In 1949, KMUW began broadasting as the first 10-watt noncommercial FM station in the United States. And now, at a time when the possibilities for radio are expanding with Internet stations, time-shifted broadcasts (including podcasts) and satellite channels, the station is moving boldly forward once more.
This spring, the radio staion is completing its most recent burst of innovation. Called the “Evolution of KMUW,” this growth spurt features the addition of HD Radio™ technology. Essentially, HD Radio, which is a secondary digital signal combined with an FM or AM (analog) signal, provides stations with the capability of multicasting — in KMUW’s case, of broadcasting two additional full-power FM signals on the same 89.1 frequency.
So now listeners can tune in via a HD radio or their computers to a digital simulcast of KMUW’s existing programming (KMUW-HD1), or opt for one of the new digital channels showcasing 24-hour music and world news (KMUW-HD2 and KMUW-HD3, respectively).
“These multiple listening opportunities will be real strengths for us,” says Mark McCain, who, since 1994, has been general manager of KMUW, which has been ranked in the top 30 public radio stations nationwide based on share of the listening audience.* “We’re keeping up with how people listen to content.”
KMUW also boasts a new analog transmitter, a new host tower that has significantly increased the station’s coverage area and a new ecologically-friendly transmitter building at the tower site. Jon Cyphers, KMUW’s director of engineering, has overseen the move to the new transmission site near Maize, Kan.
Because the new host tower provides a higher antenna elevation than the tower previously used, KMUW’s signal reaches a wider coverage area. The station’s primary coverage now includes Hutchinson, McPherson, Hillsboro and Kingman in Kansas, while its secondary coverage reaches north to Salina, Kan., and south to Ponca City, Okla.
Cyphers is also the staffer who pitched the idea of constructing a “green” transmitter building to McCain. “This property (along with the tower) belongs to KSN,” he explains at the site one June morning. “And this is our ‘green’ transmitter building.” The building’s construction materials include partially recycled metal sheeting and agriboard. “What that is,” Cyphers says of the latter, “is basically compressed straw — designed to withstand the ravages of an F5 tornado.”
Another green aspect of the building is its living roof comprised of modular plastic planters that contain drought-resistant succulents. In addition to serving as insulation, another key benefit of such a roof, Cypers says, is that the plants and soil act as shock absorbers for the impact of ice falling from the 1,000-foot tower above.
Community Radio
With a price tag of $1,081,749, KMUW’s “evolution” isn’t cheap. But as Denise Irwin ’83, the station’s development director, points out, “People have rallied around this project. Funding for our initiatives have come from a variety of sources, including federal and state agencies, foundations, corporate and private donors — and our listeners.”
Taken together, KMUW’s latest initiatives are the most extensive service- and signal-expansion projects the station has undertaken since increasing its power to 100,000 watts in 1987, when the broadcast range was roughly 60 miles around Wichita.
But then radio at Wichita State has long been about staying on or ahead of the curve. During World War II, radio courses became a part of Wichita University’s curriculum. In 1942, speech professor Forrest Whan became chair of a faculty committee on radio, with the university applying for an FM license a year later. Still a relatively new technology, FM (frequency modulation) radio offered high fidelity and static-free transmission, though it would remain an under-utilized broadcasting resource until the 1970s.
“Many predicted,” wrote WSU professor Craig Miner ’66/67 in Uncloistered Halls, “radio would cut the cost of education dramatically, increase adult education and bring the public and the university closer together.”
Though there were delays in the issuing of an FM license, 1947 saw the first WU radio broadcast on the low-powered WUCR, founded by faculty member Don Williams and operated by students. Beginning with 30 minutes of recorded music, the station grew to carry five hours of programming.
By April 1949, the WSU had granted an FM license to the station and the call letters KMUW. Initial broadcasts allowed for 10 watts. In 1971, KMUW joined the newly formed National Public Radio, thanks in part to the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which sought to build up noncommercial broadcasting.
With this came the advent of community radio, which allowed volunteers to participate in the broadcast process and help shape the values of the stations that served each community. At the time that KMUW joined NPR, the station was in the domain of the speech department, offering practicum hours and other experience to students and requiring station staff to teach courses; by 1992 responsibility had shifted to the Media Resources Center, to which KMUW is connected to this day.
Through that period, one of the more familiar programs on KMUW was “After Midnight,” a show that featured programming of local and underground music. Hosted by students and community members, “After Midnight” served as a confluence for Wichita’s counter culture.
Having come into existence in the 1970s, the show lost ground throughout the late 1980s, as changes in FCC standards occurred and questions were raised about the general image of the program. Although some perceived the canceling of “After Midnight” as a rejection of that counter culture and a strike against student involvement, McCain suggests it was a more basic issue. “It wasn’t a question of not wanting students (involved),” he says. “It was more a concern of having properly trained students.”
The cancelation led to the formation of several student and community-led organizations that fought to have the show reinstated and claimed that its removal was a matter of censorship. But McCain says, “It wasn’t aimed at trying to suppress a particular idea,” adding that by 1990 there was beginning to be a significant shift in what was deemed alternative music and, moreover, a shift in how popular (or unpopular) music was delivered.
