historical music shows, live music shows from local singer/songwriters, and shows connecting the music of Memphis to other genres, both inside the church and in mainstream music.” Sample programming can be heard on the Visible Radio website.

Southern Appalachian Labor School (106.5 FM in Oak Hill, WV): This group runs various educational programs, including afterschool and summer school classes as well as programs related to environmental health and worker education. The new LPFM station will air news, talk shows, music and announcements, according to its application.

Lasell College Radio (102.9 FM in Auburndale, MA): As part of a 3-way time-share, Lasell College Radio will broadcast on Mondays through Saturdays from 9am to 6pm. The student radio station has been in operation as an online streaming radio station since 2004, with a range of programming including music shows and sports broadcasts.

Kalamazoo Seventh-Day Adventist Junior Academy (93.1 FM in Kalamazoo, MI): The proposed LPFM will air “a variety of educational and instructional programming primarily from a Biblically based Christian perspective.”

Kentucky State University (100.9 FM in Frankfort, KY): This will be a new radio station for Kentucky State. According to its application, the new LPFM would be a “student and faculty-run radio station that would offer students majoring/minoring in Journalism, Mass Communication and Speech…the opportunity to put their theoretical studies into practical application…”

Morton College (99.1 FM in Cicero, IL): Granted as a time-share with Urbanmedia One, Morton College will broadcast on weekdays from 9am to 5pm. Morton College already has an online station Morton College Radio.

Churches/Religious Groups:

The Josiah Ministry (Redlands, CA): This station plans to “expand on its religious and educational goals” and hopes to “[uplift] humanity from its present broken condition to a higher, more noble plane” with its programming, according to its application. It will also air hymns, news, and public service announcements.

Family of God Fellowship Church, Inc. (Topeka, KS): This group plans to be “a local voice” in its “religious community” by airing news, church services, events, and “local educational, biblical and religious programming, “according to its application.

Diocese of Raleigh (Cary, NC): According to its application, this group will air both local and syndicated Catholic programming from EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network and Ave Maria Radio.

Global Ministries Christian Church (Dorchester, MA): This group already does radio programming and operates an Academy of Broadcasting for Boston teens. According to its application, in the past it has also partnered with the Boston Neighborhood Network Television, a local community media center. With its LPFM, it plans to “provide a strong voice to people and communities who lack media access and are in need of sharing their stories.” It will share its frequency with Lasell College and the City of Boston and will broadcast on Mondays through Saturdays from 2am to 9am and on Sundays from 2am to 6pm.

Monsignor Andrew K. Gwynn, Inc. (107.7 FM in Greenville, SC): According to its application, the station plans to air syndicated Catholic programming from the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network as well and “will also work with local Roman Catholic parishes, catechism programs and organizations to assist their educational efforts with respect to teaching of the Catholic religion.”

Evansville Real Radio (Evansville, IN): According to its application, this station will promote “the Christian legal and ethical tradition” through its programming, which will include local music (including German folk music and classical organ music), sermons, and praise music. It also plans to offer internship programs to local college students.

Cities/Municipalities:

A Londonderry Emergency Response Team (ALERT) (Londonderry, NH): This group will work with the police and fire departments to provide emergency information over the new LPFM.

Hyrum City Corporaton (Hyrum, UT): This LPFM will be used to “promote public safety programs and disaster awareness information” and will also “distribute emergency information” as well as information about “civic events, local government meetings” according to its application.

City of Boston (102.9 FM in Boston, MA): As part of a 3-way time-share, the City of Boston will broadcast every day from 6pm to 2am. The LPFM station will air “public safety programming.”

Other Community, Arts, and Social Justice Groups:

Chinese Voice of Golden City (Las Vegas, NV): This group plans to “educate and promote Chinese traditional culture and bridge the American mainstream and Chinese community in Las Vegas Chinatown community” according to its application.

East Bay Oriental Radio, Inc. (97.7 FM in Walnut Creek, CA): According to its application, this group will promote “the interests and needs of the Chinese language population.” Originally, this application was for a frequency in Oakland, but after filing an amendment to change the transmitter location (which also helped it to break from a competitive group of applicants), it moved further into the East Bay to broadcast from Walnut Creek.

Stones River Community Media Alliance (Murfreesboro, TN): This group plans to use its new LPFM to promote “local arts and music,” as well as to cover “local government activity” and share the “city’s deep history.”

North Carolina Humane Society State Council (Rocky Mount, NC): According to its application, this group will “strive to educate the public on issues and best practices for pet ownership” through its new LPFM station.

Olympia All Ages Project (100.3 FM in Olympia, WA): This group works to promote all-ages events in Olympia, Washington and runs a space called Northern. According to its application, “An LPFM radio station will provide a new educational and organizational wellspring for this growing alternative community.”

The Bundy Museum of History and Art (99.5 FM in Binghamton, NY): A new LPFM will allow the museum to do more “community outreach” and it will “be used to announce and promote the museum’s educational programs, exhibits, and events,” according to its application.  Additionally, the station will air live music events and lectures from the museum and will broadcast programming related to local history and art.

Vermont Community Access Media (VCAM) (99.3 FM in Burlington, VT): According to its application, this new station will broadcast programming that will showcase “the wide range of political, religious, cultural and musical views” of the area. VCAM already runs a public access television channel.

Soulsville Foundation (100.3 FM in Memphis, TN): As part of a time-share agreement with Visible Music College, Soulsville will broadcast Monday through Saturday from 5am to 5pm and on Sundays from midnight to 5am and from 5pm to 11:59pm. This is a fascinating non-profit which is devoted to the “rich legacy of the Soulsville community in Memphis, which had previously been home to Stax [Records].” The foundation runs the Soulsville Charter School (for grades 6-12), the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and the Stax Music Academy. The new LPFM will be incorporated into “the curriculum at its charter school and music academy as well as complement the Stax Museum in its production of musical events, discussions and community outreach programs.”

The Inge Davidson Foundation (92.9 FM in Bryn Mawr, PA): This group plans to air “news, music, lifestyle and other program elements” and plans to “institute an internship program where college students can learn broadcasting,” according to its application.

Community Empowerment Center of Grand Rapids (97.3 FM in Grand Rapids, MI): According to its application, this group’s new LPFM will “provide the African American Community of Grand Rapids, Michigan a voice” by “providing education on parenting, domestic violence, anger management, family counseling, mentoring and to give hope and direction to an impoverished community.”

Urbanmedia One (99.1 FM in Chicago, IL): Formerly known as the Fuller Park Advisory Council and Community Development Corporation, Urbanmedia One “was established to teach the history of the Chicago Blues cultures through the medium of their musical heritage,” according to its application. The station plans to air Chicago blues music and will be operated as a time-share with Morton College. It will broadcast on weekdays from midnight to 9am and from 5pm to 11:59pm and on weekends from midnight to 11:59pm. It appears that it already operates an online radio station.

Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice (104.1 FM in Nashville, TN): According to its application, this group will air programming that will expand “the reach of [its] labor rights education program.” Additionally, “programming will pioneer Nashville’s first outlet for working-class media production that is designed by low-wage workers for other low-wage workers.”

WRVU Friends and Family (101.5 FM in Nashville, TN): This group was originally established as part of the fight to keep Vanderbilt’s college radio station WRVU on the terrestrial dial. Although the WRVU license was sold earlier this year, WRVU Friends and Family decided to apply for a LPFM license in Nashville. According to its application, the group plans to “provide diverse and innovative programming that reflects the music, culture, concerns and interests of the communities it serves.”

Neptune Radio Incorporated (Wilmington, NC): According to its application, this group is a “non-political, community radio organization which has been created with a specific mission, to preserve as well as cultivate the vanishing art form of live and local radio broadcasting.” It will provide training to students and community members and will also “operate a student intern program” for college students.

Radio Survivor reports on LPFM news every Thursday in our LPFM Watch feature.

The post LPFM Watch: Olympia All Ages Project, WRVU Friends and Family, and City of Boston in Latest Batch of New Grants appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I love high school radio and always look forward to visiting more stations. I’d had an open invitation for awhile from Lyons Township High School station WLTL-FM near Chicago and was glad to finally get the chance to check out the station earlier this year. Serendipitously, the station is located in the town of La Grange, Illinois in the Chicago suburbs, just a few miles from where I was attending an event on April 25, 2014.

On-air studio at WLTL. Photo: J. Waits

When I stopped by the station late on a Friday afternoon, General Manager Chris Thomas met up with me to give me the grand tour. A 1997 graduate of Lyons Township High School, Thomas came back to campus in 2005 to run the station (and to teach English and television classes). He has plenty of help, as there are several faculty members who advise the station and there is also a group of student managers.

WLTL lobby. Photo: J. Waits

There weren’t too many students around when I visited. Thomas explained that it was supposed to be a holiday, but the school ended up adding a “snow day” makeup. Perhaps because of that, seniors didn’t show up to school. There was a state “Testing Day” the week before my visit, which also coincided with High School Radio Day. In honor of both, students at WLTL painted the studio since it was a quiet activity that wouldn’t disrupt test-takers.

