College Students Unimpressed with Local Radio in Chico

An instructor in Chico, California surveyed his students and found that only 2 of 30 listened to FM radio in their local community. Not super surprising....but this article takes the opportunity to point out that Chico's college radio station KCSC (in the process of seeking an FM license) could fill gaps and create more divesity on the airwaves. According to the piece in Chico State University's newspaper The Orion:

"When Paul Friedlander took a poll of his Music Industry class, two out of thirty students said they listen to the FM radio stations in Chico. A quick press of the seek button through Chico's radio stations makes it pretty clear why Chico is ranked as the 198th radio market in the nation. 'The music selection on FM radio is narrow,' Friedlander said. 'It is not representative of the college and community culture.'"

I love that college radio is the hero in this article, which states:

"The presence of the university should be where music diversity is fostered and shared for the sake of diversity- not profit, said Jayme Goldstein, assistant promotions director for KCSC, Chico State's Internet radio station. 'Commercial radio makes no effort to find out what the people want to listen to, they do what they are told by the record labels,' Goldstein said in an e-mail. 'It's a business, and all they care about is profit.'

KCSC is in the process of getting its FM license so that more diversity can be brought to Chico's airwaves. One of the station's missions is to not play mainstream music. 'We think mainstream music is getting enough publicity,' said Bob Reynolds, music director at KCSC. 'We want to help the underdogs out that are not always heard.'...'I would love to see KCSC get their FM license,' Friedlander said. 'They are serving much more of the culture here than commercial radio.'"

Since you're reading this, you probably listen to college radio. How about your friends and others in your local community? Are they seeking out the diverse programming that can be found on the left of the dial?