Save KUSF Live Remote Broadcast Brings Together 15 College and Community Radio Stations from across the United States

Amoeba Music on Haight Street in San Francisco on a Cold February Day

(Photo: J. Waits)

One month ago college radio station KUSF was taken off of its terrestrial signal at 90.3 FM after the administration of University of San Francisco signed paperwork to cede control of the station to Classical Public Radio Network (CPRN). Although the sale needs to still be approved by the FCC, in the meantime, CPRN is airing broadcasts from formerly classical radio station KDFC on KUSF's frequency of 90.3 FM.

As I've extensively documented on Radio Survivor, supporters of KUSF have been fighting the sale ever since it was announced. They have solicited support from politicians, the faculty of USF, and from like-minded radio stations from all over the country.

WFMU Microphone at Amoeba

(Photo: J. Waits)

Yesterday the independent radio community came together to spread the word about the plight of KUSF by taking to the terrestrial airwaves. Orchestrated by DJ Billy Jam, of well-respected New Jersey community radio station WFMU, the Save KUSF live broadcast from Amoeba Music in San Francisco on Friday, February 18 featured six KUSF DJs "in exile" on stage spinning (yes, there was a ton of vinyl trekked in for the event) music from noon to 3pm Pacific time. WFMU did a live broadcast over both the airwaves and over their Internet stream and invited other stations to piggy back on the broadcast by sending out the Internet stream over their respective FM signals.

The "Honor Roll" of Participating Stations (not listed are KXSC and KUSF.org, who also broadcast the event)

(Photo: J. Waits)

Ultimately, 15 stations ended up broadcasting the Save KUSF event, including WFMU (91.1 FM in New Jersey), Stanford University station KZSU (90.1 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area), Loyola Marymount station KXLU (88.9 FM in Los Angeles), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill station WXYC (89.3 FM in Chapel Hill, North Carolina), Foothill College station KFJC (89.7 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area), Georgia Tech station WREK (91.1 FM in Atlanta), Cazenovia College station WITC (88.9 FM in Cazenovia, NY), University of California at Davis station KDVS 90.3 (90.3 FM in Davis, CA), University of Texas, Austin station KVRX (which broadcast over their webstream), University of California at Berkeley station KALX (90.7 FM in Berkeley, CA), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor station WCBN (88.3 FM in Ann Arbor, MI), community radio station KRFP (Radio Free Moscow at 92.5 FM in Moscow, Idaho), Santa Clara University station KSCU (103.3 FM in Santa Clara, CA), University of Southern California's online-only student radio station KXSC (Los Angeles, CA), and even KUSF.org (which is for the most part separate from the efforts of Save KUSF and still in the process of being conceptualized. It's currently airing a mix of student and cultural shows from the old KUSF studios at University of San Francisco).

DJ Schmeejay, whose show turned to static when the KUSF transmitter was shut down January 18, begins the Live Remote

(Photo: J. Waits)

As DJs and KUSF fans mingled at Amoeba Music on Friday, it was easy to sense both the inspiration and the optimism that everyone was drawing from the event and from the outpouring of support from radio stations from all over the country. It was clear that the fight for independent radio in San Francisco resonated across the United States, as other stations stood in solidarity while giving over their airwaves to the KUSF DJs who had been silenced one month prior.

 

DJ Carolyn at Amoeba Music

(Photo: J. Waits)

When I started Spinning Indie back in 2008 one of my goals was to try to bring more attention to college radio. Not only was I attempting to get people to listen to college radio, but I was also hoping to expose college radio DJs to other stations that they might not have been aware of. When I've gone to college radio conferences hosted by CMJ, IBS, and the University of California Radio Network (UCRN) I've loved the opportunity to swap stories with DJs from other stations and I've witnessed how hungry other station volunteers have been for building those cross-station connections. When touring stations in my own neck of the woods I've talked to people about bringing back the long-gone Bay Area college radio picnics and have heard rumors about casual sports competitions between stations.


So, for me, yesterday was a dream come true, witnessing the cross-country radio love. A few of us noted that in times of crisis it's incredible to see how people will come together, even stations who might normally feel tinges of competition. Particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area, it was an unprecedented display of radio activism, as KUSF DJs could be heard emanating from 4 different college radio stations up and down the radio dial (KFJC at 89.7 FM, KZSU at 90.1 FM, KALX at 90.7 FM, and KSCU at 103.3FM).