Building that houses WLTL at Lyons Township High School. Photo: J. Waits

Located at a large (it has two campuses), well-equipped high school in La Grange, Illinois, WLTL broadcasts over 88.1 FM and is adding a second 1620 AM broadcast station as well. It looks like and is run like a well-organized college radio station. It probably helps that WLTL has been around for decades, which the station launching in 1968. It moved to its current location in the basement of the clock tower building in the 1980s.

Reel to reel at WLTL. Photo: J. Waits

Radio actually has an even longer history at Lyons Township High School, with perhaps a wireless club starting in 1922 and the first station purportedly launching in 1927. WLTL has a strong appreciation for its history and maintains archives of old station materials, including newsletters, vintage yearbooks, and reel-to-reel recordings. Thomas told me that they are starting to digitize these old recordings and long-time faculty adviser and Technical Director Dennis Strecker (he started at the station in 1972) has been combing through it all. Thomas said that everything was taped, including air checks and radio dramas. In the process, some old choir programs were found and WLTL has been re-airing some of them.

WLTL classroom. Photo: J. Waits

Every winter WLTL alumni come back to the station during finals week in December. These former DJs will often bring their families to the station while they do 2-hour shows and “relive memories” from their time on the air, according to Thomas. It was during some of these alumni gatherings that some of the digitization projects first started. It also helps that Lyons Township High School recently celebrated its 125th anniversary and spent some time reflecting on its history.

Binders from WLTL’s 25th anniversary. Photo: J. Waits

I was also impressed to read that back in 1968, WLTL pressed its own record which commemorated the school’s 80th anniversary.

Today, there are around 120 students involved with WLTL (out of a student body of around 4,000), with between 40 and 50 students hosting live shows on-air and approximately 15-20 students doing pre-recorded shows. For the most part there are 2 hour shifts, with some 1 hour specialty shows. Live DJs are in the studio from around 3pm to 10pm Mondays through Thursdays and until 11pm on Fridays. Over the weekend, shows air from 11am to 11pm on Saturdays and from 11am to 10pm on Sundays. Any time there are students at the station there is an adult supervisor there as well and those adults include parents, faculty, alumni, and others. Thomas said, “We’re just here in case of a fire.”

One of WLTL’s production studios. Photo: J. Waits

WLTL runs 24 hours a day and has an automation system that allows it to air pre-record shows and do voice tracking when there isn’t a live DJ. Hosts of live shows are allowed to select their own music, whereas hosts of pre-recorded shows add voice tracking to pre-programmed playlists of music. Thomas described WLTL as a “variety rock” station, which typically airs rock from the 1960s through 1980s. When I was there I heard Huey Lewis piping through the automation, but Thomas said that during that time there’s normally an IDM show. He said that the DJs there have an “independent spirit,” and tend to play “CMJ”-type music which is in the station’s current rotation.

New music being processed at WLTL. Photo: J. Waits

Thomas said that the station’s Music Directors add mostly rock music, but also add other genres like hip hop and R&B. He added, “if it’s good, we’ll play it.” Occasionally live bands will also play at the station.

Vinyl records and awards in the WLTL studio. Photo: J. Waits

It’s a competitive process in order to get a show at WLTL. Between 100 and 120 students try out for around 40 hosting spots on live shows each semester. Up to 4 people can co-host a show, so that allows for more opportunities. Students play both digital and physical music on WLTL, with some even hosting all vinyl shows. Thomas told me that some of his students own vinyl records and he said that he’s “happy” that it gets played over the air.

Dump button at WLTL. Photo: J. Waits

He said that the station doesn’t get sent much vinyl and that for the most part newly added music is being downloaded, vs. arriving on CD or vinyl. All new music at WLTL gets digitized and goes into the station’s Automation system. Students can also play music off of their iPods and laptops. DJs have a lot of freedom, but aren’t allowed to play the same artist twice within a 2-hour period or the same song within a 4-hour period.

Paper playlist at WLTL. Photo: J. Waits

One surprising thing was that WLTL still uses paper playlists. Show hosts keep a written log of all the tracks that they play and leave the playlist at the station. Currently there’s no online playlist archive.

Hallway outside WLTL. Photo: J. Waits

Sports programming is also big at WLTL and the station airs live football, basketball, lacrosse, and volleyball games, as well as other sports. Thomas said that they try to broadcast as many away games as they can (they’ve driven 5 hours away to St. Louis for a football game), plus they air sports talk shows. He also added that the sports broadcasts typically bring in some of the station’s highest traffic to the WLTL webstream.

Work stations in WLTL lobby. Photo: J. Waits

The station has three production suites where students can pre-record shows and work on spots. There are also some work stations in the large lobby, which include some donated mixers on stands from the WGN newsroom!

WLTL classroom. Photo: J. Waits

Next to the lobby is a nicely appointed classroom for radio classes. That room also has a bunch of vintage radios and some truly beautiful old audio equipment. Some campy 8 track tapes, cassettes, carts, and a stack of 7″ records were spotted on the shelves of this room, along with bobble heads (becoming a radio station staple), smurf figurines, and a can of SPAM.

Spotted in the WLTL classroom. Photo: J. Waits

Thomas said that most students from WLTL end up doing college radio after graduation and that a “fair amount” go into radio as a career.

Chris Thomas at WLTL. Photo: J. Waits

Thomas is the President of student radio organization Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) and is also in regular communication with other high school radio stations in the area (there are at least 5 with FM licenses, plus more online). He said that he talks to other station advisers and WLTL has also invited other stations to come and visit. They have a “friendly competition” with nearby station WBFH for the high school-specific Drury Awards. Thomas said that it “spurs people on,” but that ultimately “the more of us there are [in high school radio], the better off we all are.”

Peeking into a production studio at WLTL. Photo: J. Waits

As I mentioned, Lyons Township High School is a large school with two separate campuses. The radio station is located on the North Campus, which was built in 1888 and houses classes for juniors and seniors. A short bus ride away is the South Campus for freshmen and sophomores. Radio classes (they are considered Language Arts electives) are offered on both campuses, with courses in both Station Management and Production, as well as a Radio/TV arts survey course. Students don’t have to take radio classes in order to be involved with the station, as it also is open to anyone as an extracurricular club.

WLTL automation. Photo: J. Waits

Since the school also has a television station, WLTL has also been able to broadcast some programming over campus TV, including a fundraiser and some of their talk shows. In addition to that, some programs are archived as podcasts. Students at WLTL also work with the school’s play writing class in order to produce a radio drama once a month. In addition to that, WLTL has also has a sketch comedy show called “Walk the Plank” since around 2003.

Radio station stickers outside WLTL. Photo: J. Waits

The South Campus has its own streaming station, which will eventually broadcast to the South Campus over 1620 AM as an unlicensed part 15 station. The FM station can be heard on the North Campus. Thomas told me that some faculty members will air WLTL in their classrooms and said that a lot of the teachers actually did college radio. Some will guest host over WLTL or will simply stop by the station to reminisce.

8-tracks and CDs in WLTL classroom. Photo: J. Waits

Thanks so much to Chris Thomas for the tour of WLTL. This post is my final write-up from my spring 2014 radio station tours. It feels good to be caught up so that I can move on to more recent visits. In the weeks to come I will report on trips to stations in the Seattle area, as well as another college radio station visit in San Francisco. You can see all of my station field trips chronicled on Spinning Indie.

The post Visiting Lyons Township High School Radio Station WLTL-FM appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It was a big week for LPFM grants, with the total number of issued construction permits for the 2013 filing window passing 1400. More than 40 permits were granted in the past week to a wide range of non-profits, including cultural groups, public access television stations, religious groups, schools, arts-oriented non-profits, as well as to some existing streaming community radio stations.

In addition to grants, there were lots of engineering amendments filed, as LPFM hopefuls scrambled to tweak their proposals in order to get on the air.  You can take a look at updates on these amendments for the West and the East on the REC Networks site. Michelle Bradley of REC Networks also provides a nice overview of the status of all of the applications in the West, including details about cities where groups are still battling over available frequencies.

A few applications that we’ve been following were granted, including one for streaming radio station Art x FM in Louisville, Kentucky.

Three-Way Time Share Brings LPFM to Oakland and Alameda

Also, a time-share agreement east of San Francisco will be coming soon, as the FCC granted the applications for the three remaining applicants for 96.1 FM in the Alameda/Oakland area. Existing streaming radio station Alameda Community Radio will share the signal with Poor Magazine’s new community radio station and with the Alameda School District’s new high school radio station at Encinal High School in Alameda.

THIS WEEK’S LPFM DISMISSALS

This week applications for the following groups were dismissed: Joy Broadcasting Inc. (Dade City, FL), Milken Community Schools (Los Angeles, CA), American Clearstream (Elmhurst, NY), California Institute of Integral Studies (San Francisco, CA), Youth on Record (Denver, CO), Bread of Life Church (Commerce City, CO), and Corvallian Waves (Kailua-Kona, HI). I’d wondered about the previously granted Corvallian Waves, as I thought it was odd that an Oregon-based non-profit was proposing a station in Hawaii. The FCC dismissed the application because one of its Directors is party to another LPFM application.

