The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 04, 1983, Image 19

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 04, 1983, Image 19

Newspaper Page TextV -O <l> Jd -o c -rj a a P v .g o ^ <3J _,*— C.-S^O^ 'TU ~ C buD o w c fcuo >" ~ zz W ^ Oh l; C C ,-« CJ ~ oa O < 1 big. Once they start, they stay. It gets in your blood." Gross said the station group is , like a close-knit family and tend to stay friends for life. The lis teners tend to become part of the ; family, too. ? The station is much more per sonal than others, he said. Many times, when a song is requested, it may be one or two hours be- ; fore it gets played at other sta tions, but at KANM it may be ? only one or two songs. Disc ; jockeys have their choice of - what music to play, and no ) programming lists are made. Being a DJ is very hectic. After ' selecting the records for the program, the DJ is responsible > for answering phones and keep- l ing track of requests. Trying to find a Leon Redbone album ; while getting other records ready for play seems an impossi- l ble task, yet the show goes on - with few if any slip-ups. Gross said callers often com- , ment on how much they enjoy > the station, and he estimates ? that when both cable lines are clear, about 5,000 to 8,000 peo- ? pie are listening. But there have > been times when one cable line , was down and the other sound- ? ed bad,and Gross offered a free - album to the first person to call ? in. No one did. ) Maybe the audience loves the - station because the disc jockeys - give the station name and re quest line number only every 30 ? minutes, or because there are r only a minute or so of commer- r cials a day, or because numbers l one through 10 on the Top 40 - aren't played once an hour. Or maybe it is a combination t of all the things the station does . differently from others. New radio 5 by David Marchand Battalion reporter ) If you turn the dial on your radio to 104.9 FM when you re- f turn in the fall, you might hear r the newest and last FM channel - in the Bryan-College Station t area — if all goes well. JohnL. Culpepper Jr. of Cul pepper Plaza and Culpepper Properties Inc. said he expects the Federal Communications Commission to grant a construc tion permit for the new station by summer. Culpepper said construction will then begin immediately, and broadcasting could start in conjunction with the beginning of the fall semester. There are currently three AM and two FM stations in the B-CS area, and a channel search, started more than eight years ago by Bob Bell of Scott and Davis Enterprises, indicated there is room on the airwaves for only one additional station here. Bell, who owns an AM station in Paris, Texas and managed a local station — KTAM — from 1973 to 1975, said he started the channel search after "recogniz ing the need for additional media." The search and permit appli cation process has been drawn out since 1975, he said. "Only glaciers move slower than the federal government." In December 1982, Brazos Metro Inc., seeking the rights to build the new station, offered to purchase the permit from Bell, if and when it is issued. The terms of the deal in cluded hiring Bell as a consul tant to the new station and reim bursing Bell for about $100,000 in legal expenses that he incur red pursuing the permit. Although Bell had originally planned to use a "good music" approach, Culpepper said the new station's format is undeter mined. He will consult three market research groups for help. "I think (the format) will com plement what is being done (loc ally) and will offer something different," he said. Culpepper said he plans to attend the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas in April where he plans to negotiate for equipment for the station. Culpepper and associate Bar ry Turner have also purchased two stations, one AM and one FM, in Tyler, Texas. Culpepper, whose main busi ness is commercial real estate, said that besides being "one of the hottest-growing media in the country," radio offers him a chance to diversify. He said a radio station can normally cost about $15,000 per month to operate. He indicated that he believed a station could gross as much as $60,000 to $70,000 per month. "The long range success for radio," he said, "is just tremen dous." KAMU-FM by Susan Poole Battalion reporter Tired of Wailin' Willie? Does Punk make you puke? For a change of pace, how about some jazz or classical music? Try tun ing into KAMU-FM. Amidst the twanging country tunes and the steady beat of rock ballads there is a mellow spot of staff photo by Bill Schulz Joe Ward paradise to be found at KAMU- FM. The announcer's smooth voice flows easily out of the radio priming the listener's ear for jazz or classical melodies by such artists as Chuck Mangione, Oscar Peterson, Beethoven and Mozart. And the best part is there are no commercials. But working behind the smooth exterior is a diligent staff preparing the programs lis teners take for granted. First, there is station manager Steve Stits. He is responsible for all aspects of running the station as well as announcing live shows. "I enjoy working in radio be cause it gives me the freedom to try new things and new prog ramming Stits says. "I like to talk to listeners, find out what they like and trv to incorporate that into the programs. "It gives me the freedom to express myself in a creative way." photo by Lisa Phillpott Randy Shackelford Second under Stits is Melissa Cotropia, program director. Her job is screening program tapes to decide which ones should be heard. Teamed with Cotropia is traf fic director Rick Howard. Ho ward makes sure the programs picked by Cotropia are available and schedules the order they are to be played. He is also responsi ble for writing the program logs, making sure the night announ cers know what is on the sche dule and announcing live shows. Greg Rickard, production manager and announcer, is one of the full- time students work ing at the station. He transfers the programs borrowed from other stations onto tapes that can be used by KAMU-FM. Rickard is a chemistry major and is interested in radio be cause "it is fun." "Sometimes it can be a pain," Rickard says. "But every once and a while I wonder how I can get paid for doing something I like so much." KAMU-FM makes it a point to hire students, Howard says. Applications are taken all year and when there is an opening the station reviews them, choos ing the student with the most experience. Although the students do get paid, they can't receive college credit for working at the station. This could be due to the fact that Texas A&M has no communica tions classes dealing strictly with radio, Howard says. KAMU-FM is a non commercial, public radio sta tion. It is a National Public Radio Network affiliate and is also a member of the American Public Radio Network and the Texas Public Broadcasting Network. Although KAMU-FM, lo cated on campus in the Moore Communications Building, is funded partly by the University, it depends on public donations to keep it running. Therefore, the station holds fund raisers, lasting a week and a half, four times a year. He says the community re sponse to the fund raisers is great, and the station always meets their goal. The response comes from all parts of the com munity, including businesses, individual community members and students. Although the station is part of Texas A&M, it is aware of its dedication to the community and trys to appeal to the people of Bryan-College Station as well as the students, Stits says. Howard says, "We care about the station and how it's run. We offer an alternative to the regu lar stations and our supporters are growing." staff photo by Bill Schulz .V

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

Texas A&M Newspaper Collection

The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 04, 1983, Image 19

Are you interested in including a title to our archive?

Follow us!