The Search for a Signal

I was a staff member when KPSU lost their leasing rights to KBPS, the A.M. signal we'd used for 15 years. It was awful, and awfully dramatic. Losing a signal meant losing credibility as a station, and although we received moral support from local businesses, there was really nothing to be done at the moment. We'd from then on be broadcast solely from our website at KPSU.org. On the bright side, we no longer had to abide by FCC regulations, a truth which led to perhaps an overuse of profanity by DJ's in an act of angst following our untimely unplugging. I experienced our transformation first-hand as a DJ, from a station with a signal to one without. I still value my show just as highly, and want to produce good content with a weekly theme, or at least provide information about artists when I talk on-air. When I consider the issue, it is a shame we don't have a signal, but I don't let it discourage me too much. The reason we don't have a signal is that it's tricky, expensive business, and most signals are taken. There are tons of rules concerning signals that I can't even begin to understand. Less than a year ago, one DJ in particular, now the programming director, took it upon himself to truly look into getting a new signal. Now, we're fundraising in order to afford the signal he's arranged.

In response to this anticipation, current Station Manager Jay Turk has decided to bring FCC rules back to the station, to be enforced up until 10 p.m. This means none of the "7 Deadly Words" can air, either spoken by DJs and their guests, or in songs. DJs have had to carefully plan their shows, checking lyrics of every song, in order to avoid breaking these rules. As he explained in a KPSU community-wide email,

        "The reasons for the switchback are two fold. First and foremost, we are working on increasing the wattage of our LPFM signal in the near future. Several of us DJs have been meeting over the last month, and have made a great deal of progress. In order for the FCC to grant us a bigger signal, we must prove we can broadcast under FCC rules. Second, we have received some complaints from folks on the first floor of Smith, where we are currently broadcast 24/7. This return to FCC Clean radio ensures our continued good standing with administration and other campus groups."

This change in the policy was an important step in the direction back toward more traditional airway friendly FM college radio, and was necessary and largely embraced by the DJs.

People outside of the community have asked me about the station, knowing that I'm involved there. Besides what type of music I play on my show, a common question is, what's the number of the station? In response to this, I currently have to say that we don't have a real signal, and only broadcast online. This is met with a telling "oh...cool," which says to me that the whole thing has been made way less impressive in their minds. A good friend of mine, who was a DJ at KPSU for around a year from 2009-2010, says, "I think it's lame because other cities have college radio... why can't we have it?" I lack the terminology and patience to explain exactly why to everyone; to outsiders it seems simple. Just get a signal! Programming director Luke Carlson is now hopeful, however! He wrote, in an introduction of himself to the community,

        "All last year a small band of unstoppable DJs began the long process to get us on the air. The real airwaves will add more of a concrete audience and give DJs a great way to reach people here in the Portland metro area."

With a real signal will be a real audience, that is, Portlanders driving around in their cars who want something else to listen to other than NPR and 94.7. People will finally have the chance to discover us, on accident, maybe while "seeking" through the FM stations in their car. Reaching people around the world is great, but being bigger parts of the lives of people right here in Portland, Oregon, will tie us closer to the local communities that surround us.

As longtime KPSU DJ Tage "Starheim" Savage puts it, "It sucks that people can't find good music [KPSU] randomly in this town. And by randomly I mean radio surfing to and from bar to bar, or alone in a dark room off of an alarm clock - the way I first listened to KPSU."

Some DJs feel that a real signal is less necessary and feel liberated by the total lack of FCC control. My friend Jon, who used to host an online-only radio show on a Seattle-based station, feels this way.

        "My radio show was on an online-only radio station, Hollow Earth Radio, for 5 years. It's a great feeling though to know that the FCC doesn't govern us and anyone from anywhere in the world can tune in at any time. There's a real freedom to it and I haven't felt like I was missing out by not being broadcast on a terrestrial station."

In my opinion, though, KPSU really has no choice but to move forward and arrange for a signal as soon as possible. The members of the KPSU community and listeners alike will notice a difference, and will surely benefit!