THIS WEEK’S GRANTED LPFM CONSTRUCTION PERMITS

Churches/Religious Organizations:

New Day Global Mission (Rochester, NY)

Sabbath Incorporated (Indianapolis, IN) -This “Christian educational organization” plans to “further the educational advancement of inner-city youth and adults” with a “hands-on curriculum.”

Evangel Cathedral of Spartanburg (Spartanburg, SC)

La Nueva Radio Restauracion 1620 AM Inc. (New Britain, CT)

Kingdom Impact Christian Cultural Church Inc. (Elkhart, IN)

Rios De Agua Viva Church of God (Lakeville, MN)

Iglesia Christiana Torrente de Cedron (Lynn, MA)

Word of Life Church of God (Holyoke, MA)

Temple Baptist Church (Powell, TN)

Partnership of African American Churches (Charleston West Side, WV)

First Apostolic Church (Maryville, TN)

Trinity Educational Association (El Paso, IL) – Plans to air syndicated Catholic radio programming.

Birthchoice (Raleigh, NC) – Plans to air syndicated Catholic radio programming as well as local programming. According to its application, it will “work with various area pro-life organizations to assist their educational efforts…”

Christ’s Church Apostolic (Aurora, CO) – in a time share with Ethiopian Community Television

St. Joseph Catholic Family Center (Manchester, NH)

Society of the Missionaries of the Holy Apostles-Cromwell (Cromwell, CT)

Grace of Calvary Baptist Church (Erie, PA)

Max Out Foundation (Springfield, IL) – Plans to air “Christian education programming” as well as talk and call-in shows, according to its application.

Schools/Universities:

The Harambee Academy (Dublin, OH) – This group is focused on “leadership development and community” and has programs that “include Africentric rites of passage for adolescents and young adults.” Proposed programs include Black Talk Radio, African Diaspora Music, news, and Jazz and R&B music.

Manchester Community College (Manchester, CT)

Alameda Unified School District (Alameda, CA) – The district is in a time share and plans to start a high school radio station at Encinal High School.

Benedictine University (Springfield, IL)

Manlius Pebble Hill School, Inc. (Dewitt, NY)

Providence Academy (Plymouth, MN) – Catholic college prep school for grades pre-K through high school.

Whitefish Bay School District Board (Whitefish Bay, WI)

Cities/Local Governments:

Town of Bedford (Bedford, NH)

Town of Enfield (Enfield, CT)

County of Montgomery (Horsham, PA)

Other Local Non-Profits:

Hispanic American Cultural Council (New Britain, CT)

SEMM Foundation (Columbus, OH) – This arts non-profit is focused on music education and plans to operate a jazz music station.

Somali American Community (Minneapolis, MN)

Central Ohio Green Education Fund (Columbus, OH)

Art x FM (Louisville, KY) -Currently a streaming radio station.

Syracuse Community Radio (Syracuse, NY) – This station has already been broadcasting over very low power.

Ohio Valley Peace (Wheeling, WV) – Plans to air a variety of music, talk and news. See its sample schedule on its website.

Richmond Radio Inc. (Richmond, KY) -Originally an Internet station, this group plans to air locally-based community programming

Crescent Hill Radio (Louisville, KY) – Currently a streaming radio station featuring local and regional music.

White Stone Radio Inc. (White Stone, VA)

M&M Community Development Inc. Oak Bluff Branch (Oak Bluff, MA) – Part of a larger non-profit group that “has helped to increase community awareness of hate crimes and raise money to rehabilitate burned churches in the south,” according to its application. It also plans to “educate local high school and college students in all aspects of radio station operations.” Other branches of this group applied for LPFM licenses, including one dismissed application in San Francisco.

Manchester Public Television Service (Manchester, NH) – This group already runs a city-funded cable television service that airs “public, education, and government affairs programming.”

Here and Again (Ottawa, IL ) – This group is “dedicated to the preservation of historic theatres and like properties in downtown locations” and plans to air news, talk, and music programming, according to its application.

Richmond Community Radio Inc. (Richmond, KY) – A new local community group, not to be confused with Richmond Radio Inc. (listed above).

New Lite Media (Rocky Mount, NC) – According to its application, this group has “had involvement with forums concerning our youth, economic development, religion and life essential skills.”

Ibero American Action League (Rochester, NY) – This group is focused on “the growth and development of Hispanic and other minorities in Rochester,” according to its application.

Poor Magazine (Oakland, CA) – Provides media access for the poor. In a time share with two other groups in Alameda.

Alameda Community Radio (Alameda, CA) – In a time share with two groups. Already has an existing streaming radio station.

Huckleberry Hill Music Society Inc. (Collinsville, CT)

Calvary Broadcasting Inc. (Greer, SC) – This could be a religious station, although its application is vague in regards to programming, stating that its, “goal is to advance scientific, religious, and educational purposes” and that programming will include “music and talk to encourage, edify, educate, enrich, and enlighten listeners.”

Latinos Pro Education (Goshen, IN)

Fifties Preservation Society (Biddeford, ME) – Station will air music from the 1950s and early 1960s in an attempt to help preserve the “music, culture, and lifestyles of the United States as they were in the 1950’s and early 1960s,” according to its application.

Ethiopian Community Television (Aurora, CO) -in a time-share with Christ’s Church Apostolic

Watershed Radio Project, Incorporated (Kilmarnock, VA)

East Sussex Public Broadcasting Company (Rehoboth Beach, DE)  – Plans to air local programming.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation, Louisville Chapter (Louisville, KY) – According to its application, this station will be an “alternative to commercial media and National Public Radio” with an “alternative programming format.”

Radio Survivor reports on LPFM news every Thursday in our LPFM Watch feature.

The post LPFM Watch: More than 40 New Grants to Birthchoice, Art x FM, Poor Magazine, Providence Academy and Others appeared first on Radio Survivor.

In Southern California, there was some interesting LPFM news this week. Light Bringer Project (Altadena, CA), Newtown Pasadena Foundation (Altadena, CA), Side Street Projects (Pasadena, CA) and Razorcake/Gorsky Press (Pasadena, CA) filed a “joint request for approval of settlement” with the FCC, asking for the FCC to grant the Razorcake application for 92.7 FM and dismiss the others. The FCC has subsequently dismissed applications for Light Bringer Project, Newtown Pasadena Foundation, and Side Street Projects.

Although Razorcake/Gorsky Press is now the sole applicant for 92.7 FM, it is awaiting word on a Petition to Deny filed by religious broadcaster Educational Media Foundation (K-Love Radio) due to concerns over interference with one of its radio stations. Educational Media Foundation claims that a new LPFM on this frequency will cause “impermissible interference to KYLA.”

If Razorcake/Gorsky Press prevails, Pasadena could get a new LPFM devoted to punk rock music. According to its application, “the proposed radio station would center around punk music; the music itself, its production, fans, and common themes found therein. Furthermore, since punk has historically been concerned with social, political, and ethical issues, public affairs, talk, and political programming would be relevant and vital to the vision of the proposed station.”

More Scoop on New San Francisco LPFM

Last week I wrote about the newly granted construction permit for the World Peace through Technology Organization in San Francisco. Since it’s licensed in my home city, I reached out to them to see if I could get more details about their plans for the new 100.1 FM station in San Francisco. The group’s Communication Director Justin Weiner wrote back and told me,

The World Peace Through Technology Organization is excited about the opportunity to create a new radio station here in the Bay Area. We have a lot of planning ahead of us, so it’s a bit early to say anything definite, but it will be a great boon to our mission of inspiring peace through technology, media, education, and art. And it will give us a chance to showcase the great music and ideas that form the community of the How Weird Street Faire, San Francisco’s legendary electronic music festival.”

I’ll continue to follow this group’s efforts and hope to have more details soon.

Three LPFM Grants in Washington State, including existing online station Hollow Earth Radio

In Seattle, both Hollow Earth Radio (100.3 FM) and SouthEast Effective Development (105.7 FM) were granted construction permits for new LPFM radio stations. Hollow Earth (whose progress we’ve been following for awhile now) already operates a streaming freeform radio station that “presents a forum for underrepresented music, sounds and perspectives.” With more of an experimental music focus that many of the LPFM grantees thus far, Hollow Earth plays “found sound, field recordings, forgotten music, local musicians, bedroom recordings, low-fi demos, dreams, storytelling, and things that feel real.” The station also does some interesting events, including noise + yoga nights.

SouthEast Effective Development is a Seattle non-profit focused on “community revitalization through affordable housing, economic development and arts and cultural programs for Southeast Seattle.” Programming over its new LPFM is expected to “be geared towards the local area, including refugee and immigrant communities, seniors and youth”… with an “eclectic and diverse range of music, arts, stories and experiences from…more than forty different cultures.”

