UCLAradio.com

Radio station


name = UCLAradio.com
airdate = 1962
frequency = Online only (formerly 530 AM, 830 AM, 820 AM, 610 AM, 99.9 FM, 91.9 FM, cable FM)
area = Worldwide via the Internet
format = indie rock, eclectic, news
owner = ASUCLA Communications Board
[http://www.UCLAradio.com UCLAradio.com] (commonly called UCLA Radio) is the student-run college radio station affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles. It is staffed by UCLA students and staff, owned by the ASUCLA Communications Board, and funded by underwriting revenue and fundraising. The station receives no money from student fees.

Laura Katz is General Manager of the station, taking over for Greg Katz in March 2007.

History

Student-run radio at UCLA began in the basement of the Dykstra Hall dormitory on UCLA's campus as KBRU in 1964. ASUCLA quickly took control of the station and moved it to the back of Ackerman Grand Ballroom in Ackerman Union - into a room that had previously been used as a record-listening lounge for students. ASUCLA broadcasted the station via carrier current at 820 AM, though the call letters and band were changed frequently throughout the station's history (including a switch to low-power FM, as well as use of cable FM). For most of its time as a terrestrial radio station, the station broadcasted as KLA. FCC agents disconnected the station's 91.9 FM transmitter in 1999 as it was slightly too powerful to be considered a low-power FM signal. For a short time, the station broadcasted solely through cable radio, until its website KLAradio.com was launched in 1999 featuring a SHOUTcast stream. The URL was switched to UCLAradio.com in 2000.

UCLA's student radio station was never officially licensed as an AM or FM station due to lack of support from university administration. Due to the difficulty of purchasing a band in Los Angeles' overcrowded frequency spectrum, the station is not currently considering purchasing one.

The station has produced programmers and staff for practically every radio station based in the Los Angeles area, including KCRW, KROQ, and Fox Sports Radio.

Programming

UCLAradio.com features highly eclectic programming, offering programmers the opportunity to do practically anything with their two-hour blocks of air-time. Many shows focus on indie rock music, but station programming usually represents countless other genres as well. Some shows offer talk content ranging from sports to current events to comedy. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the station features an hour-long newsmagazine program. [http://UCLAradio.com/schedule]

The station's live signal streams on the Internet in both Windows Media Player and QuickTime formats. Presently, 19 hours each day are programmed live, with the exception of some holidays.

The station also offers a daily podcast, which launched on January 8, 2007. [http://UCLAradio.com/podcast] The podcast consists of on-air programming highlights and podcast-only programming covering sports, news and music.

Finally, many members of UCLAradio.com's staff regularly contribute to the station's popular blog, which covers a mélange of pop culture, politics and miscellania. [http://UCLAradio.com/category/the-blog]

Since it is not a terrestrial station, UCLAradio.com is not beholden to the FCC's programming guidelines. However, the station does enforce ASUCLA Student Media's decency standards, which concentrate mainly on avoiding discriminatory content.

Popularity

The station has dwelled in relative obscurity for most of its existence, though it has enjoyed a slight surge in popularity recently due to a focused marketing effort, dedicated staff, and general increase in the popularity of streaming radio. ASUCLA Student Media Director Arvli Ward commented in a 2005 Daily Bruin interview that, with its current audience, the station is more popular than it has ever been. [http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?ID=32155]

External links

* [http://www.UCLAradio.com UCLAradio.com] - UCLA's student-run radio station.
* [http://www.friendsofkla.org/ Friends of KLA] - Alumni club for the radio station.
* [http://www.english.ucla.edu/ucla1960s/6869/stern.htm "KLA Radio"] - A brief article on the station's history during the 1960s.