At the same time, it was almost mind-boggling to think about the fact that people in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Moscow, Idaho were tuning in; perhaps hearing about KUSF for the very first time.

DJ Irwin Cues Up a Record at Amoeba Music

(Photo: J. Waits)

Beyond the community love that I was feeling all day, it was also a great relief to just hear KUSF DJs back on the air again spinning music. For me and for many other people, radio is inextricably linked to musical exploration and to sharing sounds with listeners. Yesterday it was nice to take a break from all of the protests, conversation, and writing in order to get back to music and get back to radio. As I listened to beautiful sets of music by all six KUSF DJs on stage, I was again reminded of why I still care so deeply about the power and art of human DJ's who are musical curators. My ears were tantalized by Rudy Vallee, Yoko Ono, Chin Chin, Felt, Can, Omar Souleyman, Alice Coltrane, Grace Jones, Sylvester, and Dead Moon.


It still remains to be seen what will happen to KUSF, but as a college radio DJ and fan I am really proud to see that they are fighting hard for the future of independent radio and are spreading the word about their plight far and wide.


If you want to relive yesterday's event, there's video documentation on the Yowie website, there is an archived MP3 of the broadcast on WFMU's website, individual MP3s for each DJ's set can be found on the KUSF Archives webite, and the complete playlist (as well as listener comments) are on Billy Jam's page at WFMU. To learn more about Save KUSF's efforts, take a look at their website (where they are also actively seeking donations).


***
You can read my reaction to the KUSF shut down here on Spinning Indie, as well as my article chronicling my KUSF field trip two years ago. And, I'm really proud to say that many of the stations that participated in today's multi-station simulcast have been stops on either my Spinning Indie 50 State Tour (KXSC, which used to be called KSCR) or have been places I've visited for my radio station field trip series (WFMU, KZSU, KUSF, KSCU, KALX, and KFJC). For more on the bigger picture of college radio station sell-offs, see my December 2009 piece “Cash-strapped Schools Turn Their Backs on College Radio.

Save KUSF Merch Table

(Photo: J. Waits)

KUSF Taken off the Air Without Warning and Replaced with Classical Station

 Irwin Swirnoff, a KUSF Music Director, in the KUSF Library Back in 2009

Around 12:00 noon yesterday I got an email titled "Upsetting News about KUSF" from one of my fellow DJs at KFJC. It's the kind of email that you dread seeing in your inbox and after diving into its contents, I was shocked to see what I was reading. I am a KUSF listener, have profiled the station on this blog for my radio station field trip series, and have rhapsodized about one of their shows ("Radiodrome"), calling it one of my favorite radio shows ever. In a weird twist of fate, it turns out that KUSF went off the air during my favorite radio show yesterday and the DJs had no idea what was coming.

Throughout the day more and more details came to light, making me feel even more troubled about the loss of a great college radio station from the San Francisco airwaves.

So, here's what happened:

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011:

9:00 am: The General Manager and Program Director of KUSF were called into the Dean's office and told that KUSF was sold effective 10am

10:00 am: KUSF signal goes to static, as the transmitter is turned off. The on-air KUSF DJ's show is cut short and he has to cancel a scheduled live performance by the band The Pickpocket Ensemble

11:52 am: KUSF tweets: "ATTENTION: USF just sold KUSF! #WTF we're off the air. we need your help. Impromptu demonstration on the USF campus tomorrow at 7"

11:58 am: CarolyntheDJ tweets: "Just showed up @kusf to my show and the doors are locked. USF has sold the station. Management was in on it. They're keeping all our records."

Around the same time, University of San Francisco released a statement that they planned to sell the station to Classical Public Radio Network, a public radio group owned by University of Southern California (apparently replacing the old, now defunct online-only Classical Public Radio Network).  The press release stated that KUSF will transition to an online-only station effective immediately and will be able to retain its call letters.

It wasn't until later in the day that the entire picture was revealed. A press release from around 3:30pm announced that commercial classical radio station KDFC was going to be moving to KUSF's 90.3 FM frequency as part of a complicated deal involved both commercial and non-commercial radio stations. According to the release:

"...The University of Southern California (USC) today announced it has entered into an agreement with Entercom Communications to convert KDFC into a non-commercial classical music station based in San Francisco. In keeping with Entercom Communications' commitment to classical radio, the company has entrusted the stewardship of the new, noncommercial KDFC Radio to a new nonprofit company based in San Francisco, commencing on January 18...