In nearby Tacoma, Washington, Fab-5 was also granted a construction permit for a radio station at 95.3 FM. The non-profit hopes to use the new LPFM station as part of its “urban arts education” projects. Fab-5 runs “urban arts workshops designed to allow youth to develop and explore their unique voices through a variety of different urban arts mediums (DJing, legal graffiti, breakdancing & the lyricists lounge)” and works with public schools, after school programs, and juvenile detention facilities.

Three Additional Grants to High School, Catholic Group and to Tenants’ Rights Organization

Millard Public Schools in Omaha, Nebraska was granted a construction permit for a new LPFM radio station to be based at one of its schools. According to its application, the 99.3 FM station will be aligned with school curriculum as part of a Communications Career Academy and will “be used to teach its students communication, management, and technical skills.”

Community Alliance of Tenants was granted a construction permit for a new station in Portland, Oregon. The 96.7 FM station will be used to augment the group’s tenants’ rights outreach efforts.

Saint Joseph Radio, Inc. in Lewistown, Montana was granted a construction permit at 105.3 FM. The group plans to air Catholic programming, including syndicated programming from EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network and Ave Maria Radio. According to its application, the station “will also work with local Roman Catholic parishes, catechism programs and organizations to assist their educational efforts with respect to teaching of the Catholic religion.”

Three Dismissals in Minnesota, Atlanta, and West Virginia

Just three applications were dismissed this week. Upper Mississippi Academy in Fort Snelling, MN withdrew its application, Veterans Center, Inc. in Atlanta, GA was dismissed by the FCC because a study concluded that the proposed transmitter site does not meet minimum spacing requirements, and Tri-State Sephardic Center in McMechen, WV had its application dismissed by the FCC because it did not provide proper documentation of its non-profit status.

Radio Survivor reports on LPFM news every Thursday in our LPFM Watch feature.

The post LPFM Watch: Hollow Earth Radio Granted in Seattle, Pasadena May Get Punk Rock LPFM + Details about New San Francisco Station appeared first on Radio Survivor.

In LPFM news this week, most of the action is happening behind the scenes, with groups working to amend applications and work on potential settlement agreements. As Paul mentioned last week, REC Networks is monitoring the progress of various MX groups in the West.

Only a few applications have been granted in the past few weeks, including Spring Valley High School in Huntington, West Virginia on July 15 and Chrysalis Institute in Mariposa, California on July 21. A number of applications were dismissed this week, largely due to ineligibility because entities were not registered non-profits.

High School Radio Station in the Works in West Virginia

Spring Valley High School initially had its application dismissed because it hadn’t registered its tower location. After filing a Petition for Reconsideration and amending its application, the construction permit was granted. According to the application, the station will operate as a student-run high school radio station functioning as a “…teaching laboratory, providing educational opportunities.” Additionally, “classes in broadcasting, the media and journalism will be added to the school curriculum.”

Arts-Oriented Station To Launch in Mariposa, CA

The Chrysalis Institute has been around since 2005 and aims to “educate the public about sustainability and the arts and to increase public access to sustainability methods and the arts.” Some of the group’s projects include the Carter Ranch Music Festival, the Mariposa Playhouse community theater group, and the Mariposa Community Garden project. The proposed LPFM station in Mariposa, CA (in the Sierra Foothills) will focus on arts and sustainability and proposed programming includes interviews with artists, music from local artists and venues, and a show focused on local storytellers. Chrysalis also plans to hold radio broadcast workshops for teens and adults.

M&M Community Development Applications Dismissed in 3 Major Cities

Many more applications have been dismissed, including several branches of M&M Community Development Inc. in St. Louis (MO), Atlanta (GA), and Chicago (IL). In regards to the Chicago application, Merlin Media had filed a Petition to Deny, claiming that M&M was not a qualified local non-profit. In its letter to M&M dismissing the application, the FCC found that,

M&M has not provided any documentation establishing its nonprofit status as of the date it filed the LPFM Application…M&M has not provided any evidence that it was a nonprofit entity when it filed the LPFM Application, thus, M&M has failed to meet the eligibility requirement…M&M was not an eligible local entity at the time of filing and may not subsequently amend the LPFM Application to become an eligible local entity…”

The FCC dismissed the two other M&M applications for similar reasons, stating in letters that, “M&M has not provided any documentation establishing its nonprofit status as of the date it filed the LPFM Application. Thus, M&M has failed to meet the eligibility requirement.”

Trio of Kentucky Dismissals due to Lack of Documentation over Non-Profit Status

A few groups in Kentucky had their applications dismissed this week, including Broadcast Services (Gays Creek, KY), Mountain Radio Media (Hazard, KY), and Tri Star Community Radio (Viper, KY). Fellow Kentucky applicant Mountain Artist Development Endeavor, LLC (“MADE”) filed Petitions to Deny against these applicants, arguing that the applications were defective. The FCC found that each of these three groups were ineligible. According letters from the FCC, neither Tri Star Community Radio, Broadcast Services, or Mountain Radio Media “provided any documentation establishing its nonprofit status as of the date it filed the LPFM Application,” and therefore those groups are ineligible to apply for LPFM licenses.

Missouri, Delaware, and Florida Applicants Dismissed Due to Failure to Establish Non-Profit Status

Both Nixa Seventh-Day Adventist Church (Nixa, MO) and Allied Communications Network Two (Lewes, DE) were dismissed because they failed to submit documents establishing their non-profit status.

Following a Petition to Deny and an Informal Objection by the Community Broadband Radio Association, the application for North Point Christian Association in North Point, Florida was also dismissed. The Petition to Deny alleged that the applicant was not a registered non-profit, was proposing a tower at a residence in an unauthorized area, was broadcasting illegally from the same residence, and that someone affiliated with the application is a registered sex offender. The FCC only addressed the non-profit status of the group and dismissed the application because the group “failed to meet the eligibility requirement…”

We cover LPFM news every Thursday in our LPFM Watch feature.

The post LPFM News: Dismissals due to Lack of Non-Profit Status, Plus New Arts and HS Stations appeared first on Radio Survivor.

In this week’s LPFM news: The MX settlements begin in western states; a woman is surprised to learn she has an LPFM; a high school returns its CP.

Resolutions Proposed in Competition for 24 Low-Power FM Frequencies

The settlements are happening, the MX group settlements that is. As we reported last week, the FCC issued a list of 79 low-power FM frequencies in the western US with multiple applicants competing for them. Now it’s up to those applicants to amend their applications for new frequencies or reach time-sharing agreements with other competitors.

Thanks to accounting by REC Networks, we know that in the last week there have been 24 total settlements reached.

A three-way time-sharing agreement is rare, but one of these is proposed in the Bay Area. Peralta Community College District in Oakland, Sound of Hope Radio Network and the Chinese Culture and Art Heritage Foundation, both in San Francisco, have agreed to split up airtime on 96.9 FM.

There is one proposed two-way time-sharing agreements in my backyard of Portland, Oregon. Jehovah Jireh International Mission and Slavic Community Center agree to share 100.7 FM, each getting 12 hours a day of broadcast time.

These sharing agreements still need to be reviewed and approved by the FCC.

Woman Surprised to Learn She Has an LPFM

In San Leandro, CA it turns out that one LPFM applicant has a board member who didn’t sign up for the job. A woman contacted the FCC with an informal complaint to say that she started getting sales calls for broadcast equipment, then discovered her name was listed as the corporate president of Community Development Corporation, which has been granted a construction permit for 96.1 FM.

The only problem is, she declined the offer to serve on that organization’s board and has nothing to do with the station. It’s doubtful the FCC will look kindly upon this.

Indiana High School Returns LPFM CP

Finally, in some sad news, the Parent Teacher Organization at Floyd Central High School in Floyd Knobs, IN is handing its LPFM construction permit back to the FCC. The school system already operates full-power WNAS-FM. According to the Courier-Journal newspaper, there were concerns that the new station would broadcast with much less power, and that plans for the station were not discussed with the school board prior to the application filing.

The post LPFM News: MX Settlements Begin, High School returns CP appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Earlier this week, REC Networks reported that the FCC will soon release a Public Notice regarding LPFM applicants in the western United States. This notice will apply to those applicants who are still in competition with others for the same frequency in mutually exclusive (MX) groups. According to REC Networks,

…the upcoming Public Notice… will announce the scores, tentative selectees and the window openings for settlement agreements and objections.  The document is currently in ‘circulation’ meaning that it is being reviewed by the full Commission for approval…”

It will be important for those applicants to watch for this notice, as it will open a 90-day window during which MX group applicants can “file a major change application to resolve…MX situation[s],” according to REC Networks. Additionally, “a 30-day window will be open to entertain informal objections and Petitions to Deny.”

Only 6 new LPFM applications were granted in the last week, bringing the grand total to 1229. The grantees include La Vergne Educational Media (La Vergne, TN), Xavier College Preparatory High School (Palm Desert, CA), Mid Valley Assembly (Weslaco, TX), Cochise County Community College District (Sierra Vista, AZ), Rocky Mount Community Radio (Rocky Mount, VA), and Uno Mision, Inc. (Coconut Creek, FL). Additionally, the application for Ubuntu National and International Training and Education (Rayville, LA) was dismissed today.

