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Rice University gets a LPFM

M

Mediafrog+

Rice University has been granted 96.1, 43 watts at 45 meters. Transmitter is on one of the light poles at Rice Stadium, which used to have the old 91.5 translator.

Rice was one of five applicants for 96.1, and for a while it looked as if it would wind up as part of a three-way time share. However, three of the other groups modified their applications with a frequency change, and one of those (Centro Cristiano Nuevo Amanecer) in Pasadena has been granted 94.9 (KPFG-LP.) The other remaining applicant for 96.1 (Houston Institute For Culture) had its application dismissed today, but that might get resurrected with a frequency change. So it would appear that Rice will have the frequency full time.

Anyone's guess as to whether the new 96.1 will be KTRU, as that call is now held by a religious station in Kansas. It might get on the air rather quickly, as the old KTRU programming has continued online and via KPFT HD2. I wouldn't think installing the antenna and transmitter at the stadium would be a big deal, either, other than waiting for equipment to arrive.

The old KTRU programming model seemed better suited for a LPFM rather than a full power station. The original station started as a 10 watt operation, so things have come full circle.
 
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Since it will be a LPFM, they could ask permission to use KTRU-LP from the current KTRU holder.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2012-title47-vol4/xml/CFR-2012-title47-vol4-sec73-3550.xml

and Mediafrog, yeah the Chron reporter kinda screwed up reported KDOL....but KDOL does have a CP to move down to 95.9..at one time, Cumulus had planned on moving 96.1 KYKZ in Lake Charles BACK to the 1500 ft tower built for it in the early 80s (now owned by KVHP and also used by 99.5) with its COL as Sour Lake, TX..this would have caused Livingston to move or go dark..that plan was dropped (96.1 had to move back to its original 500ft tower in Sulphur to keep Cumulus under the signal cap in the BPT market) but I have heard rumors it may still happen (now with 97.5 no longer owned by Cumulus or licensed to Beaumont)

KDOL is licensed at 6 watts/123mtrs on 96.1 (but going 36w H only??? at 50mtrs?? Who the hell came up with that idea?)...but last time I listened to them they covered WAY too far for 6 watts (plus I have heard full one minute ads running; not the legal underwriting notices)
 
ContinuousWave said:
KDOL is licensed at 6 watts/123mtrs on 96.1 (but going 36w H only??? at 50mtrs?? Who the hell came up with that idea?)...but last time I listened to them they covered WAY too far for 6 watts (plus I have heard full one minute ads running; not the legal underwriting notices)
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I agree. They cover 10+ miles from Livingston. It could be they are on top of a hill? I see on radio-locator they are at 184.4 meters above sea level and 123.5m above average terrain (405 feet). This could be why they're getting out far, especially since 96.1 is pretty clean up there. For the 95.9, they're only 13.3 meters above ground level with 36 w.
 
The tower they are currently on (Bergman's BIG tower) is on a nice hill; cant miss it from US59....but still, the range in the trees down 146 was WAY too far for 6watts even at that HAAT. The new site is a shorter tower Bergman owns on the same hill to the NE...
 
stevenNOLA said:
I agree. They cover 10+ miles from Livingston. It could be they are on top of a hill? I see on radio-locator they are at 184.4 meters above sea level and 123.5m above average terrain (405 feet). This could be why they're getting out far, especially since 96.1 is pretty clean up there. For the 95.9, they're only 13.3 meters above ground level with 36 w.
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A few watts from a tall tower can go surprisingly far. KDRP in Dripping Springs (just west of Austin) runs only 5 watts, but the antenna is 449 feet above average terrain. Driving along 290 I have heard the station with a decent signal close to ten miles out, with fadeout around 14 miles away.
 
What's missing in all this is the amount of money and supervision the University will dedicate to this new operation.
 
TheBigA said:
What's missing in all this is the amount of money and supervision the University will dedicate to this new operation.
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Everything is already in place and currently running except for the new transmitter and antenna. Perhaps they can use a little bit of the $10 million they got for the 91.7 license to pay for the new equipment.

The new KTRU (or whatever call it winds up with) will probably sound just about the same as the old KTRU.
 
You're right...I missed this line in the Chronicle article:

Money from the sale, however, will fund the station's return to FM, said John Hutchinson, Rice's dean of undergraduates. Hutchinson said $1 million of the $9.5 million Rice received in the sale went toward an endowment to support programming at the student-run station.
 
