KFAI
Encyclopedia
KFAI is a community
radio station
in Minnesota
. The station broadcasts a wide variety of music
, and also airs programming catering to many of the diverse ethnic groups of the region. KFAI has frequently been honored by local media critics for its shows and musical diversity (for instance, the local alternative weekly
City Pages
has frequently included it in the annual "Best of the Twin Cities" awards).
The station offers public access
services, so they encourage anyone in the community to make their own show and have it broadcast over the air. The station is part of Minnesota's Independent Public Radio
network and, despite relatively weak transmitters, is considered by many to be the group's flagship
station. The call sign stands for Fresh Air, Inc., the non-profit organization that owns KFAI.
The station first went on the air with a 10 watt
signal on May 1, 1978
, after drawn-out deliberations with the Federal Communications Commission
, which was licensing a few low-power FM stations at the time. The first home was in the belfry of the Walker Community Church in South Minneapolis. In 1984
, the primary transmitter was moved from the roof of the Seward Co-op to the top of the Foshay Tower
in downtown Minneapolis and upgraded to 125 watts. The studios moved from the church two years later, when it moved to the second floor of a Butler Drug store on Lake Street. In 1991
, studios were built especially for Fresh Air Radio at Cedar-Riverside near the University of Minnesota, where it remains today. The 170-watt West St. Paul translator
station went up in 1994
.
In March 2007
, KFAI's main transmitter moved to IDS Center
, after the new owner of Foshay Tower evicted all current tenants of the building as part of a redevelopment plan to turn it into a hotel http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/index.html. Since November 6, 2007, the station has been operating under an FCC Construction Permit with an upgraded effective radiated power of 900 Watts and an IDS Center tower height of 247 meters (811 feet)above ground level. This upgrade allows the station to have a stronger from the IDS Center which extends the station's coverage deeper into St. Paul and the southeast suburbs.
Due to KFAI's limited signal power, programming is targeted to the Twin Cities communities. Three other IPR stations exist in Minneapolis-St. Paul: KBEM-FM (jazz), KMOJ
(urban), and KUOM
(college/eclectic). KVSC
, another college station in St. Cloud, Minnesota
, can also be received by some area residents. The station has major plans for expansion into HD radio by the end of 2008. As part of this expansion, on November 16, 2008, the station switched over to a new 900 watt transmitter and directional antenna for its 90.3 FM signal, significantly increasing the broadcast coverage area.
On June 30, 2010 KFAI instituted a new programming grid. Some long time listeners and programmers are very unhappy about this because they believe the station will be throwing away the volunteer programming model that has served them so well for so long and broadcasting for three hours each morning, The Takeaway
, a nationally syndicated program from Public Radio International. However, the rest of the station's schedule will be essentially similar as in the past. However, even with the addition of new programming, the station remains committed to a volunteer powered model and the decision to make changes came from the Program Committee, which is made up of volunteers and listeners and is co-chaired by a volunteer and a staff member. Volunteers will continue to staff the on-air shifts 24 hours a day into the foreseeable future.
KFAI's programming is highly eclectic and uses block programming, so that, for example, one might find a country music
program followed by an hour of news about LGBT
issues, or a reggae
program followed by an hour of spoken word
readings or an hour of Hmong
programming. Although programs almost always occupy the same blocks from week to week, programs often have little or nothing to do with what precedes or follows them, and the station prides itself on being a "different radio station every hour".
Some of the station's programming is carried on other radio stations. The show Crap from the Past, by Ron Gerber, airs on several stations in Arizona
, plus one in New Zealand
(in addition to a few Internet radio
streams). KFAI offers archives of locally-produced shows, and many of the station's various hosts and programmers also offer their own archived broadcasts at other sources.
, on Twitter with 2 accounts,
and facebook
.
Community radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. The station broadcasts a wide variety of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, and also airs programming catering to many of the diverse ethnic groups of the region. KFAI has frequently been honored by local media critics for its shows and musical diversity (for instance, the local alternative weekly
Alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
City Pages
City Pages
City Pages is an alternative weekly newspaper serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It features news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews, and music criticism. It is printed in a tabloid format, and is available free every Wednesday...
has frequently included it in the annual "Best of the Twin Cities" awards).
The station offers public access
Public Access
Public Access is a 1993 American drama film directed by Bryan Singer in his feature film debut. Singer also wrote the screenplay with Christopher McQuarrie and Michael Feit Dougan. The film was shot in 18 days for US$250,000. It was screened at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, where it was...
services, so they encourage anyone in the community to make their own show and have it broadcast over the air. The station is part of Minnesota's Independent Public Radio
Independent Public Radio
Independent Public Radio is a public radio network in Minnesota. It is the second-largest public radio organization in the state, after Minnesota Public Radio...
network and, despite relatively weak transmitters, is considered by many to be the group's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
station. The call sign stands for Fresh Air, Inc., the non-profit organization that owns KFAI.
History
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
signal on May 1, 1978
1978 in radio
The year 1978 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting.-Events:* May 6 – Bob Kingsley, producer of the syndicated "American Country Countdown," takes over as host. He replaces Don Bowman, who had hosted for the first 4½ years...