The new station will use the call letters KDFC, the area's former commercial classical outlet since 1947, the result of a series of transactions involving several radio owners in the region. The new KDFC will broadcast over the two non-commercial signals, 90.3 and 89.9...USC has purchased the rights to 90.3 KUSF, from the University of San Francisco and 89.9 KNDL from Howell Mountain Broadcasting Company. KUSF will continue online as a webcast station."

When I tuned in to 90.3 FM at 5:15pm yesterday it was already airing programming from KDFC. The DJ announced that the station was excited about their new "commercial-free" status and that they would officially be moving to 90.3 and 89.9 FM on Monday, January 24 at 12 noon. The KDFC website also eagerly announced this move (the station was formerly on the commercial band at 102.1 FM) and encouraged supporters to donate to the new "listener-supported" station.

Since KUSF staffers and DJs were taken by surprise, they are still trying to make sense of the situation. Several of them attempted to get answers from University of San Francisco's Director of Business and Finance Charlie Cross. A video recounts their encounter at his office, as he rebuffs them and asks for security to be called:

KUSF listeners and staff are peeved about this and have already started sending letters to the administration expressing their displeasure. In her tongue-in-cheek letter to USF President Stephen A. Privett, Julia Mazawa writes, 

"The University's dedication to service to the community, promotion of critical inquiry, and promotion of cultural diversity is no better exemplified than in its recent sale of KUSF's FM frequency. And it has been the acme of deft public relations to boot!

USF clearly demonstrates the need to prioritize service to its amazingly diverse local community, San Francisco, by pulling the plug on the terrestrial signal of the highly-regarded station KUSF. Now, thankfully, there will be no more Chinese Star Radio clogging the airwaves with its foreign chatter, no more Radio Goethe bumming out the lower end of the dial with that bizarre German music, no more In the Soul Kitchen filling the airwaves with the soul classics that were actually interesting, and THANK JESUS there will finally be an end to that intolerable New Music programming that wasted valuable airtime with its nonsensical notions about what exactly constitutes music.

Thank you, USF, for ridding the airwaves of those crazy deejays who challenged the San Francisco community to invest a couple brain cells into actually thinking about the media fed to them. Thank you, you sons of bitches who now find yourselves $3.75 million richer, for replacing this needlessly challenging and frighteningly novel programming with tepid classical swill. Your selfless service to the community awes me...."

Amazingly, USF President Privett responded to Julia's email:

"Dear Ms. Mazzawa(sic),

Thank you for your letter of support. Your understanding that our students’(sic) do not pay their rather high tuition to subsidize providing alternate music for the outside community is not widely shared by ...those who disagree with my decision. I further appreciate your understanding that a university's first responsibility is to its faculty and students, not to the community-at-large. Yours is a conviction that is not shared by those who believe that USF should first and foremost serve those whose contributions have never covered the cost of delivering the service they enjoy at the expense of USF students and their families. Finally, I applaud your support for USF’s primary mission: the education of its students and not serving as an entertainment resource for the outside community, no matter how valuable or important that service may be. Would that more people had your wisdom, insight and appreciation for the role of a university.

Warmest regards,

Stephen A. Privett, SJ
President"

KUSF supporters will be rallying on the University of San Francisco campus on Wednesday night around 7pm at Fromm Hall. Unfortunately Stephen Privett is not expected to show up at the meeting to discuss the future of KUSF. No doubt his inbox will still be flooded.

Although Twitter and Facebook have been buzzing with this news all day and local media outlets (especially indie media) have been doing a great job of covering the situation at KUSF, supporters are just getting a Save KUSF page set up on Facebook and a Save KUSF blog set up online.

Another opportunity to join in the discussion will happen on the San Francisco public radio airwaves on Wednesday morning. One of KUSF's Music Directors, Irwin Swirnoff, will be appearing on the KQED radio call in talk-show Forum to discuss the situation at 9am on Wednesday the 19th.

