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Campus radio looks for more listeners
By Rita Wold
rwold@mscd.edu

Photo by Amie Cribley • acribley@mscd.edu MetRadio disc jockey Ietef Vita, a.k.a. DJ CaveM, shows off some records inside the station’s studio located on the third floor of the Tivoli. Vita is organizing an event coming to the Tivoli on April 28 called Brown Suga Festival that will feature films, poets, musicians and dancers, and is designed to engage Denver youth and area educators.

On the third floor of the Tivoli – located just a few steps from the atrium – is room 313, the Office of Student Media, where MetRadio has made itself a home.

On one particular afternoon, the sounds of Goapele could be heard drifting from the station’s tiny booth. The song is titled “Closer,” and it’s part of a weekly program called Friday’s Stress Relief. Inside the booth, surfaces are filled with high-tech equipment and walls decorated with posters and album covers of some of today’s most popular artists. When its hosts adhere to the weekly schedule, MetRadio’s offerings include hip-hop, R & B, jazz, oldies, music from local artists and a sports talk show.

But unfortunately, few disc jockeys call the booth home. Most of the music is set in rotation, and the sign above the door that reads “on air” is only accurate part of the time.

“I don’t think we have a radio station,” said Metro student Bithia Coleman regarding what she thought about Metro’s radio station.

MetRadio has been around for six years and can be heard online and on 88.3 FM inside the Tivoli. There have been attempts to expand the station’s scope, but so far efforts have been unsuccessful.

“Things will be happening, but not tomorrow,” said Donnita Wong, assistant director of student media, regarding the station’s future. She said lack of student involvement is one of the biggest challenges the station faces. “There may have been students interested, but nothing’s been done. Students are focused on finishing up their classes,” Wong said. “They haven’t been involved in the conversations.”

MetRadio’s general manger, Justice Jackson, said he is doing the best he can with what he has.

“I try to keep all the equipment clean, in working order, DJs in rotation and the music fresh. We need more money put into it,” Jackson said.

One of the first steps is to conduct an engineering study to search for available frequencies, said Mario Caballero, broadcast coordinator for Colorado State University. Reserving the frequency with the Federal Communications Commission is the next step, he said.

But an FCC consumer advocacy specialist said the FCC is not accepting applications and doesn’t expect to anytime soon.

The CSU radio station, located in Fort Collins, can be heard as far as Cheyenne and south Denver, and has been reaching these areas for 12 years now. CSU gets the $225,000 that it needs to maintain the station each year from student fees and pays its employees through work study, Caballero said.

“Back in the day, they didn’t have problems with getting space on the dials,” Caballero said. “The band is really crowded. You have to have enough separation between the two frequencies.”

The FCC’s process is always moving forward, but it would be more practical to increase an already established frequency – such as MetRadio’s 88.3 FM – or work to develop a partnership with an already established station, Caballero said.

“To get an actual on-the-air broadcast license is a multiyear application process through the Federal Communication Commissions,” said Kevin Campbell, Metro’s coordinator of broadcasting. “It’s also very expensive, even for a low-power educational license. It would take several students to fill out the applications and obtain legal counsel to start the licensing process.”

Campbell said expanding the station would also require about $100,000 for a transmitter and other engineering costs.

“I seriously doubt Metro would have the required budget to ever make this happen,” he said.

Like most forms of media, radio stations are sustained with advertising. But MetRadio is not allowed to advertise because it is a nonprofit, educational broadcast, so funding for its daily operations comes from a portion of student media fees.

Due to lack of funding, this year student media was approved for $210,000 of the $253,000 it requested in its budget proposal, said Ashley Averill, vice president of the student affairs board.
If approved, a new flat-fee proposal that will be decided on in early May could potentially bring more money to a number of Metro programs, including student media, which may mean more money for MetRadio.

There are also other options MetRadio could consider.

The radio station at CU-Boulder, Radio 1190, holds a pledge drive two times a year that brings in approximately $100,000 in donations, said Mike Flanagan, general manager of Radio 1190.

But funding is not the only problem facing MetRadio. Jackson will have to rearrange the Met’s programming for the third time this year due to students being absent from their shows.

“Why spend the money if we can’t keep a slot full of DJs?” Wong said. The key to developing a more complete station is the students’ duty, she said. “People want to hear different things and not the same mixes they have heard nonstop.”

The new director of student media, Dianne Miller, is already putting the pieces together to start the station’s renovation.

“That window of opportunity for people to participate, that’s huge,” Miller said.

A former student of Miller’s, Damon Sasso, owns KFKA 1310 AM in Greeley. With the help of his brother, Metro DJs and Miller, Sasso has formed a plan to reconfigure the MetRadio studio. Part of his plan involves creating a manual – complete with artistic drawings – that detail the studio’s components and equipment.

The idea is to create an “attractive functional space,” Miller said. The plan will be put into action in late May and could possibly be complete by mid-June. The goal is to make MetRadio available campus-wide, then apply for a low-power FM license that would increase the listening distance.
When the radio was first built in 2001, the satellite was placed in between brick walls, which affected listening capabilities, Miller said.

“The students and myself are going to talk to various organizations,” she said, regarding working around the funding issues. “Let them know this is a good way to get publicity. Come play with us.”

The station will also attempt to get a business sponsor, she said. Miller said she would like to see the station have “much broader programming that showcases Metro and all its diversity.” She mentioned having a venue for Metro President Stephen Jordan, history shows and call-in talk shows.

“Not just hip hop – the campus is more than that,” Miller said.