“It was a confusing time,” he says. “There were a lot of developments. Stations began to realize that in order to reach a larger number of people, you need to pick a format, something that commercial stations figured out long before us.”
Frequency Fit
That need to find KMUW’s most fitting niche coincided with a national study in 2000 of the public radio audience and the development of a series of core values, which include a “love of lifelong learning,” curiosity and a “belief in civil discourse.”
McCain relates that 9/11 served to help the station further refine its program offerings. Prior to that infamous day, NPR’s syndicated show “Talk of the Nation” had been available to listeners at critical junctures –– during the Bush-Gore election crisis and the first Gulf War, for instance. But after 9/11, KMUW shifted away from daytime programming of classical music and toward news. “It seemed a positive step to have a show like ‘Talk of the Nation’ available, not just for the immediate aftermath, but for the long term,” McCain says.
That said, NPR has not been without its critics. As AM conservative talk show hosts gained popularity in the 1990s and as controversy swelled over reporting during the 2000 presidential election, a larger debate about political bias in reporting came to the fore. In the ’90s, funding for NPR was threatened and cries of both conservative and liberal bias in the network’s reporting could be heard.
McCain points out that perhaps there is a perception that NPR and its affiliates are left leaning. “I think we would be perceived as liberal by people who wouldn’t discuss certain topics.” Public radio, he adds, was one of the first forums for discussion on abortion and has been one of the few media outlets to have an ongoing and close examination of gay marriage.
He says there is one big difference between NPR and AM talk radio: “What the hosts on talk radio do is more entertainment-based. The material is presented in such a way that it keeps discussion and conflict going, rather than seeking a resolution.”
But the decades’ old battle between AM and FM is fast fading as radio moves toward the second decade of the 21st century. With Internet radio stations, iPods, iPhones and other sound delivery systems becoming the objects of our aural fixations, traditional radio must keep pace. NPR programming is available online, a measure that has encouraged KMUW to develop more locally-produced shows, including Barry Gaston’s “Moonglow,” Chris Heim’s “Global Village” and this writer’s “Strange Currency.”
KMUW has built a new, ecologically-sound transmitter building, undergone a signal expansion (bringing in an additional 90,000 listeners) and is available in HD Radio on HD2 dedicated to adult acoustic alternative music, HD3 to BBC news and HD1 the simulcast of KMUW’s regular programming. The signal is cleaner, and the potential to reach those living outside the primary coverage area is greater.
While it’s difficult to say what the next wave in radio will be, McCain says KMUW is ready to meet the challenges. Radio at its best, after all, provides a public record of events and is part of a larger tradition. “It’s storytelling,” McCain offers. “It’s a way of preserving what we think we know now. Our aim is to present what that is and revisit what the impact was.”
The story is an ongoing one with unexpected crests and troughs in the narrative, every high and low, each syllable and sentence carrying listeners a step closer to yet another new frontier.
* Wichita Metro AQH Share, Persons 12+, Mon-Sun 6AM-Midnight, Summer 2007, Radio Research Consortium from Data © 2007 Arbitron, Inc.
On the Air
As a community radio station, KMUW features a number of unique Shocker voices on its locally produced programs. Here’s a sampling:
Global Village
This all-music global plus regional highlights show on KMUW is hosted by announcer and producer Chris Heim and features everything from jazz and rock, to Cajun and Zydeco. “Global Village is no dusty lesson in ethnomusicology” Heim says. “We hope to show, through both selections and presentation, just how ‘familiar’ and just how fun this music really is. There are few shows like it on the radio dial anywhere in the country.” She showcases music styles inspired by global sounds and each month focuses on a specific artist, style or theme. Also on HD2. Mon.-Fri., 9-10 p.m.
Moonglow
A compendium of all things jazz, this KMUW program, hosted by Barry Gaston ’66, is a jazz lovers’ delight. Not only does the show feature jazz music, it also airs interviews with internationally known jazz artists, showcases of new jazz releases and reviews of new CDs. “We give our listeners the chance to know jazz artists not just as players, but also as people,” Gaston says. “We’ve had both the giants of the past like Sonny Rollins and Ahmad Jamal and the future stars like Esperanza Spalding on the show.” Also on HD1, Sun., 8-10 p.m.
Strange Currency
Hosted by Jedd Beaudoin ’01, this program airs on KMUW-HD2 provides listeners a distinctive collection of music. The show plays a manifold of folk, blues, rock world and alternative country. “I’m excited to be introducing the Wichita and KMUW audience to music they may not have heard before,” Beaudoin says. ” ‘Strange Currency’ gives me the opportunity to play not only my favorite bands, but local bands people may not hear regularly.” Playing both emerging artists and retro artists, Beaudoin keeps listeners on their toes. Sat., 2-3 a.m., 10-11 a.m., 9-10 p.m.
— Molly Walsh
More locally produced programs:
Jazz Café, Mon.-Fri. 7-9 p.m., on KMUW and KMUW-HD1
New Settlers’ Radio Hour, Sat. 7-8 p.m., on KMUW, also on KMUW-HD1 and HD2
Gospel Reminiscence, Sun. 6-8 p.m., on KMUW and KMUW-HD1
KMUW Blues Sunday, Sun. 6-8 a.m., 2-4 p.m., 10 p.m.-12 a.m., on KMUW-HD2