Radio Station Field Trip 25 - WZBC at Boston College

When we were gearing up for a family vacation out to Boston last summer I knew that a visit to the Boston College radio station WZBC had to be on the top of my to-do list. It had been 2 years since I'd been to the area and on my last visit I became enamored with WZBC while flipping through the dial in our rental car. I vividly remember sitting in the car late at night on a freezing cold winter evening because I was enjoying the music so much that I wanted to hear the end of a track and catch the DJ's back announce. That's dedication to a station!

Part of what lured me to WZBC was that their air sound reminded me a lot of KFJC, the station where I've been DJing for over a decade. And, the more I dived into WZBC's programming philosophy, the more I realized that the two stations really are kindred spirits. Located at 90.3 FM in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, WZBC prides itself on its devotion to experimental music with "no commercial potential" (aka NCP).

 View of WZBC from its lobby

Radio began at Boston College 50 years ago, with the launch of AM carrier current station WVBC in 1960. In 1973 they became the licensed FM radio station WZBC and operated at a mere 9 watts for their first year, moving up to 1000 watts (where the station remains today) the following year. In addition to the FM signal, WZBC also continues to operate the former WVBC as an online-only station (which also airs on a Boston College cable channel) that serves as a training ground for new DJs.

 WZBC DJs from Days Gone By

I visited WZBC on the afternoon of Monday, August 30th, 2010 as summer break was drawing to a close at Boston College. Program Director Gavin Frome and Operations Director Megan Pietruszka were my guides and made me feel incredibly welcome at their college radio station

WZBC has inhabited its current location on the Boston College campus for 30 years and the station has the cozy feel of a place that's been well-loved for decades. It's housed in a building with a dining hall, bookstore, and extracurricular offices; so the station is near a hub of activity on campus. Within the station, walls are covered with stickers and posters and every nook and cranny seems to be filled with music. The spacious lobby is covered with pop culture gems (and, of course, a couch) and there's even a skeleton that looks down on new visitors as they enter the station. If you keep an eye out, you might also see a collection of tiny Care Bears perched on ledges in various parts of the station.

The 1980s marked a major shift for WZBC, as the station moved towards a format of "modern rock" and experimental music. Today the station airs rock music on weekdays from 7am to 5pm and is focused on music with "no commercial potential" on weeknights from 7pm until 1am or later. Specialty programming inhabits weekend slots and early evening slots (5-7pm) on weekdays and includes a range of shows including "Sunday Morning Country," "Oscillator Drift" (early electronic, '60s moog, tape experiments, etc.), "Raggamuffin International" (reggae, ska, dance hall), "Industrial Factory" (industrial electronic music), and "Mass Ave and Beyond" (local music).

Cassettes at WZBC

In addition to music, WZBC airs news, public affairs, and sports programming (including broadcasts of live games). Shows include the WZBC-produced "Truth and Justice Radio" and the syndicated "Democracy Now."

I was happy to hear that WZBC only utilizes live DJs and doesn't currently play any automated programming. Unfortunately that also means that when there is no live DJ (typically starting between 1am to 3am and ending between 6am and 7am), they shut down the station's transmitter. Gavin told me that there are "ambitious DJs" who will take on graveyard shifts and that quite often the station is on the air all night on weekends.

The station is run entirely by students, but has a mix of community and student DJs, with a 50/50 split between the two during the school year. I was told that most of the "non-commercial potential" shows are hosted by non-students, which is a nice indication of the experimental-leaning tendencies of their community DJs. According to Gavin, it's many of the community DJs who "push us musically."

And, in fact, I was told that the non-commercial potential format is actually a bit challenging for some students with its range of sounds (Gavin described some of the sounds as "drone, ambient, pigeon calls, etc."), so WZBC works with them to help pass along the station tradition of more experimental music. To that end, all students joining the station begin with an internship in order to get oriented to station rules and the music philosophy.

Community DJs are expected to come in with prior music knowledge and are able to submit proposals for air shifts in the Fall and Spring semesters. One long-time community DJ at WZBC is Victor Robert Venckus, host of "Expanding Awareness" for 35 years. I remember catching his Saturday morning show on a drive in Boston a few years ago and being mesmerized by the mix of music, spiritualism, and spoken word.

DJs at WZBC have a lot of freedom on their shows and don't have any requirements in terms of percentage of new music that they have to play. There is a "new music" bin in the studio containing material added in the past 3 months, but it's just there to encourage DJs to play some recent material. Additionally, genre rules aren't hard and fast, so DJs often play music outside of the stated genre of their program. For example, "rock" DJs are free to play music from the "non-commercial potential" library.

