KUSF in Exile (Photo J. Waits)
While those opposing the sale of University of San Francisco’s college radio station KUSF continue to apply pressure to the FCC and the University of San Francisco in hopes of preventing the transfer of the college radio station to Classical Public Radio Network; former KUSF DJs are maintaining their broadcasting chops out of temporary digs at Lightrail Studios in San Francisco’s Bayview district. Assisted by New Jersey community radio station WFMU, “KUSF in Exile” is streaming online using one of WFMU’s streams.
KUSF in Exile has been broadcasting live on the Internet since mid-March and currently has a packed schedule of shows hosted primarily by former KUSF DJs. As with the old KUSF, programming includes a mix of new music shows and cultural shows. Many programs are airing in their former KUSF timeslots, so long-time KUSF listeners can catch their favorite DJs at the times that they remembered hearing them prior to the KUSF shut-down on January 18. For those who have missed a particular show, archives can be found on the Save KUSF website.
In order to raise the visibility of both the fight to Save KUSF and the existence of its temporary KUSF in Exile stream, WFMU DJ Billy Jam is broadcasting his radio show from the KUSF in Exile studios for the next few weeks. Beginning with last Friday’s 3pm-6pm (Eastern time) show (playlist and archive is on the WFMU website), Billy Jam will be hosting KUSF in Exile DJs and guests over the terrestrial airwaves in New Jersey (and over the streams for both WFMU and KUSF in Exile).
I got to be a fly on the wall (and a guest on the air) last Friday as Billy Jam brought listeners up to date on the fight to Save KUSF. After his short set of music and interviews, he passed control to KUSF DJs David Bassin, Irwin, and Dave Ford.
Billy Jam will continue his broadcasts for the next two Fridays (May 13 and May 20) and will host a different line-up of DJs and guests each week.
In other KUSF news, Save KUSF is continuing its fundraising efforts in order to pay off its legal bills. They’ve been present at numerous events in San Francisco and often can be seen co-presenting shows several nights a week.
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Complete Radio Survivor coverage about the proposed sale of KUSF can be found here. I also wrote about my reaction to the KUSF shut down and to the Save KUSF Multi-Station Live Broadcast on Spinning Indie. My article chronicling my KUSF field trip 2 years ago is housed there too. 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.” And, for a quick overview of the situation at KUSF, see my article, “The Story Behind the KUSF Shutdown” on PopMatters.