I was excited to see both a high school and a college in this new batch of grantees. By my count, there are now around 46 colleges and universities that have been granted construction permits for new LPFM licenses.

According to documentation submitted with Cochise College’s LPFM application,

The proposed station will be focused on serving the student population of Cochise College with programming that is educational, informative, and entertaining. Student programmers will provide at least 12 hours of original local programming each day with the remaining time dedicated to syndicated content that will help to build a bridge to the community of Sierra Vista. A portion of the local programming will be committed to providing local news and public affairs that will focus on the City of Sierra Vista as well as Cochise College and its educational, civic, and athletic activities.”

The application also states that there is currently no other non-commercial radio station in town and that for that reason, Cochise College will also work with community members in addition to other groups, including “local media entities at the City of Sierra Vista, University of Arizona South, Fort Huachuca and Buena High School to develop collaborative programming that can serve the entire coverage area.”

As far as the high school radio station at Xavier College Preparatory High School, it’s unclear what the programming will be at the Jesuit school. Its application states that programming will be “consistent” with the school’s “organizational purpose and objectives and will also include discussion of current local news, family development, child rearing, eduction, health information, and religion.”

In other LPFM news, there will be some workshops of interest to LPFM candidates at the Grassroots Radio Conference (GRC) this August in Ames, Iowa. More details can be found on the GRC conference website.

We cover LPFM news every Thursday in our LPFM Watch feature.

The post LPFM Watch: Awaiting Word on Public Notice for Competing LPFM Groups in the West appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Today is the 3rd annual High School Radio Day and at least 63 student radio stations from all over the United States (representing at least 28 states) are celebrating this unique and rare form of broadcasting. As I mentioned last week, I recently toured WHHS at Haverford High School in Havertown, Pennsylvania and was amazed by the station’s lengthy history. Often high school radio is overlooked by radio historians, which is a shame since there are some pioneering radio stations at high schools.

High School Radio Day is a great excuse to investigate the high school radio stations in your area, so please let us know some of your favorites in the comments section. And, huge congratulations to all of the newly launching high school radio stations thanks to the Local Community Radio Act. Numerous high schools applied for LPFM last year and there are already quite a few who have been granted construction permits for new stations.

As I’m starting to get caught up on my radio station field trip reports, here’s a run-down of some of the high school-based stations that I’ve toured in recent years. I hope to get a full report posted about WHHS soon as well.

KCEA at Menlo-Atherton High School, Atherton, CA:

Although high school students don’t run the station, they do participate in its sports broadcasts.

KALW at Burton High School, San Francisco, CA:

Public radio station KALW is licensed to the San Francisco Unified School District and is located on a high school campus. The station is professionally run, but there are opportunities for students to work at KALW and participate in its training programs.

WGBK at Glenbrook South High School in Illinois

This suburban station near Chicago is a true high school station, with student broadcasters populating the schedule and working behind the scenes.

The post Happy High School Radio Day appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It’s been a slow week in the LPFM application world, with far more dismissals and amended applications than granted construction permits. At the end of day yesterday, the count of granted applications is now up to 1153, with recent grantees including Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (Oxnard, California) on April 14 and (just in time for High School Radio Day next week!) Shead Memorial High School (Eastport, Maine), a couple of applicants in Puerto Rico (Concilio de Iglesias Rios de Vida, Inc. and Iglesia Refugio, Sanidad Y Adoracion) and Action Community Television (Rocky Mount, North Carolina) on April 16.

44 New College Radio LPFMs Coming Soon, While a Current College Radio LPFM Plans to Leave the Air

As I’ve reported previously, a fair number of student radio stations are in the running for LPFM, with around 44 granted LPFM applications for college radio stations so far. While these institutions are embracing the opportunity, a current LPFM, Southeast Missouri State University station KDMC 103.7 FM (aka Rage FM) plans to cease terrestrial broadcasts at the end of the semester. The school’s NPR station KRCU 90.9 FM will offer internships to students who desire on-air experience. According to the Arrow, KRCU began as a student-run station in 1976 and transitioned to an NPR affiliate in 1991. The KRCU website states that the transition away from alternative music programming began in 1988.

According to the Southeast Missourian,

Students will continue to use the Rage FM facilities in the basement of the Grauel Language Arts building to create multimedia news content for KRCU, Southeast’s student newspaper the Arrow, and some Rage FM programs that will continue to air online. The Department of Mass Media curriculum committee decided in 2010 that more multimedia newsgathering experience was necessary if graduates were to remain competitive in the job market. ‘We made the decision that the department would go from five options to four, and that journalism and radio would become the multimedia journalism option,’ said Dr. Karie Hollerbach, chairwoman of the Department of Mass Media. She explained that since the radio courses were phased out in 2012, the student radio station is no longer essential to the program. Hundreds of students over the past 38 years have had a hand in operating incarnations of the station. Most current students support the shift in curriculum, although many on Southeast’s campus and beyond will miss listening.

Apparently the school will retain the LPFM license. Those protesting the closure of the LPFM station have created an online petition to “Keep Rage 103.7 Open.”

More than 100 MX Groups Eliminated, According to REC Networks

Since the FCC’s original announcement of the groups of mutually exclusive (MX) LPFM applications, the FCC has allowed applicants to make minor changes that involve physical moves of less than 5.6 kilometers and changes in channel to the first, second or third adjacent as well as the intermediate frequency channels (10.6/10.8 MHz) as well as dismissals triggered by both application discrepencies as well as at the request of the applicants, the number of active MX groups, as tracked by REC has reduced from 417 to 316. The largest MX group, the Los Angeles 101.5 MegaGroup has reduced from 32 to 27 applicants.  Of those, two of those applicants have been dismissed and are currently in the 30-day reconsideration period. The second largest MX group, the Orlando MegaGroup has reduced from 17 to 14 applicants including one that managed to find a bail-out channel and has been granted. Three MX groups in Connecticut, New York and Puerto Rico have been split into two groups due to other MX applicants making moves or getting dismissed.

REC Networks also posted a helpful list of all of the current MX groups, so that applicants can clearly see who is still in competition with whom. You can view those groups by state on the REC Networks website.

NFCB to Offer LPFM Intensive on May 28th

Just a reminder that this year’s NFCB conference will feature a pre-conference all-day LPFM Intensive workshop on Wednesday, May 28th from 9am to 5pm at the event in Reston, Virginia. The event is free for registered NFCB conference attendees and will be led by Station Start Up Specialist Donna Di Bianco and by Sabrina Roach of Brown Paper Tickets.

LPFM Watch is a weekly feature on Radio Survivor appearing every Thursday.

The post LPFM Watch: More College and High School Radio CPs, KDMC-LP to Leave Air and 100 MX Groups Eliminated appeared first on Radio Survivor.

High School Radio Day is coming up next week on Wednesday, April 23rd and it already looks like at least 60 high school radio stations will be participating in this 3rd annual event. As I mentioned last month, there’s some great energy surrounding high school radio right now, with numerous stations applying for new LPFM licenses last year.

Chicagoland Radio and Media reports that around 8 high school radio stations in the Chicago area plan to participate this year, one of which (WGBK) I was lucky enough to visit back in 2009. In Maryland, WKHS also plans to participate. According to the Talbot Spy, “The Broadcasting Program at WKHS has produced dozens of stories of students who had successful careers in the world of radio, television and film.”

I celebrated High School Radio Day a bit early this year by visiting pioneering high school radio station WHHS-FM at Haverford High School in Havertown, Pennsylvania last week. WHHS is one of the oldest high school radio stations, having been granted its FM license in 1949. Last year, thanks to a generous gift, WHHS undertook a major effort to remodel its studios. When I visited the station last week, enthusiastic student staffers spoke about their passion for the station and about their hopes to continue doing radio in college.

After visiting WHHS and also after talking to some college radio DJs last week who had starting volunteering at college radio stations while still in high school, it became clear to me that young people (even teenagers) are still quite interested in doing radio. Those students who have high school radio stations on campus are the recipients of an amazing gift.

If you are at a high school radio station, what do you have planned for High School  Radio Day?

The post 3rd Annual High School Radio Day on April 23 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

With High School Radio Day Coming up on April 23, it seemed like a good time to do a round-up of recent high school radio news. First and foremost, it’s been thrilling to see that so many school districts and high schools are in the running for new LPFM licenses. One such group, Jasper High School in Jasper, Indiana, was granted a LPFM construction permit on February 10th. Up until the point the station has been operating as a legal, part 15 unlicensed campus-only FM station known as “The Scratch.” With its newly granted LPFM construction permit (PDF) in hand, the station is looking to increase its power to 100 watts so that it can soon be heard across the local community over 93.7 FM. According to WFIE 14 News, the goal is to “relaunch the radio station by April 23, which is National High School Radio Day.”