 Some of the "No Commercial Potential" (NCP) Vinyl at WZBC

WZBC continues to add vinyl to their large music library. DJs are able to play vinyl, tapes, and CDs over the air. Apparently it wasn't until recently that WZBC got rid of their 8-track player. Despite the vast library, I was told that most younger DJs at WZBC prefer to play music off of CDs, iPods or a computer and are less likely to explore the vinyl stacks.

Although WZBC is focused on physical music and don't really add anything digitally (they will occasionally burn a digital release to a CD to add it to the station), Gavin and Megan admitted that space is a big issue at WZBC. They are running out of space for music and are researching ways to start digitizing their library. Music does get removed from the library when artists get too big, but I was told that those decisions about what should be removed are often controversial amongst DJs

WZBC Program Director Gavin Frome

Thanks so much to everyone at WZBC (especially Gavin and Megan) for showing me around their incredible college radio station. I had a hard time leaving the place because it felt and sounded like home.

Previous Spinning Indie Radio Station Field Trips:

Field Trip to WECB at Emerson College
College Radio Field Trip 2 - Cal Poly's KCPR
College Radio Field Trip 3 - Notre Dame's WVFI
Radio Station Field Trip 4 - WFMU in Jersey City
Radio Station Field Trip 5 - East Village Radio in NYC
Radio Station Field Trip 6 - WNYU in New York City
Radio Station Field Trip 7 - Northwestern's WNUR
Radio Station Field Trip 8 - Stanford's KZSU
Radio Station Field Trip 9 - University of San Francisco's KUSF
Radio Station Field Trip 10 - Santa Clara University Station KSCU
Radio Station Field Trip 11 - UC Berkeley's KALX
Radio Station Field Trip 12 - KSJS at San Jose State University
Radio Station Field Trip 13 - WBAR at Barnard College
Radio Station Field Trip 14 - KFJC at Foothill College
Radio Station Field Trip 15 - UC Santa Cruz Station KZSC
Radio Station Field Trip 16 - Haverford College Station WHRC
Radio Station Field Trip 17 - FCCFree Radio in San Francisco
Radio Station Field Trip 18 - Flirt FM in Galway, Ireland
Radio Station Field Trip 19 - RXP 101.9 FM in New York City
Radio Station Field Trip 20- WGBK at Glenbrook South High School
Radio Station Field Trip 21 - KPDO in Pescadero, California 
Radio Station Field Trip 22 - KZYX in Philo, California 
Radio Station Field Trip 23 - San Francisco's Pirate Cat Radio
Radio Station Field Trip 10.5 - KSCU's New Digs at Santa Clara University (2010)
Radio Station Field Trip 24 - Radio Valencia in San Francisco

College Radio Goings-On at the 2010 CMJ Music Marathon

The annual CMJ Music Marathon is in New York City this week, with all of the affiliated panels, shows, films, and for the first time a separate gaming seminar. I won't be in attendance this year (but if you want to see highlights of the 2009 and 2008 festivals, take a look at my extensive recaps), but am excited to see that college radio is still a vital part of the 2010 CMJ Music Marathon.

On Radio Survivor I outlined some of the college radio stations who have been nominated for College Radio Awards. If you're attending CMJ, make sure to cast your vote for your favorite stations. Winners will be announced at CMJ's College Day, taking place this Thursday, October 21st. Other college radio events include a College Radio Mixer on Tuesday, October 19 from 4-6pm and mentor sessions for college radio DJs on Friday, October 22.

I'm also pleased to see that a few college radio stations, KXSC (University of Southern California), KVRX (University of Texas, Austin), and CHUO (University of Ottawa), have teamed up to co-present an unofficial (and free) CMJ showcase "Manifest Airwaves" on Friday, October 22 from noon to 7pm at Bruar Falls in Brooklyn.

I spoke with a few of the organizers about Manifest Airwaves in order to learn more about this awesome college radio collaboration. According to CHUO's Music Director Joni Sadler, she was initially contacted by KXSC's Maura Klosterman over the summer. She said, "It initially started out as the idea to just throw a show/party for bands from our areas, and it grew from there when other stations got involved as well."