, after drawn-out deliberations with the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
, which was licensing a few low-power FM stations at the time. The first home was in the belfry of the Walker Community Church in South Minneapolis. In 1984
1984 in radio
The year 1984 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:* June 18 - Controversial KOA/Denver radio talk show host Alan Berg gunned down in driveway of his home.* Sports writer Ralph Barbieri joined KNBR to host his own sports talk show....
, the primary transmitter was moved from the roof of the Seward Co-op to the top of the Foshay Tower
Foshay Tower
The Foshay Tower, now the W Minneapolis – The Foshay hotel, is a skyscraper in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Modeled after the Washington Monument, the building was completed in 1929, months before the stock market crash in October of that year. It has 32 floors and stands high, plus an antenna mast...
in downtown Minneapolis and upgraded to 125 watts. The studios moved from the church two years later, when it moved to the second floor of a Butler Drug store on Lake Street. In 1991
1991 in radio
The year 1991 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:* January 18 - Brian Beirne became one of the few celebrities from radio to get a "star" on the Hollywood Walk of Fame....
, studios were built especially for Fresh Air Radio at Cedar-Riverside near the University of Minnesota, where it remains today. The 170-watt West St. Paul translator
Broadcast relay station
A broadcast relay station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator , rebroadcaster , or repeater is a broadcast transmitter which relays, repeats, or reflects the signal of another radio station or television station, usually to an area not covered by the signal of the originating station...
station went up in 1994
1994 in radio
The year 1994 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*January 11 - The Irish government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the Provisional Irish Republican Army and its political arm Sinn Féin....
.
In March 2007
2007 in radio
The year 2007 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*January 8: Nanci "The Fabulous Sports Babe" Donnellan returns to radio after a six-year absence, filling in for local hosts in Florida....
, KFAI's main transmitter moved to IDS Center
IDS Center
The IDS Center is the tallest building in the state of Minnesota at 792 feet . Opened in 1974 as the IDS Centre, it stood 775 feet 6 inches , though a 16-foot garage for window washing equipment was added at a later date...
, after the new owner of Foshay Tower evicted all current tenants of the building as part of a redevelopment plan to turn it into a hotel http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/index.html. Since November 6, 2007, the station has been operating under an FCC Construction Permit with an upgraded effective radiated power of 900 Watts and an IDS Center tower height of 247 meters (811 feet)above ground level. This upgrade allows the station to have a stronger from the IDS Center which extends the station's coverage deeper into St. Paul and the southeast suburbs.
Due to KFAI's limited signal power, programming is targeted to the Twin Cities communities. Three other IPR stations exist in Minneapolis-St. Paul: KBEM-FM (jazz), KMOJ
KMOJ
KMOJ, 89.9 FM, is a community-oriented station located in Minneapolis, Minnesota airing a predominantly Urban AC format. It began in 1976 as WMOJ, a very low-power AM station at 1200 kHz that reached only a few blocks from its studios and transmitter in the Sumner-Olson and Glenwood-Lyndale...
(urban), and KUOM
KUOM
KUOM, known as "770 Radio K", "Real College Radio" is a college radio station operated by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Likely the oldest station in the state, Radio K broadcasts an eclectic mix of music from its transmitters—a variety that has been praised by radio critics...
(college/eclectic). KVSC
KVSC
KVSC 88.1 FM in Saint Cloud, Minnesota is part of Minnesota's Independent Public Radio network. It is operated by St. Cloud State University and broadcasts a freeform radio format...
, another college station in St. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 65,842 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Stearns County...
, can also be received by some area residents. The station has major plans for expansion into HD radio by the end of 2008. As part of this expansion, on November 16, 2008, the station switched over to a new 900 watt transmitter and directional antenna for its 90.3 FM signal, significantly increasing the broadcast coverage area.
On June 30, 2010 KFAI instituted a new programming grid. Some long time listeners and programmers are very unhappy about this because they believe the station will be throwing away the volunteer programming model that has served them so well for so long and broadcasting for three hours each morning, The Takeaway
The Takeaway
The Takeaway is a morning radio news program co-created and co-produced by Public Radio International and WNYC-New York Public Radio with editorial partners the BBC World Service of the United Kingdom, The New York Times, and WGBH Radio Boston of the United States...
, a nationally syndicated program from Public Radio International. However, the rest of the station's schedule will be essentially similar as in the past. However, even with the addition of new programming, the station remains committed to a volunteer powered model and the decision to make changes came from the Program Committee, which is made up of volunteers and listeners and is co-chaired by a volunteer and a staff member. Volunteers will continue to staff the on-air shifts 24 hours a day into the foreseeable future.
Programming
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
program followed by an hour of news about LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
issues, or a reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
program followed by an hour of spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
readings or an hour of Hmong
Hmong language
Hmong or Mong is the common name for a dialect continuum of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmong–Mien/Miao–Yao language family spoken by the Hmong people of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos...
programming. Although programs almost always occupy the same blocks from week to week, programs often have little or nothing to do with what precedes or follows them, and the station prides itself on being a "different radio station every hour".
Some of the station's programming is carried on other radio stations. The show Crap from the Past, by Ron Gerber, airs on several stations in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, plus one in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
(in addition to a few Internet radio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
streams). KFAI offers archives of locally-produced shows, and many of the station's various hosts and programmers also offer their own archived broadcasts at other sources.
Social media
KFAI has been active in the social network scene including YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, on Twitter with 2 accounts,
and facebook
.