In other high school radio news:

WKHS Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Kent County High School radio station WKHS 90.5 FM in Worton, Maryland is celebrating its 40th anniversary this week and plans to air special programming on Friday, March 28 in order to honor its four decades on the air. According to the Star Democrat, “To celebrate, the station will have a special broadcast featuring songs from each year of the station’s history, 1974 to 2014. The anniversary broadcast will run about five hours, beginning about 8:30 a.m.” According to the WKHS website, the station operates at an impressive 17,500 watts and can be heard for 60 miles in every direction. WKHS also is a strong proponent for student radio, stating on its website, “In a time when many educational stations are being scuttled to divert funding elsewhere, we are proud to continue to inform and entertain our listening audience, while training the broadcasters of tomorrow.”

KVHS Film Footage from 1983

For those interested in high school radio history, I was just reminded about some raw footage taken at Clayton Valley High School radio station KVHS in 1983. The five chunks of film give a great sense of the look and feel of the 1980s rock radio station. One clip features a DJ talking about metal music and whether or not it’s Satanic and others include interviews and station shots. Check out the rad 1980s fashion in this bit of footage (and hear music by the Scorpions). KVHS still broadcasts today, following its home school’s conversion to a charter school.

High school radio awards for WVSH

It’s been awards season lately and high school broadcasters were honored at the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters conference. Students from Huntington North High School radio station WVSH 91.9 FM were among those who picked up awards.

KMIH Does Live Sports Play-by-Play all Season

Students from Mercer Island High School radio station KMIH-FM (aka Hot Jamz) in Washington State recently did the play-by-play during a girls basketball tournament in Tacoma, Washington. According to the Mercer Island Reporter, “Throughout the entire 2013-2014 season, KMIH-FM, the Mercer Island High School radio station, has sent its student radio team to broadcast both boys and girls basketball home and away games…”

The post High School Radio News Round-up: High School LPFMs, KVHS Footage from 1983, and WKHS’ 40th Anniversary appeared first on Radio Survivor.

High school radio is such a rare thing that it saddens me when a station goes dark. Earlier this month, the FCC cancelled the license for the Akiachak School’s class D FM radio station KHKY because the license holder (Yupiit School District) did not renew the license.

I can’t find much information about this station, but when the school submitted its application for the license in April, 2007, the stated purpose of the station was to “address both reading and writing grade-level expectations, by offering students a chance to write scripts, PSA’s, informative pieces about the community, conduct interviews with elders, and improve communication and technical skills.” It was expected at the time that the station would “be used in conjunction  with a broadcast class that would operate and maintain the station.”

The application also stated that the school served a “community of about 600 Yup’ik eskimos” in a “remote area” where there is no other FM radio station for 50 miles.

Interestingly, a concerned citizen protested the FCC’s decision to grant KHKY a construction permit, arguing that the school had operated an unlicensed FM station on the same frequency in fall 2006. The FCC dismissed the citizen’s Petition for Reconsideration and KHKY eventually went on the air as a licensed station. As recently as 2011, there was an active website for the station (dubbed Radio Husky) at KHKY.org, but that URL is now being used by an Indonesian company. The Akiachak School website has no references to a campus radio station.

The post High School Radio Station in Alaska Loses License appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Last week the FCC began granting new LPFM applications and so far, it has granted several applications for new LPFM college, high school, and middle school radio stations. I profiled two of the college stations, Washington College and York Technical College, in College Radio Survivor on Friday and in this post I will run through the remaining school-affiliated applications that were granted last week.

The latest college grantee, the Board of Regents for University of Wisconsin, intends to utilize LPFM at its University of Wisconsin, Parkside campus. The new license, which was applied for in Kenosha, will allow the school’s student-run Internet-only radio station WIPZ (aka Ranger Radio) to broadcast over low power FM. According to its application, existing radio station WIPZ airs a range of programming, including “rock, metal, hip hop, techno, and jazz shows along with a variety of talk shows ranging from sports, to current events, wrestling, and gaming.”

Another organization, the International Metaphysical Ministry, which is doing business under the name University of Sedona, was granted its LPFM application for a new radio station in Sedona, Arizona. According to its application, the station will “…feature talk shows with students and faculty” and will also air lectures, “inspirational” music programming, and programming related to “the benefits of mind, body and spirit practices.”

Considering the number of high school-related LPFM applicants, it’s not surprising that we’re already starting to see some licenses granted at high schools and school districts. So far, no fewer than seven secondary (and middle) schools have been granted LPFM applications for new stations. Although high school radio stations have been around for decades, there aren’t as many stations located on middle school campuses. For that reason, It’s pretty neat to see that Broad Creek Middle School was granted its LPFM application (PDF).

According to the application filed by license holder Carteret County Schools in Newport, North Carolina, the new station will teach Broad Creek Middle School students about broadcasting by allowing them to get hands-on experience in programming, engineering, recording, production, and possibly management. The application states, “We plan to broadcast our school sports events live because many parents work and cannot make it to the games at 4pm. Also we plan to offer classical and jazz music for calming classroom environments campus wide. We also plan to broadcast school news, student programs, and any school delays (weather..etc.). Our students will take part in every aspect of this process and will experience the stress and pressure of deadlines, expectations, and will learn to handle it in stride as well.”

Vacaville Christian Schools in Vacaville, California plans to augment its Broadcasting and Performing Arts program with the addition of a LPFM radio station. The school’s music program is called the Radio Conservatory as an homage to the long history of radio symphony orchestras and to signal its close connection with existing campus online radio station VCS Radio. Its application states that the station will “give a greater voice to students preparing their talents for a career in media broadcasting and communications.” The campus already houses production studios and holds audio production classes. The planned-for station (to be called KVCB) will feature talk shows, live student sports broadcasts, lectures, coverage of civic meetings, and performances by student music groups, actors, and composers.

Additionally, Dickson County Schools in Dickson, Tennessee was granted its LPFM application. The district states in its application that it plans to construct a radio station at Dickson County High School in order to “…enhance the communications program” and “…give students the ability to learn broadcast operations in a real world setting and better prepare for college.”

Chilton County Board of Education was also granted its LPFM license for Clanton, Alabama. According to its application, the proposed station will be a “…student run/student operated station at the LeCroy Career Technical Center” and “will be incorporated into the center’s media resource and electronics curriculum.”

Mitchell County High School in Camilla, Georgia was granted its application for a new LPFM station. According to its application, the station will air a mix of news, public affairs, school events, sports, and music programming. Students will get the opportunity to “create programming for a regular show or shows” and a planned-for studio will “include space for educating students and volunteers” about on-air skills as well as radio production.

Warrick County School System in Boonville, Indiana plans to utilize its newly granted LPFM application in order to build a studio at Boonville High School. Its application states that the station will enhance the “communication program,” which currently includes “basic broadcast training in radio and TV.”

LPFM applicant Wayne High School in Wayne, West Virginia was also given the nod by the FCC. In its application, Wayne High School states that the new LPFM station will give students “hands-on experience, managing and operating…a broadcast station” and that “the station will function as a teaching laboratory.” The school plans to add broadcasting, media, and journalism classes and the station itself is expected to air music, public affairs, news, and sports programming.

In its LPFM application, Worth County High School in Sylvester, Georgia states that as part of its educational offerings, it has a “broadcast video production pathway” and is providing internet streams of sporting events. The application states, “For those community members without internet access, the idea of low power FM was suggested so that community stakeholders  could be served. Students will have the opportunity to interact with parents and other community members and provide local news, sports, and other events.” The high school currently offers broadcasting classes and operates online radio station RamRadio.

DayStar Adventist Academy in Castle Valley, Utah is a private boarding school for 9th to 12th graders. Affiliated with the 7th Day Adventist Church, it plans to utilize its LPFM station to spread its religious mission and to educate students. Its application states that the station “…will provide opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience in radio broadcasting…Via radio the school will better reach out to the surrounding community with Truth and Love, seeking to bring the same hope, joy and understanding lived by students and staff on campus. Not only will the station broadcast Bible teaching, but will provide educational programming along the lines of preventative health, the family and child rearing, history, science, the arts and literature…Our goal is to share our total Christian lifestyle with our neighbors…”

We will continue to keep an eye on all of the newly granted LPFM applications and are posting regular updates every Thursday in LPFM Watch.

The post Newly Granted College and High School LPFMs are Next Wave of Student Broadcasters appeared first on Radio Survivor.

WGBK at Glenbrook South High School in Illinois (photo: J. Waits)

It’s no secret that I’m a bit enamored with high school radio. I’ve visited a handful of school district-owned stations (although only one was focused solely on student content) and feel like high school stations provide a tremendous opportunity for young people to experience the power of radio.

Although it seems that high school radio stations are few and far between, I was encouraged to find numerous high schools, school districts, and parent-teacher organizations amid the recent LPFM applicants. And, just in the past few weeks, I’ve seen several press accounts about high school radio, making me feel like it’s still a vital piece of the media landscape.

