KGNU

KGNU-FM
City of license Boulder, Colorado
Broadcast area Denver-Boulder-Longmont
Slogan "Independent Community Radio"
Frequency 88.5 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date May 22, 1978[1]
Format Community Radio
ERP 4,000 watts
HAAT 65 meters
Class A
Facility ID 6512
Transmitter coordinates 39°59′33″N 105°9′16″W / 39.99250°N 105.15444°W / 39.99250; -105.15444Coordinates: 39°59′33″N 105°9′16″W / 39.99250°N 105.15444°W / 39.99250; -105.15444
Affiliations Public Radio International
Pacifica Radio
BBC World Service
Owner Boulder Community Broadcast Association, Inc.
Webcast Listen Live
Website kgnu.org
KGNU
City of license Denver, Colorado
Broadcast area Denver-Lakewood-Littleton
Frequency 1390 kHz
Power 5,000 watts (day)
139 watts (night)
Class D
Facility ID 31349
Owner Boulder Community Broadcast Association, Inc.

KGNU (1390 AM/88.5 FM) is a community radio station for Boulder and Denver, Colorado, USA. KGNU is owned by Boulder Community Broadcast Association, Inc.[2]

Programming and operations

KGNU's programming follows a variety (US Radio) radio format, featuring a mix of music, news and information. Local shows are hosted by volunteers. The station also carries syndicated programs distributed by Public Radio International, Pacifica Radio and BBC World Service.[2]

The station has four full-time staff members, five part-time staff members, and more than 200 volunteers who besides producing and hosting shows, play a major part in the station's operations. As of 2008, KGNU had an operating budget of $675,000, two-thirds of which was raised through listener contributions.[3]

KGNU is a member of the Grassroots Radio Coalition.[4] The station helped found the coalition in 1996 out of its commitment to a community radio model based on volunteers, access to the airwaves and alternative programming.[5]

History

The idea for starting KGNU stemmed from a class in 1973 at the Boulder Free School called "A Desperate (or Last Ditch) Attempt to Start a Radio Station". In 1975, a core group from the class formed the community radio broadcast association as a nonprofit corporation and applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for an educational broadcast license. KGNU went on the air at 88.5 FM with a 1300-watt transmitter on May 22, 1978.[1]

In 2004, the station raised $1.2 million to acquire a frequency in Denver, which at the time had eight radio stations owned by media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications, ten by religious broadcasters, but no community radio stations. On August 29, 2004, KGNU began serving the city, Colorado's largest, broadcasting at 1390 AM. In 2006, KGNU constructed a studio space at its Denver home at 7th Avenue & Kalamath Street in a building shared with the Open Media Foundation, making access to the KGNU airwaves easier for volunteers in the Denver area. By the Summer of 2009, nearly 25% of KGNU's programming is originating from volunteer producers in the metro area through the Denver studio.[2][6] In the summer of 2010, KGNU was granted permission to increase its FM transmitter power to 4,000 watts.

References

  1. 1 2 McIntosh, David. "Our History". KGNU official website. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  2. 1 2 3 "About Us". KGNU official website. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  3. ↑ "Our Finances". KGNU official website. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  4. ↑ "Member Stations". Grassroots Radio Coalition. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  5. ↑ Durlin, Marty; Melio, Cathy (2003). McCauley, Michael P.; et al., eds. "The Grassroots Radio Movement in the United States". Public Broadcasting and the Public Interest (Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe): 252–264. ISBN 0-7656-0991-6. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  6. ↑ "Boulder-Based Community Radio Station KGNU to Buy Denver Signal". Democracy Now! radio interview by host Amy Goodman with organizer Kris Abrams. August 26, 2004. Retrieved 2009-03-25.

External links

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