Each station is helping to book bands, promote the event, and they are all sharing in the costs. KVRX is also planning to film the event. According to KVRX Promotions Director Brittany Campbell, "We plan on filming most of the performances for our YouTube page which has other KVRX performances, interviews, and DJ trivia." Brittany mentioned that KVRX will also be setting up a photo shoot at the event for attendees.

According to Joni and Brittany, all of the stations have benefited from this collaboration. Joni said, "We have a diverse little group of stations working together for this, so that's made for some good brainstorming and diversity with the artists involved." Brittany added, "I think it's a great opportunity for future shows, events and long-lasting relationships for student radio stations. We have to stick together."

Since the participating stations are in California, Texas and Ottawa, Canada, much of the organizing has happened over email. A few staff members have met in person previously, which, according to Joni, "I've met Maura [KXSC] and Nichole from KVRX in person. Our stations definitely have some similarities, and having met them face-to-face before made it easy to know that we'd work well together on this kind of project."

The participating stations aren't necessarily bringing big crews to CMJ, with Joni being the sole CHUO attendee. Joni explained that she pays her own way and that, "From what I know, CHUO has never officially 'sent' anyone to CMJ. It's always awesome to get to hang with friends from all over the US and Canada that you only get to see once a year, and it's a great opportunity to share ideas with people from other campus and community stations. I find the panel discussions valuable, but even casual discussions of how different stations function has been helpful for me in the past. Plus, the WFMU record fair is going on during CMJ - and that ALWAYS totally rules." Brittany said that 3 folks from KVRX would be in attendance and said, "We are looking forward to the big city, east coast music, meeting all walks of life, and being able to stay at a bar till 4am. I am personally not looking forward to the cold... it's 86 in Austin and 54 in NYC."

Sounds like a great time! Sorry to miss all of the festivities, but I am hoping to get the full report from those of you who attend.

College Radio (Good) News Round-Up: From New Transmitters to a College Radio Hall of Fame

The Scenery at WZBC at Boston College

Photo: Jennifer Waits

With all of the gloom and doom surrounding college radio stations getting sold off or being told they can't broadcast terrestrially, I was happy to see that there's actually been some good news in the college radio world this week. Here are a bunch of stories about stations launching, reinventing themselves, or simply welcoming in the new school year.

Georgetown University station WGBT's Storied Past and Impending Renaissance
On Radio Survivor I wrote about some highlights from a great piece about WGBT. Be sure to delve into the fascinating history of the station, which includes battles with the Georgetown administration over their radical on-air content in the 1970s.

Wellesley's WZLY Profiled in The Wellesley News
Apparently Wellesley College was the home of the first all-female college radio station when it launched in 1942 as WBS. According to a piece in the Wellesley News, "Broadcasting seven days a week at 91.5 FM, WZLY has been supplying students with music and entertainment since 1942. WZLY focuses on allowing members to broadcast their own two-hour radio show every week, making it a unique experience from other organizations on campus. The system allows for DJs to experience an environment as close as one could find to a professional radio system."

Bristol Community College Launches Online-Only Radio Station
Although they also have dreams of someday having a terrestrial radio station, for the moment Bristol Community College in Massachusetts is happy to be streaming online as BristolCC Radio.

Syracuse University Station WERW Holds Launch Week Events and Party
Celebrating a new school year of broadcasts, Syracuse University station WERW held special events this week leading up to a launch party tonight. The station broadcasts at 1570 AM in Central New York and online.

Northern Michigan University station Radio X to Boost its Broadcast Power with New Transmitter
Radio X (aka WUPX) at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan just got FCC approval for a new transmitter so that the station can up its power from 360 to 1700 watts. Cool news for a relatively new FM station (they started out as an AM station in 1970, then went cable-only, and got their FM license in 1993).

Hofstra University Station WRHU Hosts its 2nd Hall of Fame
WRHU at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York prides itself on its radio broadcasting program, with many alumni going on to careers in radio. They recently inducted 5 more members into the station's Hall of Fame. Still an extremely popular activity on campus, WRHU's current staff is 184 people, with 47 students in DJ training (culled from 327 applications). According to an article in the Hofstra Chronicle:

"WRHU general manager Bruce Avery encouraged others [applicants] by informing them that radio is far from diminishing, and that the industry and the interest in radio continue to grow. 'I had a goal ever since I came here, to reunite the past with the present and the future,' said Avery. "At a time where they say radio is dying, radio is evolving- it's thriving and it's passionate.'"