WEPS 88.9 FM in Elgin, Illinois has been in existence since 1950, but for the last 8 years it has had little student participation and has been airing mostly syndicated content from Wisconsin Public Radio. Change is in the air, however, as WEPS has begun the process of broadcasting content from students at its home high school (Gifford Street Alternative High School), as well as from the other 5 schools in its district. Each school is  creating its own radio club and will produce an hour of content each week, with Wisconsin Public Radio programming rounding out the schedule. At an open house on November 12, alumni toured the revamped studios, shared memories and learned about plans for student-produced programs in English and Spanish.

In Washington, KMIH FM at Mercer Island High School is a student-run high radio station that plans to amp up its live sports broadcasts this year. In addition to doing live remote broadcasts from all girls and boys basketball games (home and away), KMIH just added home football and girls soccer games. Beyond sports, the station airs a top 40 music format, with programs hosted and produced by students in the school’s radio class.

Another recent article profiles KVMN 89.9 FM. Reportedly one of only two student-run high school radio stations in Arkansas, it was first licensed in 1980 with the call letters KZIG. Around 85 Cave City High School radio students in 9th through 12th grade run KVMN, “short for ‘Caveman,’ which is the school’s mascot.”

Students at El Camino Fundamental High School’s radio station KYDS 91.5 FM in Sacramento, California are currently in the midst of an on-air marathon in order to raise needed funds for the high school radio station. At this weekend’s event, around 20 students will camp out at the studio and “Each will take two-hour DJ shifts to play music and auction off merchandise to benefit the radio program.”

Streetsboro High School’s radio station is also in need of funds, as it hopes to make needed upgrades to student station WSTB 88.9 FM. Around since the 1970s, the Ohio station’s colorful history (including its years as an all-metal station) is nicely chronicled on its website.

Over the weekend, Concord Carlisle High School radio station WIQH 88.3 FM did a live broadcast from the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Concord, Massachusetts.

And, finally, plans are in the works for an online radio station at Presidio High School in Texas.

The post High School Radio News Round-Up: More Sports at KMIH, Students Back at WEPS appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It’s been a busy few days as far as news on the low power FM (LPFM) front goes. Advocates like REC Networks are analyzing the recently filed applications and are starting to find some discrepancies. Earlier this week, REC Networks filed informal objections with the FCC in reference to 245 applications that were all prepared by the same individual, arguing that the applications don’t appear to be truly local non-profits. The FCC also released a public notice providing clarification on the LPFM application process this week and revealed that some LPFM applicants could get construction permits as early as January, 2014. The FCC has also dismissed some applications and has marked others as accepted for filing.

At Radio Survivor we’ve been taking a closer look at the nearly 3,000 LPFM applications and have already given some perspective on some of the applicant pools in Los Angeles, San Francisco and environs, have taken a glimpse at some of the applicants affiliated with colleges and universities, and have done a quick scan of some unusual-sounding applicants. As we continue to dissect the data, I was pleased to see a number of applicants associated with high schools, prep schools, and school districts. High school radio stations make up a particularly small subset of non-commercial radio stations, so it’s encouraging to see an influx of energy into this somewhat endangered species.

One applicant, the Coquille School District in Oregon, hopes to create an opportunity for teenagers at Winter Lakes High School to get on the air. The school’s principal is highly supportive of high school radio and three of his children served as managers of high school radio station KMHS in Coos Bay, Oregon. The new station (see its educational statement here) would be an opportunity for students to produce public affairs, talk, and music programming.

Northfield Mount Hermon School is Massachusetts is a rare applicant that can claim a presence in its community for more than 100 years. The college preparatory school’s campus has been in Mount Hermon since 1881 and apparently this longevity caused an error in the FCC’s database when the application was being submitted. In its application, the school states that it has a deep connection with radio since “…the ‘Father of Radio’ – Lee de Forest – was a graduate of our class of 1893. Few inventors have had a greater impact upon the life and culture of our times. From just one of his more than 300 inventions – the Audion (the electronic vacuum tube) – have come such early marvels as the radio and phonograph, radar, the talking picture, and television.”

Also in Massachusetts, Boston Public Schools is applying for a LPFM license in order to create a high school radio station at East Boston High School. The application includes a statement about the importance of student radio and states, “Ultimately, this frequency can become an open and independent forum in which lower middle class and poor urban students, who are so often unrepresented and all but forgotten in our global society, can find their voices…and be heard.”

In Montana, the Harrison K-12 School District applied for a LPFM license in the hopes of providing the community with news, announcements, and emergency information. Entertainment programming might also include music shows and school sporting events. It’s proposed that the station would be run through a school Radio Club or via a Media class.

In Hawaii, Kohala Middle School would like to obtain a LPFM license. The rural public school hopes to integrate the radio program into its academic offerings and according to the application, “The opportunity for live broadcasting by students is an exciting prospect for both our students and the many parents and grandparents in the community, as well as the community as a whole.”

I noticed that a couple of Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTOs) applied for LPFM licenses, including the Floyd Central High School PTO in Floyd Knobs, Indiana and the Northside High PTO in Lafayette, Louisiana. At Floyd Central, the PTO states in its application that the “ADDITION OF RADIO FACILITIES WILL ENHANCE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE AREA OF PUBLIC SPEAKING, ENGLISH, PERFORMING ARTS AS WELL AS ENABLE BROADCAST OF LOCAL GAMES TO THIS RURAL AREA.IT ALSO WILL ASSIST IN SAFETY ISSUES WITH WEATHER AND SNOW CONDITIONS AND SCHOOL CLOSINGS.” At Northside High, the PTO hopes to create a Broadcast Journalism Academy. Proposed programming includes instruction in Cajun French, homework help, science and literature, as well as public affairs programs geared towards the high school audience and informational programming for the local agricultural community.

Additional school applicants exist all over the country, including (but not limited to), Bessemer City Schools in Alabama, Lake Hamilton School District in Arkansas, Yuma Catholic High School in Arizona, Edgewood High School in West Covina (California), Worth County High School in Georgia, Middlesboro Board of Education in Kentucky, Ruston High School in Louisiana, Shead Memorial High School in Maine, Addison Community Schools in Michigan, Roosevelt High School in St. Louis (Missouri), Northern Nash High School (North Carolina), Millard Public Schools in Omaha (Nebraska), Springfield Board of Education (Ohio), North Penn School District (Pennsylvania), St. Peter’s Catholic School (Columbia, South Carolina), Dickson County Schools (Tennessee), Mount Pleasant Independent School District High School (Texas), Massanutten Military Academy (Virginia), Whitefish Bay School District Board (Wisconsin), and Spring Valley High School (West Virginia).

I think it’s exciting to see schools embracing this LPFM opportunity and look forward to monitoring the progress of these applications.

LPFM Watch is a weekly feature on Radio Survivor every Thursday. In this column we will delve into various aspects of LPFM, including profiles of applicants during the 2013 filing window.

The post LPFM Watch: High School Radio and LPFM News Round-Up appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Door to KCEA (photo: J. Waits)

This summer I’ve been getting more serious about my radio station field trip project and have been trying to finally visit some of the stations in the Bay Area that have eluded me up to this point. In some cases it’s been a lack of initiative on my part, whereas in other instances my requests to visit have been unanswered.

Yesterday I decided that it was time for me to get on the road to attempt to visit some of the non-commercial radio stations that I’ve been wanting to see.

When I’m traveling out of town, I have no qualms about doing a marathon series of radio station tours (I visited 4 stations in one day when I was in Portland in April), so I figured it was worth it to try to do the same in my own neck of the woods.

My first stop yesterday morning was San Jose City College’s radio station KJCC. I’d heard about the station a few years ago and when I reached out to the station last week through its Facebook page, I received a prompt reply from its general manager. It turns out that KJCC has been broadcasting from the school since probably the late 1970s. Today it broadcasts online and over very low power FM.

KJCC studio (photo: J. Waits)

After seeing KJCC, I swung by St. Francis High School in Mountain View in order to hopefully see KSFH 87.9 FM. Over the years I’ve written to various staff and students at the station in order to arrange a visit and I was never able to secure a time to come by. Recently I learned that the station was being dismantled, so I figured this was possibly my last chance to see the radio station. Although I was able to see the room adjacent to the school gym where KSFH has been broadcasting from since probably the 1970s, the studio was pretty much emptied out. I was told that after a gym remodel, the station will move to a corner of the student center.

KSFH studio (photo: J. Waits)

I’ve also been intrigued by another school-owned station, KCEA 89.1 FM at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton. I know a student at the high school and he told me that he’d never seen anyone at the station. Despite that, I dropped by on the off chance that someone might be there. The “nostalgia station” plays mainly big band music and is programmed by adult DJs. The door was locked and nobody was at the station when I stopped by, but I did get a picture of the amazing signage above the door (“Community Radio Disaster and Information Center”).

Sign about door to KCEA (photo: J. Waits)

Following that visit, I headed nearby to Menlo College (also in Atherton) in order to sleuth out the student radio station KMXX. I wasn’t sure if it was still in existence, so I wasn’t all that optimistic that I would get to see anything. I found the dorm that housed KMXX and then asked a security person if the station was still there. He said it was gone and offered to put me in touch with the former advisor so that I could learn more about what had happened to the station.

