Last Saturday KMHD (my fav station in this town) made this crazy announcement that they were going to test new types of music (etc etc).....
They went on to start playing some real crap folk-rock (really could not put my finger on what they were doing) ....but WHY try to fix it if it is not broken? I think KMHD is a GREAT radio station. Stay with what you know & do best!
This is not KBOO. Come on...stick with the great Jazz & blues & NPR news! Big mistake throwing in another music format. HUGE. They had a ton of calls.

Oops!
My bad!
Now back to your regularly scheduled broadcast...

For my $.02,I was overjoyed to hear a couple hours of really well-programmed alt-country,americana,or whatever you want to call it ,on KMHD last Saturday afternoon. I have a lot of respect for jazz,but I listen mostly to this kind of stuff,and whoever programmed it really knew what they were doing

Personally, I'd love to hear a regular Alt-Country/Americana/Whatever show here in PDX. There is a gap here for that. KINK was sort of working some of that into thier mix a while ago, but now they seem to be moving back to the bland middle ground again.

So does anyone know if this will be a regualr KMHD thing?

Maybe KMHD should do that on their HD2, whenever they get that going. which would be sooner than KINK probably.

Exactly! They are likely testing the waters on analog Saturdays. If it takes off it can be an enticement to buy an "HD" radio when the show goes full time digital.

KMHD may opt to keep the full 96kbps stream in the name of quality. I've heard it sounds pretty good!

Whatever happened to John Rice, the man behind getting KMHD on the air back in the early 1980's?

John Rice moved into another department many years ago. I'm pretty sure he left entirely sometime after that.

They are a college jazz station, but there is no law saying they have to be jazz 24/7.
Many college radio stations play even more genre's than Kmhd.

I'm not a big fan of jazz, so I don't really listen to KMHD, but don't begrudge the market a non-com jazz station. What I do find regrettable is that we don't have a "real" college station (the kind that plays a variety of formats at the whim of the students) on FM in Portland- KPSU/KBPS sucks because it's on a low power AM, and KRRC sucks because it's rarely broadcasting (well the carrier is always on, but it's rarely broadcasting a program) and can't be heard for any distance.

I'd welcome an increase in variety at KMHD - IMHO a college-run station should broadcast music that appeals to college students.

How did KMHD end up with an all-jazz format anyway?

In this day and age, I believe that giving a full power FM (> 100 watts) to college students would be a waste unless the school has a good communications/media program and the station is run as a laboratory of the department. For instance, they could have the station management positions go to communications students for college credit. Students in communications-related and journalism programs would get first crack at the on-air and news positions, and other students/community volunteers would fill in the gaps. Without that kind of guidance and structure, I would bet that there would just be a handful of students trying to keep the place afloat, and there would be a lot of open blocks where the station signs off.

I say this from experience. Back in the 1990s, I was doing college radio in Rochester, NY. There were two student-run radio stations in town, WRUR (88.5 MHz, 3000 watts, University of Rochester) and WITR (89.7 MHz, 910 watts, Rochester Institute of Technology). These stations were run as student clubs with very loose oversight. Both of these stations faced the problems of having small staffs due to lack of student interest. As a result, both of these radio stations ran haphazard schedules. It was not uncommon for the carrier to be turned off in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday.

They play quite a bit of blues on Fridays I notice.

They play quite a bit of blues on Fridays I notice.

There has always been two understainding of the term "educational radio" is it educational for the students on one hand, or educational for the audience on the other.

Personally I believe a college station that has an on air signal should program for a segment of the market. some format that fills both the "arts and culture" mission of the college and the community. since it is publicly funded.

One important thing radio students should learn right off the bat about radio is that IT ISNT ABOUT WHAT YOU PERSONALLY LIKE!

I believe closed circuit college "stations" should be where student can play music for the student population.

I think KMHD does a great job with the Jazz format.

It is very important for radio students to learn how to execute a format they may not personally like. then they are learing about radio, not just having a good old time playing their favorites.

tadc-

Try this college station out of Spokane WA. Loads of indie artists. They call themselves Pirate because the Mascot of the college is Pirate.

Anyway here's the link. http://www.whitworth.edu/Students/KWRS/Index.htm

there is a station that does that BS here in minneapolis. it's called the current and it was cool for a day, until they got lots of good feedback and decided to be as obscure as possible and i cannot imagine any one person listening for more than two songs because the mix is so wack that there is no way you will enjoy two songs in a row.

There's nothing wrong with one station running a variety of programming types rather than one format 24/7.

As far as dead air goes, last time I checked KPSU had a full schedule on their AM peashooter. They also allow non-students to do programs, KBOO-style.

KOIT, which has no radio department as such but a single class, a radio club and 1 paid management position to run the station managed a pretty full schedule (until midnight or 4am some nights), and even bought an automation system to keep a program playing when there was no DJ scheduled.

It's not unexpected for some dayparts to be less popular on a volunteer-run station. What's wrong with turning it off or running automation during unused airshifts? Or allowing unemployed DJs to maintain their skills?

In vietnam, during the 60's, AFRTS, ran a wide assortment of programming, but not like Charlie, there would be a couple of hours rock, then a couple hours country, then soul, big band, swing, some old radio adventure programs. And "SUPER DUCK"!.

I remember armed forces radio in Vietnam, it was a touch of home. I wonder if they still have it.

perhaps with the internet they wouldn't need it.

They still have it, like stars and stripes, maybe not the greatest newspaper, but I looked forward to it every day.

