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mmrf
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Posted: Fri Jan 23rd, 2009 07:19 pm |
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Tower shift limits KCOU broadcasts.
By JENNA YOUNGS of the Tribune’s staff
Published Thursday, January 22, 2009
Despite securing funding for a new transmitter tower in October, a University of Missouri campus radio station will go off the air Monday.
At issue is a proposed relocation of the tower to the top of Schurz residence hall, KCOU/88.1 FM General Manager John Dobson said.
KCOU will not broadcast over radio airwaves for at least four months, said Student Government Services coordinator Farouk Aregbe. The station will continue online broadcasts through its Web site. Aregbe said MU Campus Facilities halted the project until additional studies are completed about the new tower and its proposed relocation.
"The explanation given for this was that if we’re moving our old tower, we might not be subject to the same scrutiny," he said. "But since this was an upgrade to a new tower, the project would have to go through a brand-new set of compliance measures before they would forward it for committee approval."
Phil Shocklee, MU Campus Facilities associate director of communications, said the department received a request to relocate KCOU’s existing tower from Hudson Hall to Schurz Hall on Dec. 15. "That has since changed to installing a new tower of different design, which brings to light other issues," he said.
Shocklee said the structural design of the new tower would need to be examined, including how it would be anchored to the roof. He said the new tower also would need to be scrutinized for compliance with the building’s lightning protection plan.
Dobson said the "high-end estimate" for additional costs to hire engineers to study these issues and to rent a crane to install the new tower on top of Schurz Hall is about $13,000, which KCOU would fund. "Right now" the money "is budgeted for other things, but we can make sacrifices," he said.
Dobson said KCOU leaders had expected to be off the air "a few weeks" during transition from their old transmitter to the new one. The radio station applied for a six-month silent-broadcast permit from the Federal Communications Commission to avoid losing its broadcasting license, he said.
KCOU has been planning for months to transition to a new tower because power to Hudson Hall is scheduled to be shut off as the residence hall is renovated, set to begin in February.
The radio station and MU’s undergraduate student government, the Missouri Students Association, battled in the fall over funding for the new tower. KCOU is among seven auxiliary organizations that receive primary funding from the student government. The station needed about $30,000 to purchase a new tower, but some MSA senators questioned the station’s worth to students. The two groups worked out an agreement in which KCOU would repay MSA for money transferred from the new student center equipment fund.
"If things are further complicated, which would not surprise me, we have the option to get another six-month permit" from the FCC, Dobson said. "But I really hope it doesn’t go that far."
Reach Jenna Youngs at (573) 815-1733 or jyoungs@columbiatribune.com.
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TheColonel
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Posted: Fri Jan 23rd, 2009 07:51 pm |
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| Since MU already has two other broadcast outlets (KOMU & KBIA), there is a legitimate question as to whether a third student station is justified. Is KCOU used as a student "lab" facility or is it just another entertainment outlet for students? I understand MU is also applying to the FCC for the vacant 98.3. What are the plans for it, if approved?
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techpuppy
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Posted: Fri Jan 23rd, 2009 11:17 pm |
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KBIA and KOMU could hardly be called "student" stations. The TV station is operated more as a commercial TV station and overall has little student access or programs.
KBIA is just about as bad as little of the programming is locally produced other than some newscasts and that is permitted only by Journalism school students. My experience at KBIA was good training but was far from comprehensive even on the technical side.
Overall I would have to say I would have received a better, more complete broadcasting education at another school.
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TheColonel
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Posted: Fri Jan 23rd, 2009 11:50 pm |
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| Well stated. Having worked in the Jeff City/Columbia market, I suppose I have a somewhat biased opinion of the MU broadcast operations. As you said, they really are not for or about students. Much of the news operation at KOMU benefits the J School. I don't recall the technical side of either radio or TV being student oriented. I believe the Channel 8 license is the only one of its type in the nation, that of being owned by a non-profit organization but operated as a commercial enterprise. This arrangement puts the other commercial broadcasters at a distinct disadvantage.
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gomizzoutigers
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Posted: Sat Jan 24th, 2009 10:33 pm |
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Until 1998, KCOU was owned by the (Independent) Residence Halls Assocation, not by the University. They were the "anti-J-school" bunch, sort of like The Maneater (campus newspaper), which is also not owned by the University.
Besides news people, J-school wantabees (you couldn't get into J-school unless you had Junior standing), KCOU gave real-world experience in other disciplines including engineering. I know the guy who lived across the dorm hall from me, Vince Patton, becamse ND at KCOU, went on with his journalism degree, moved on through the big stations of WFAA and KGW and is now hosting/producing programs for Oregon Public Broadcasting.
I would say it is the "alternative" outlet at the university, as opposed to the "tie and penny loafer" croud at KBIA. Run by students, it can often be screwed up by students. Last edited on Sat Jan 24th, 2009 10:35 pm by gomizzoutigers
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Kent Clark
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Posted: Sun Jan 25th, 2009 09:10 pm |
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I know we picked far more people out of KCOU than KBIA when I worked for Premier Radio. Of course, NPR has staffing requirements, many of which are detrimental to students wanting to learn the trade, and most NPR affiliates keep students behind the scenes.
Some of the KCOU alums we had were Jeff Sweatman, Jim Littrell and Lana Trezise, all of whom were great employees. Jim and Lana worked their way up to management positions, and I know Sweatman got a promotion shortly after Cumulus took over but after I left. We also got a lot of part-timers from KCOU. When KCOU was on the chopping block about five years ago, I remember all three of them were lobbying very hard to keep the station because they wouldn't have been able to get a foothold in the business without KCOU.
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