Vanderbilt Student Radio Station WRVU May Lose Its FM Signal

Oh man. The bad news about college radio just keeps coming. Today I got word that Vanderbilt University radio station WRVU may be in danger of losing its 10,000 watt FM terrestrial signal. This is even more disappointing to me personally since WRVU was the most recent stop on my Spinning Indie 50 State Tour of college radio stations

In a statement on its website, Vanderbilt Student Communications (VSC) announced:

"In response to changing student habits and evolving economic challenges, Vanderbilt Student Communications Inc. is exploring the migration of radio station WRVU to exclusively online programming and the sale of its broadcast license. If the license were to be sold, the proceeds would be used to create an endowment to support innovative student media experiences, facilities and operations at Vanderbilt in perpetuity...'Our surveys indicate that each year fewer Vanderbilt students are listening to over-the-air radio,' [Vanderbilt Student Communications Board Chair Mark] Wollaeger said."

The owner of WRVU is the non-profit Vanderbilt Student Communications, which oversees all student media at Vanderbilt, including several publications, the yearbook, TV and radio stations, and the student newspaper. They haven't made any decisions yet and are actively seeking out comments about the proposed sale. You can use their electronic comment form online or send snail mail letters to the Board.

I'm saddened to see the same language being used by the VSC board as we've seen in the rhetoric being used by those in favor of selling off the Rice University radio station KTRU. In both instances they claim that online listenership is the wave of the future and that terrestrial radio is increasingly irrelevant. This argument is short-sighted in that it ignores the many community members and students who listen to the station over FM. In the quote above from the VSC Board Chair, there's a fixation on WRVU's student listeners, who are said to be less and less likely to listen terrestrially. I would imagine that the WRVU audience is much broader than the community of Vanderbilt students and that many of those listeners would be dismayed to have their station go online-only.

However, in VSC's list of Frequency Asked Questions, it's clear that student involvement at the station is also a big concern. Here's an excerpt from their FAQs:

Why is VSC exploring this sale?

Data indicates that fewer Vanderbilt students are listening to broadcast radio, and on average there has been declining interest among students in recent years to volunteer as DJs. Student staffs with other VSC traditional media outlets have been among the most innovative and progressive nationally in transitioning to new media models. VSC's responsibility to students obliges it to explore how WRVU could be transformed to secure opportunities well into the future.

From my interview with WRVU's Station Manager a few months back, it was clear that there has been concern about student involvement at the station and that was part of the reason why they enacted new rules that limited the number of non-student DJs at WRVU.

If they do sell off their 10,000 watt FM signal (wow...I bet they are salivating over how much they can get for that from eager buyers in the public and religious radio realm), proceeds will be used for all student media groups at Vanderbilt.

I'd encourage you to write in to the Board to explain why you think terrestrial radio is still important and relevant for college radio. This case is a bit different in that the VSC Board of Directors contains some Vanderbilt students and the students actually maintain the majority voting interest on the board. VSC points on on their website that, "This exploration process was authorized by students."

Since this news just came out, there isn't much in the way of an organized campaign in place by WRVU staff or listeners beyond a post on their website and a Save WRVU Facebook page. Hopefully they will learn from the experiences of other beleagered college radio stations who have put up the good fight to keep broadcasting the way they want.

Here are some recent examples:

Save KTRU (Still fighting the proposed sale of the Rice University station's FM signal to a public radio station-owning university)

The Resistance against the sale of 89.1 WNAZ (Facebook group protesting the proposed sale of the Trevecca Nazarene University student radio station)

Rice University Angers KTRU with Plans to Sell off FM License

Yesterday was another sad day for college radio, with the news that Rice University plans to sell of the FM license and tower for their 50,000 watt radio station KTRU. The 40+ year old station will continue on, but will be downsized to an Internet-only station after being over the FM airwaves since the early 1970s. The suitor, University of Houston, has offered to pay 9.5 million dollars and is enthusiastic about the new opportunities that they will have to spread public radio programming over the 2 FM signals that they will now own. Currently operating KUHF, by adding KTRU's spot on the dial they will be able to segment their news, talk, NPR, and classical programming across the two stations.