AFGHANISTAN RADIO CHANNELS

Location FM Frequency Power (W)
Bagram 94.1 Thunder Radio 100W
105.7 Urban 100W
107.3 Country 100W
Herat 91.5 Thunder Radio
Kabul 94.1 Thunder Radio 250W
107.3 Country 250W
Kandahar 94.1 Thunder Radio 250W
105.1 The Touch 250W
107.3 Country 250W

http://www.armywives.com/index.php/component/option,com_content/task,view/id,238 3/Itemid,2/

I don't see what part of the above link has to do with AFRTS.

Some years ago, the Army had a broadcast radio truck (nicknamed K-Truck during tests). This was a tractor trailer that housed the studios, a 5kW AM transmitter, and a diesel generator. There was a telescoping antenna mast and radials that sat on top of the ground. I wonder if this is still in use? Perhaps, this radio truck was meant to be used to broadcast to the local population, and the broadcasts intended for servicemen are done on FM?

In the early days of the Afghan campaign (US v. Taleban) the US military used transmitters and studios in planes which circled high above the desired listening audience, which was the local population rather than the US military.

Which has absolutely nothing to do with KMHD or their format.

Yep, but to finish this wobble off-topic, AFRTS is alive and well but mostly satellite-based with cable distribution on bases.

After an absence of some time, the shortwave radio service (highly popular among SWLs) is back again for a while during some kind of changeover in fleet satellite rcvrs. http://myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil/radio/shortwave/

Continuity of service is important in broadcasting and is a concept which should be taught; a station that does not keep a schedule is just a toy.

Indeed, in 1973 I was allowed to play whatever I liked on KBOO on Saturday nights after end of (their extensive, complicated) schedule, as they felt it important to keep a signal on, and I was encouraged to stay through until 6a when the classical program guy came in (which I seldom managed; boy it was hard to keep going after 4am, as I had a day job). But I once ran into a disappointed listener who reported enjoying one show but hadn't called when I announced I feared no one was listening and would bag it if I didn't get a phone call. But that's a long time to spend alone staring at a clock and revolving turntable. The job required just enough attention that bringing a friend or reading was too much distraction.

(At least standing radio watch even on a dead night one would hear some signals and take in the weather every few hours. To keep the kids at the boat stations awake, some net ops would allow them to play "hangman" on the teletype at night.)

I can now see good reason for the store-window studios besides promotion; those working on an office floor or at the transmitter site must go nearly nuts with boredom.

KOIT? The one in San Francisco?

I was scratching my head over that one too. A carrier current station at O.I.T. perhaps?

Apologies, I'd forgotten the calls of my college's radio station - KTEC 89.5 FM.

Today's "Portland Tribune" Phil Stanford, On The Town:

Local jazz purists are up in arms over what they see as an underhanded attempt by KMHD (FM 89.1) brass to depart from the station's All-Jazz format. ... Not to worry, says Station Manager, Doug Sweet. "I'm just trying to find a way to appeal to some of our younger listeners out there." Say, all those under 75? ...

As someone who can listen to the Current, KCMP in the Twin Cities, for hours on end, I would venture that just because you don't like the eclectic format means absolutely squat.

The eclectic format on public radio is something pdx is surely missing. It is KBOO's to have if they were to ever get off the block programming feifdom doldrums.

I would guess something like JPR's Rythem & News service or KEXP would do well in river city.

KMHD does a great job with jazz and it would be a shame to lose that format.

I wanted to offer a correction: I have read several posts on this thread about KMHD being a "college" radio station; for the record, it is not. While it is "owned" by Mt. Hood Community College, it is not part of the curriculum of study for the radio communications students. They actually have their own (internet) station for that purpose. KMHD, by contrast, is a public radio station, just like KBOO, both of them NPR affiliates, with the differences that, unlike KBOO, KMHD is owned by a public corporation (the college), instead of by a private, non-profit corp, and it has a set and defined format. KMHD operates with a paid, professional administrative staff, and about 40 on-air volunteers, most of whom are active or retired radio professionals. In fact, the average age of the on-air staff is about 45 years. As far as going for a "younger" demographic in the listening audience, that is not a matter so much of conscious choice, as of necessity. After all, when KMHD signed on 23 years ago, KGON was targeting 20-somethings, and KMHD's average audience was probably about 55 years. Today, those 20-somethings are in their mid-to-late 40's, and have BOTH stations programmed into their car receivers. Likewise, a lot of 70's and 80's rockers are now performing jazz: Jay Geils, Elvis Costello, Bill Wyman, Rickie Lee Jones and Rod Stewart have all released jazz albums recently. KMHD is just trying to find out what the audience responds to--shouldn't anybody get all upset over it ... just relax and enjoy the music.

Does KBOO really have an affiliation with NPR? Do they get money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting?

Yes, KMHD and KBOO as well as KBPS and KOPB are non-commercial radio stations because that is the class of license that they hold. There is some fogginess as to what constitutes public broadcasting here. Am I correct in saying that in the U.S., the term public broadcaster is reserved to those who receive funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? That is, a radio station at a state university that does not get CPB grants is not considered a public broadcaster, even though money collected through taxes might be helping to keep it on the air?

Bringing this back specifically to KMHD, does the station get grants from the CPB? I know that they do run some NPR programs, and they promote themselves as a public broadcaster on the air.

At one time, KBOO was not a member of NPR and was considered noncommercial but I don't think it had ever been referred to as public. I believe that came later.

I did a quick web search, and it turns out that KBOO does receive CPB funds and has done so for over 30 years. That would make them a public radio station.

They certainly are now, just not 38 years ago, as best I can tell.

According to records, KBOO became an NPR member in 1973.