KKUP board member and DJ Leo Murphy in the station’s vinyl library (photo: J. Waits)

With a little time left in the day, I called community radio station KKUP 91.5 FM to see if I could stop by for a visit. The on-air DJ answered the phone and said that it was OK if I wanted to come to KKUP for a tour. A handful of DJs, staff, and board members were on site at the San Jose station when I arrived and it was quite satisfying to learn more about the 41-year-old community radio station.

Although I didn’t get to see all of the stations that I’d hoped to visit, it was a fun day of radio station stalking. It was also a reminder to me of just how many hidden radio stations there are, even in my own backyard. You can read all of my radio station field trip accounts (nearly 50 of them!) on my SpinningIndie blog (be forewarned, it may be a few weeks before these latest trips are fully chronicled).

The post Radio Station Mystery Tour – South of San Francisco Edition appeared first on Radio Survivor.

At a meeting of the Mount Diablo Unified School District (MDUSD) on Monday night, the school board approved a recommendation to “explore the potential multi-year lease of” high school radio station KVHS-FM.

At the meeting, it was stated that preliminary estimates indicate that a  lease of the FM signal could bring between $10,000 and $25,000 in revenue a month to the district. Although the district holds the license for the non-commercial radio station, KVHS is housed at a high school in Concord, California that was recently converted to a charter school. Following that change, the existing radio program’s future seemed murky and rumors about a potential license sale circulated last summer.

At the August 27, 2012 meeting, the MDUSD board agreed to hold off on considering a sale of the station license until the school year ends in June, 2013. The decision at this week’s meeting seems to update that discussion by proposing the exploration of a lease (as opposed to a sale).

At the March 25, 2013 board meeting, former KVHS faculty adviser Melissa Wilson spoke to the board. She said that she’d been laid off by the school district in June and explained that the station currently does not have an instructor with experience teaching radio. Although the radio station studios and production rooms remain at Clayton Valley Charter High School, the KVHS offices were recently dismantled and turned into classroom space. Apparently no students currently broadcast over the station’s FM signal, although Wilson has been retained by the district as an independent contractor in order to keep the station FCC-compliant.

Wilson said that she supported a plan to lease the FM license and argued that students can still learn about broadcasting at an online-only station. In a statement to the board, Wilson said, “the type of broadcast radio station that I grew up with…does not exist anymore, it’s a new day and it’s probably not coming back at least in that form. The students aren’t drawn to that kind of radio as I was drawn to that kind of radio…it’s a digital age and the opportunities lie with those who embrace that fact.”

The board agreed to begin investigating the hiring of a consultant in order to advise the district on a potential lease arrangement with an outside group. This would allow the district to move forward with a request for proposals from firms “which specialize in…the lease of non-commercial radio and television stations to assist in identifying and negotiating the lease of the KVHS non-commercial (non-digital) radio license.” The district would maintain radio equipment and would only lease the use of the FM signal. At the meeting, Wilson stated that the best part of this option is that “it’s temporary,” meaning that the student station could resume FM broadcasts in the future.

The current state of the student station at KVHS is unclear. According to the Clayton Valley Charter High School website, KVHS may now be a project of a media class at the school. The website states,

“KVHS IS BACK WITH…’THE UGLY LIFE’!!! The new and aspiring Media class at CVCHS has been hard at work and is ready for a great comeback!…Every week, ‘The Ugly Life’ will post their podcasts and videos, pictures and other things about trending topics.  ‘The Ugly Life’ needs your help to bring KVHS back…”

An Ugly Life Facebook page and You Tube channel feature a small number of posts and links to videos and podcasts (including a Clayton Valley Charter Harlem Shake video).

With high school radio stations somewhat of an endangered species in 2013, hopefully KVHS will be able to continue as a student-run operation, whether it’s online-only or on the FM dial. It’s sad to see that a station with such a lengthy history (KVHS will turn 50 next year) is in limbo following changes at its home high school.

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In 2012, the first annual High School Radio Day took place on May 16. The day was established in order to celebrate high school radio and raise awareness about the small number of remaining high school radio stations. This year, High School Radio Day is scheduled for Wednesday, April 24.

According to a press release, “Since there are so few high schools with radio stations, organizers hope that High School Radio Day will raise a greater awareness of the ones that are still broadcasting after so many have been shut down due to school district budget cuts.”

Sadly, I’m all too familiar with this trend. In the last year I’ve reported on several high school radio stations that have had to shut down. WLMH-FM in Ohio had its license deleted by the FCC after the station had been off the air for more than year due to budget cuts. KVHS-FM in California has also faced challenges this past year after its school was converted to a charter school and its faculty adviser was laid off. At a district board meeting this week, approval was granted to explore the possibility of leasing the station’s FM signal to an outside group.

At the same time, there’s still optimism about high school radio. High School Radio Day is a nice attempt to bring stations together, especially in light of their scarcity. The annual John Drury High School Radio Awards competition also works to connect and recognize stellar student radio practitioners (high school stations can submit entries from now until November, 2013).

Another bright spot this year was news about a sizable donation to Haverford High School radio station WHHS-FM in Pennsylvania. One of the oldest high school stations in the country, WHHS hopes to use the funds to upgrade its studio.

Last year, 31 stations registered for High School Radio Day and this year there are already 36 high school stations from 16 states slated to participate. I look forward to hearing more about specific plans for High School Radio Day as we get closer to April 24th. Hopefully more stations will get involved and more people will take the time to tune in to high school radio. Personally, I think it’s incredible that teenagers at high school radio stations have the opportunity to do broadcasting at such a young age.

The post 2nd Annual High School Radio Day Returns on April 24 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Kal and Lucille Rudman present a check to the student directors of WHHS on February 20, 2013 (Photo courtesy WHHS)

When I was a student and DJ at Haverford College’s campus-only station, I longed for the audience available to nearby Haverford High School’s FM radio station WHHS. As was the case with my own station WHRC, I had no idea about WHHS’s incredible history.

One of the oldest licensed high school radio stations in the United States, WHHS was awarded a construction permit (PDF) from the FCC in February, 1949 and began broadcasts later that year as a 10 watt radio station at 89.3 FM. A program (PDF) from its opening night states that the station was located on the 2nd floor of the high school on Darby Road in Havertown, Pennsylvania. Press accounts at the time indicate that WHHS was the first high school radio station in Pennsylvania.

Last week, the Kal and Lucille Rudman Foundation donated $10,000 to WHHS in order to help the station with needed upgrades. On February 20, the Rudmans visited the station and were on hand when the studio was renamed in their honor. Kal Rudman, the founder of the music and radio industry publication Friday Morning Quarterback (FMQB), is also a supporter of several Philadelphia-area college radio stations.

Although the mood is celebratory at WHHS today, back in 2004, WHHS faced an uncertain future after a new 6,000 watt commercial broadcaster was slated to move to WHHS’s 107.9 spot on the dial (where it had been located since 1992). According to a 2004 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, as a class D station, WHHS had little recourse. The article states that class D stations “must yield in any conflict with a class A station.” Luckily for WHHS, the commercial broadcaster actually worked to help the high school station find an open frequency in Philadelphia and file the appropriate paperwork with the FCC. WHHS’s request to move to 99.9 FM was approved and it was able to celebrate its 60th anniversary as a terrestrial station in 2009.

Many WHHS alumni have gone on to work in college, public and commercial radio and some even work in the Philadelphia market at WMGK, WYSP and WXPN. Today, the station has an impressive 125 volunteers programming its mostly music shows. Additionally, WHHS broadcasts news, foreign language and community programs. According to WHHS’s faculty advisor Ed Weiss, with the recent donation, WHHS hopes to purchase a new console, computers, and software in order to facilitate broadcasting 24 hours a day.

High school radio doesn’t get a whole lot of attention, so it’s exciting to see that WHHS is thriving. Perhaps they will even join their high school radio colleagues for the second annual High School Radio Day this year on April 24.

The post Haverford High School Radio Station Celebrates $10K Gift appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Vintage photo of WLMH

I was sad to learn that the FCC will not reinstate the license for high school radio station WLMH. The 89.1 FM license, licensed to Little Miami Local Schools in Morrow, Ohio, was deleted in August, 2012 after the FCC realized that the station had been off the air for more than a year.

Although Little Miami filed a petition for reconsideration in September, 2012, the FCC informed the district in a January 31, 2013 letter that the petition was being “DISMISSED as untimely.” The petition was filed 5 days after the FCC’s deadline.

The letter goes on to state, “Any operation of the WLMH facilities is unauthorized and must cease immediately. Finally, it is imperative to the safety of air navigation that any prescribed painting and illumination of the Station’s tower be maintained until the tower is dismantled. Accordingly, Little Miami must maintain the tower in the manner prescribed by the Rules and the terms of the expired license.”

When I wrote about the situation at Little Miami last summer, it was apparent that financial struggles were the main reason behind the station’s prolonged absence from the airwaves. It’s unfortunate that the lack of institutional support ultimately led to the loss of the license and of a 40+ year tradition of high school radio at Little Miami.

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