Radio industry business-types seem to be in favor of this purchase; but for those who cherish locally-produced radio, this is a huge blow for the Houston airwaves. By losing its student radio station (even though it will continue on as an Internet-only station), Rice is giving up a valuable asset for both students and the community of Houston.

Supporters of KTRU are fighting back, having quickly set up the Save KTRU website, Facebook page, Twitter account, and online petition in order to gather support and inform the administration about the importance of FM for KTRU.

To understand a bit more of how this decision came about and to learn what other college radio advocates can do to help save KTRU, I spoke with KTRU's Student Manager Kelsey Yule (Rice '12) by email. In our conversation, she confirmed my belief that the announcement of the sale happened during summer vacation at Rice, which has made it even more difficult for students to organize and voice their discontent. This means that it is vital for all supporters of college radio to speak out and reflect on why it's an institution worth saving.

Spinning Indie: Could you tell me how you found out about the university's plans to sell the FM signal?

KTRU Student Manager Kelsey Yule: I found out a during an informal meeting about ten minutes before the Houston Chronicle's article outlining the deal was published online. Apparently, the station was put on the market over a year ago by the administration without student or community input or even notification. 

Spinning Indie: Does it seem like there's any chance they will change their mind?

Kelsey: This is a good deal for KUHF, assuming that they really need two FM signals (the last classical radio station in Houston, KRTS, failed).  In my opinion, Rice has not been supportive of KTRU over the last couple of decades.  The only real hope here is to make KUHF think the deal is bad PR or to make Rice fear a pain in their wallets. Please angry donors, let these two institutions know how you feel. 

Spinning Indie: Were you at KTRU in 2000 when the station was shut down? Just curious for some background on that and how that compares with the situation right now.

Kelsey: No, I wasn't.  I'm hearing a lot from people who were though.  Both instances were about the administration asserting power over students.  The big difference is that it feels as though the 2000 incident was about gaining some ground and making a point, and now it’s about 9.5 million dollars and shoving things under the rug.

Spinning Indie: Is Rice is session for the year yet?

Kelsey: No. Fittingly, the deal is being made public at the exact time when students are least able to react.  Most students aren't in Houston yet.  Others are ensconced in the responsibilities of Orientation Week. It makes student djs of KTRU look uninterested because we’ve had one day to react to all of this and get our thoughts together, while many of us are hundreds of miles away from the action and scrambling to get into town. Administrators on the other hand are sitting calmly in their offices reading over their cold and calculated statements.

Spinning Indie: When is the sale anticipated to go through and how will this affect the day-to-day operations of the station?

Kelsey: No one has been keen to talk to me about the details of the sale timeline. I suspect it's just some paperwork to be done.  Then, there will be a thirty day period for comments.  For now, we're trying to do business as usual, but better.  Once, all of our FCC rights and such change hands, we'll definitely be online and there are other options to explore.

Spinning Indie: Do you have any idea what percentage of listeners tune in over FM vs. the Internet?

Kelsey: These are really difficult questions.  I honestly know very little about our Internet listenership, except that it is difficult to gauge.  As far as over the FM, we haven't had a detailed Arbitron report in a number of years.  The most recent information that we have with confidence is that we had more than the minimum reporting standard of 24,000 listeners per week on average in 2009.  How much more is unknown.

Spinning Indie: What percentage of DJs are students, community members, etc.?

Kelsey: As of spring 2010, we have 112 active djs, 52 of those were community members.  The other 60 djs are students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Spinning Indie: I've read talk about the amount of automated programming that runs on KTRU. Can you set the record straight about how much of the weekly scheduled is automated programming vs. live DJs?

Kelsey: During the summer, automated programming makes up about half of what goes on air  (47% for 8/9-8/15).  When the students come back for the year, automated programming comprises easily less than 20% of the time.  This is another great reason for the administration to make its claims during the summer.

Spinning Indie: What can people do to help keep the station on FM?

Kelsey: You can find out what to do by visiting ktru.org and our shiny one day old website, savektru.org.

Spinning Indie: Anything else you want to add?

Kelsey: To all those listeners out there who are devastated to hear that their morning commute or their work day won't have the same KTRU spirit, please support us in our efforts to convince these administrations that trading a cultural institution for a few million dollars isn’t something that Houston will take lightly.


Good luck to Kelsey and everyone at KTRU. And, I second her suggestion that fans of college and independent radio let their voices be heard before it's too late.