Pirate radio pair going legit with new station
| Wednesday, Jan 27 2010 03:35 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Jan 27 2010 05:09 PM
IS THERE A MARKET FOR IT?
Starting a radio station from scratch -- even a low-wattage station -- seems like a big risk in an economic climate that isn't friendly to any type of business, let alone a business that faces game-altering competition.
Jake Chavez and Greg Looney need to raise about $100,000 to get their tower built and broadcast equipment installed and operational. Chavez said he got the figure from a quotation given him by Harris Broadcast Services, which estimates $91,203.64 for the transmitter, antenna, broadcast equipment, transmission lines and other equipment. Chavez said he plans to raise the money through grants, corporate sponsorships, even such grass-roots fundraisers as car washes.
"There are just so many ways to raise money," Chavez said.
The better part of $100,000 sounds like a lot of money, but in the broadcast industry, it's a bargain.
"The low-power FM is going to have a small coverage area," said Chris Squires, operations manager for KERN and KERI stations in Bakersfield.
Squires said start-up costs for a commercial station, which gets into the multiples of megawatts power ranges, go into the millions. But even those costs are considerably less than what they would have been decades ago, now that radio broadcasting has been computerized.
"There are several vendors that have products that run your commercials, your music," Squires said. "From your desktop."
Chavez said costs will be kept low because of the mostly volunteer on-air staff he and Looney are recruiting, and by finding cheap office space. The station has been organized as a 501c3 nonprofit corporation under the name Kern Community Radio, Inc., making it eligible for grants, such as the one they secured through the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program to help with start-up costs.
Even with nonprofit type funding, is it possible a new radio station, particularly one aiming at a niche market, can survive today?
"In a cluttered media environment, I still believe there is a place for radio," Squires, a multi-decade radio veteran, said. "I think it depends on the risk takers and the innovators that are going to take it to the next level."
Images
Felix Adamo / The Californian Jake Chavez, right, and Greg Looney, are starting their own community radio station.
For years, Bakersfield residents Jake Chavez and Greg Looney have kept one step ahead of broadcast regulators with their "pirate radio" stations -- low-wattage broadcasts operating without a license. Now the pair are making it legal with a fully licensed station they hope will be on the air within the year.
Chavez and Looney met some 20 years ago, when both worked at KBCC, the cable-access radio station that used to operate at Bakersfield College.
"When KBCC got canceled, all of us were left hanging, wanting to do something," Looney said.
Looney said that "something" included operating a number of pirate stations and an Internet radio operation, all of which were shut down by the FCC. The two have also had day jobs -- Chavez has worked at American Fabrication for the last 15 years, and operated Downtown Records for seven years until selling it 15 months ago. Looney works as a bartender in Bakersfield.
Chavez said the inspiration for starting the station came from a representative of the Common Frequency Project, a non-profit group out of Davis that promotes community radio stations, community activism and a non-commercial, eclectic mix of music. Chavez said the representative came into his record store looking for someone who might be interested in applying for a station.
"He found the right guy," Chavez said.
Chavez said he and Looney applied three years ago, after the FCC opened up a small number of new stations under the NCE and low-power FM categories.
"There wasn't much space on the dial in Bakersfield," Chavez said.
On Nov. 5, the Federal Communications Commission awarded the pair a construction permit to build KSVG, a 180-watt FM station, in Mettler. Chavez and Looney have three years from that date to be broadcast-ready with a format usually described as "freeform" radio.
"We're going to be a cool college radio station," Chavez said.
The station is to broadcast on 89.9 FM, part of the non-commercial education band (NCE) that typically includes public radio stations such as KVPR. According to Chavez, a community station can broadcast music, but has some other requirements.
"We have to supply some educational programming, get students involved," Chavez said.
Chavez said Common Frequency set him up with Bay Area FCC attorney Michael Couzens and Portland, Ore., engineer Michael Brown to assist with the initial application. Chavez and Looney also teamed up with The Empty Space theater group, which has a 501c3 designation, a requirement for the application.
"They've been really good to us," Chavez said, adding that control of the project will soon be transferred to the station's own 501c3, Kern Community Radio, Inc. Chavez estimates he needs around $100,000 to build the station, half of which he hopes will come from a grant from the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program.
His business plan anticipates ongoing support from corporate sponsorships.
While Chavez is raising money, Looney has been identifying disc jockeys and working on the music format.
"It's really going to be focused on, for lack of a better phrase, alternative music," Looney said.
Looney included such groups as Interpol, The Cure, early David Bowie and The Velvet Underground as examples.
"Basically, music people in Bakersfield have never heard before on radio unless it was on one of our pirate radio stations," Looney said.
Looney said the format will also include specialty programs, and he expects to have a news staff as well.
For more about the station, check out ksvg.org.
