Starting at 6:30 this morning, my eyes have been fixed on college radio station KFJC‘s live remote broadcast from a psychedelic festival in Holland. As a long-time KFJC volunteer, I’m amazed and impressed that my colleagues have once again pulled off a complex international live broadcast with live multi-camera HD video. Nine station volunteers traveled to the Netherlands (bonus points if you spot the Leo Blais sign) this week and they are now in the midst of broadcasting live from the Eindhoven Psych Lab from a venue called Effenaar.
The bands that have aired over KFJC today have included Warm Graves, Tubelight, Doug Tuttle, Klaus Johann Grobe, Radar Men from the Moon Meets the Cosmic Dead, and Morgan Delt. As I’m writing this post, I’m enjoying sets by the French band the Liminanas and by San Francisco band Pow! The broadcast continues until 7 or 8pm Pacific Time today and another big line-up of musicians performs tomorrow. Sets will be archived on KFJC for two weeks.
This is the second international live remote for KFJC in the past year (and its 5th ever). In the fall, a crew from the station traveled to Liverpool to broadcast from the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia. That event was a bit more challenging technologically (see my post-mortem account for Radio World) and the crew had to employ a back-up plan in order to get the broadcast working. This time around, everything started on time today and I was elated to see video and hear music in the early morning hours.
In other college radio news:
Freeform Radio at Bowdoin College Station WBOR
Bowdoin College has a nice profile and video of student radio station WBOR posted on its website. The frozen image at the beginning of the video is of a sticker-covered cabinet, which will look eerily familiar to so many of us long-time college radio DJs. To learn more, see this 2009 piece about WBOR and definitely watch this video from spring 2015 to get a sense of the sights and sounds of the college radio station in Brunswick, Maine.
WUML DJ Wins “Best College Radio DJ” Competition
CMJ reports that University of Massachusetts’ Lowell student and WUML DJ Nick Canovas has won the International Radio Festival’s Best College Radio DJ contest. He gets to travel to Switzerland to pick up his award.
DJ Loses show at WMUA and is Banned from Station
According to MassLive, a DJ at University of Massachusetts, Amherst station WMUA has lost his show and is now banned from the station. The article states that on April 21, “police escorted [Max Shea] from the station and off campus, and issued a no trespassing order in effect for two years, requiring that he stay off campus for that time. His program was canceled. ‘They gave me no reason for my dismissal,’ he said, adding that there was no hearing. He said he felt that program manager Haley Chauvin did not like him or the music he played on his show.” A message to the station community indicated that the dismissal was related in some way to harassment/discrimination. The station’s administrative adviser also lost his show and is no longer part of the station staff.
Fayetteville State’s Student-Run Internet Radio Station Carries on After School Sells off Terrestrial Station
Fayetteville Observer checked in with student-run Bronco-iRadio.com to see how the online-only college radio station is doing following Fayetteville State’s recent decision to sell off its terrestrial jazz radio station WFSS to a public radio group. The student station’s Operations Manager and Advisor Ray Thomas told the Observer, “I don’t think any of us on campus is happy that the radio station is gone…That’s definitely a lot of history. A lot of legacy. But at the end of the day, the university has to make the decision it felt would be best for the university. I think our responsibility as a student radio station is that we put out the best product we can and make sure, first and foremost, our students are learning what they need to learn.” The student station has been around since 2010.
Budget Cuts at KPSU
Portland State’s college radio station KPSU (see my KPSU tour here) had high hopes of going FM, but lost out in its attempts to get a low power FM license in Portland, Oregon. Now, Willamette Week is reporting that the station’s budget has been cut 40%. According to the article, “The station’s budget has gradually decreased, from $196,000 in 2010 to $64,000 next year, despite meeting revenue goals and growing listenership.” More from Willamette Week here.
Southwestern College Station Increases Power
According to Winfield Daily Courier, “For nearly 35 years, the station [KSWC] has operated at 10 watts on 100.3 FM. Now the station is operating at 100 watts and can be heard on 94.7 FM.” This is as a result of the school’s new LPFM license.
KDVS Staffers Sit in to Defend Station Budget
The California Aggie reports that University of California, Davis station KDVS is facing budget cuts. According to the Aggie, “Close to 80 KDVS staff members showed up to the unit’s ASUCD senate budget hearing [on May 31] in protest of proposed cuts. ‘The association is in a lot of debt and needed to make cuts, and every time these cuts happen, the media takes a hit. I informed my network, the community that is KDVS and said we need to show that we’re still valid, important, valuable to this community and won’t take being bullied,’ said KDVS General Manager Ashley Hanson. ‘Rather than giving my staff a retelling of what goes on in there, I invited them to come see for themselves. We are here to put on our best faces and show why we deserve to be supported.'”
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