College Radio Tidbits: WKNC gets Kudos and Public Radio Host's College Radio Roots

Sharing a few college radio-related stories:

North Carolina State Station Gets Nod from Local Reader Survey
College radio station WKNC (North Carolina State) was one of the finalists in a recent "best radio station" survey in a local paper. According to the article on MyNC.com:

"WKNC 88.1 FM, N.C. State University's student-run radio station, was a runner-up for Best Radio Station in the Triangle, as voted by the readers of Independent Weekly. WKNC received this award after carrying Best Station in the Triangle from 2006 to 2008. This year the award for Best Radio Station in the Triangle went to WUNC 91.5 FM, an NPR-affiliate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill."

Board at KZSC

America's Radio Sweetheart's College Radio Roots
In a profile of Jesse Thorn (aka America's Radio Sweetheart) on the Daily Cross Hatch, Brian Heater talks about the public radio star's indie radio roots. Jesse's syndicated public radio show The Sound of Young America actually began in college radio at UC Santa Cruz station KZSC (check out this article in Metroactive about those early years).

Brian writes:

"Even back then it was clear that TSOYA possessed something other shows didn’t—namely Jesse Thorn, a smooth talking an engaging personality with the sort of polish generally lacking from the crap shoot that is college radio, god bless it. Thorn always knew the right people to interview, and he always knew just how to interview them...

The Sound of Young America has continued to live on, outgrowing its college radio roots, and is now syndicated on 25 terrestrial radio stations (via PRI) and XM. Thorn himself is something of a relic of a largely bygone era—a handful of radio show hosts that recall a time when the radio was a vibrant media..."