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Looking for a few great college stations...

R

radiolacey

Hey y'all-
I'm a broadcasting consultant with 28 years full time on-air exp. Recently began consulting a college station in So. Cal. that is working to be a perfect model of a commercial station in every way. We have engaged the college of marketing at this university to sell underwriting. The underwriting ads work and sound alot like regular radio advertising while still within legal parameters. I have been given a commission to do research of any American station striving to also act as a "perfect" model as well. Does anyone have a suggestion of a station I should visit for this research? Some station that is really pulling allll of the important aspects of good commercial radio into an effective lab for college students? If so, please advise! You may email me directly at: [email protected]

Yours in Crime,

Lacey Kendall
 
I would check out Z889 in Burlington County Colleges radio statio (Z889.org) It is ran like a commercial station from 2AM to 6PM Eastern time. Besides the air talent this station sounds like the real deal. It has great imaging and Philly radio vet Glenn Kalina as tne assistant PD. The actual PD Brett Holcome "gets it" .
 
Hi there, you should check out Southwestern College's radio station - KSWC FM (100.3 The Jinx) in Winfield, KS. It's been around for over 40 years and is completely student ran and operated.
 
I think KUOM/Radio K at the University of Minnesota would fit the bill. Goofiest arrangement I've ever seen with that titanic AM signal (80 miles wide at least) that's only on during the day, and then a teeny-tiny grandfathered Class D and two little FM translators right in Minneapolis proper at night. But damned if they don't make it work and work well...I visited them a few years ago and they really have their stuff together.

Also take a look at WDWN/Win89 at Cayuga Community College, WBSU/The Point at SUNY Brockport, WMLN at Curry College and WERS at Emerson College...although I think they're all a little more college-ish than you're describing, they still have real formatting, production, underwriting, etc.
 
WERS sounds very professional, always has. Actually more professional than its' commercial counterparts 'cause the jocks keep their breaks brief.
 
Y'know, Lacey...I've been thinking more about this. And if your station wants to be more like a commercial station, it should do the following:

  • Have lousy facilities where a lot of the equipment doesn't work.
  • Demand everyone work long hours for outrageously low wages that are questionably-legal.
  • Play the same 20 songs over and over.
  • Fire the entire staff every six months.

Obviously I'm joking with an acid tongue, but in all seriousness, why would you want to emulate commercial music radio? Maybe the old IDEAL of commercial music radio, like WBCN back in the 1970's. But that "ideal station" doesn't really exist anymore. And with the way the industry is going, those few stations that're left are dying out and not being replaced. Christ, WBCN disappeared to an HD2 multicast channel just a month or two ago...and they were one of the leading music stations in the entire USA thirty years ago.

I would suggest you'd be better off pursuing one of two models:
  • The public radio music station model, in which case you've got a prime example in your back yard with KCRW. Also look at WXPN in Philadelphia and WFMU in NYC. They are the unquestioned "big three" in the non-comm music world. FWIW, right behind those three would be KEXP in Seattle and KUT in Austin, TX.
  • The news/talk/sports radio model, either NPR or commercial radio. WBUR in Boston, WBEZ in Chicago, WNYC in New York, KUOW in Seattle, and KQED in San Fran are all good NPR examples. Commercial talkers I am less familiar with, but WOR & WFAN in NYC and WBZ & WEEI in Boston come to mind.
 
I'd look at Dartmouth College's WFRD. It's a commercial license with another radio company doing sales under a JSA while the College handles programming.
It does well from what I hear.
 
radiolacey said:
Hey y'all-
I'm a broadcasting consultant with 28 years full time on-air exp. Recently began consulting a college station in So. Cal. that is working to be a perfect model of a commercial station in every way. We have engaged the college of marketing at this university to sell underwriting. The underwriting ads work and sound alot like regular radio advertising while still within legal parameters. I have been given a commission to do research of any American station striving to also act as a "perfect" model as well. Does anyone have a suggestion of a station I should visit for this research? Some station that is really pulling allll of the important aspects of good commercial radio into an effective lab for college students? If so, please advise! You may email me directly at: [email protected]

Yours in Crime,

Lacey Kendall
Click to expand...

Lacey,

Maybe the best model of all "college stations" in America is the University of Florida's collection of commercial and public radio and TV stations in Gainesville. Rock 104--a 100-kw active rock flamethrower competing in market #81 using student talent on-and-off the air. AM 850--a 5-kw fulltime news-sports-talk AM using student talent throughout. A 100-kw public FM with 2 HD channels and a VHF public TV (5.1 HD + two SD channels) with students anchoring, writing, reporting & producing. 200 to 300 students involved. All of it run by the College of Journalism and Communications. Nothing else like it anywhere in the U.S.
 
Try looking at WVCR 88.3FM in Albany NY. They have a full market coverage, currently run Jack type format, and over thew years have been#1 in the market in certain dayparts, with 12+ in the top ten. It is student run, with profession supervision.
 
Another awesome college station is WJCU 88.7 from John Carroll University near Cleveland. They recently upgraded their on-air studio....and their website. Best shows on WJCU is Joe Madigan's WIXY-1260 tribute "Retro Radio" along with "Madcat Blues," "The Heights," and some Jewish programming. They also upgraded their power from 100 watts to 2,300 watts about five years ago.

www.wjcu.org

Also KKJZ "K-JAZZ" 88.1 from California State University. A must for diehard blues fans on the weekends!

www.jazzandblues.org
 
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