I'm curious about how many students actually listen to their university's radio station. I can't speak from experience because my university's radio station (KRVS-Lafayette) didn't really program to the student body like Rice previously did. My university's station carried mostly NPR stuff and non-mass appeal music shows like Blues Box. There weren't really any on-air student programs. Most were working behind the scenes. The only good thing is they were 100kw @ 1200 feet and HD.
 
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stevenNOLA said:
I'm curious about how many students actually listen to their university's radio station.
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That's a good question. I don't know that any serious studies have been done on the subject. When Vanderbilt sold their student station a few years ago, they justified it by saying students don't listen to OTA radio any more. They didn't have specific numbers, just a generalization. What we do know is that when the student station was moved online, it had fewer listeners than when it was OTA.

I imagine a lot of it related to programming. The college stations I know that have student involvement air student-related content, such as student athletics. That usually is the most popular programming they'll do.
 
TheBigA said:
. The college stations I know that have student involvement air student-related content, such as student athletics. That usually is the most popular programming they'll do.
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Given how much universities make on selling the rights to sports broadcasts, I wouldn't expect them to broadcast much in the way of sports.

I remember the protests, petitions, etc. when KTRU was sold, but I wonder how much of it was bandwagon protestors "how dare you sell out my university's station" instead of "I listen to the station and don't want it to go".
 
stevenNOLA said:
Given how much universities make on selling the rights to sports broadcasts, I wouldn't expect them to broadcast much in the way of sports.
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Depends on the school. Most of them don't sign exclusive contracts, so student stations are still included. My former college station still does football, basketball, and some women's basketball games.
 
It has been a good number of years since I was last in Nashville, maybe 10, but I recall listening to the student run Vanderbilt FM. As I recall it was not truly freeform like some college student run stations but rather at least semi-formatted outside a few specialty shows.

I read an article where it was estimated the station had as few as 300 listeners before it was decided to sell the asset.

I had researched several college stations that only utilized internet streams. In other words, audio not on a TV channel or broadcast via leaky cable around campus. The number of listeners was shocking low to me. While I have yet to see a full picture of any one station I researched, the partial details I saw, even if you took the most positive scenario, would barely hit a 1 or 2 share among the student body even when there were no other over the air choices for the format and even with some good marketing of the stream to build awareness among the student body. I admit, I thought I'd see much bigger audiences because such stations seem to be very college-centric and because that age group is such a big user of current technology allowing an internet college station to be heard anywhere. Yes, these stations have apps you can download for wireless devices.

As one college station manager quoted in the story that included the aforementioned Vanderbilt details said, nothing beats over the air. As he put it, over the air goes everywhere anytime but wireless devices are not used in the same way. To him, the key to the station's success was over the air, not the online presence. To him the online presence was a convenient alternative for outside the over the air station's range. Judging by what I have seen, I think I would have to agree.

Other stations I gained information from honestly admitted they felt about 1/2 of 1 percent of the student body listened and they were largely unknown despite of lots of promotion.

A LPFM for Rice might bring many more listeners to the station. For some reason many who listen online to streaming stations choose over the air stations that stream. Some have pointed out the stream only caster does not have the budget to build awareness like over the air radio. Maybe that could be.
 
TheBigA said:
Depends on the school. Most of them don't sign exclusive contracts, so student stations are still included. My former college station still does football, basketball, and some women's basketball games.
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Ditto at my alma mater. A commercial station pays for rights to football and basketball (actually, both go out over a small network), but the college station still get to air play-by-play with student announcers. I think most of you will be able to identify the school when I tell you that Sean McDonough and Bob Costas were among the student announcers there way back when.
 
stevenNOLA said:
Given how much universities make on selling the rights to sports broadcasts, I wouldn't expect them to broadcast much in the way of sports.
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IIRC, one of the points of contention for several years between Rice and the students running KTRU was sports. The administration wanted baseball and women's basketball games on 91.7 and the students didn't. So they ran the punk show on top of one of the games. (see http://www.houstonpress.com/2001-01-11/news/spin-control/4/) That led to the university locking the students out for a bit. After that was settled, some sports remained until 91.7 was sold. Once the station went internet/HD-2 the sports went away. I seriously doubt that the administration would pick that fight again and try to put sports on 96.1.

The beauty of this new station being LPFM is it will cover the campus and the surrounding neighborhoods (which 91.7 didn't do after KRTS "upgraded" them) and that's it. This is why there is LPFM. The Rice campus gets KTRU back on regular FM in a form that isn't attractive to outsiders to mess with.
 
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