Associated Students Inc. is investing in KBeach radio station to proceed with a $40,000 HD project that will place the station on mainstream FM radio sometime in February.
By switching over to FM radio, KBeach will be able to reach a wider audience, as well as generate more revenue from advertising. It’s a move that’s been in the works for years now and will grant KBeach more flexibility than ever before.
“Right now, we’re only Internet-based,” KBeach acting General Manager John Trapper said. “Being on the FM signal will give us more opportunities.”
ASI plans to fund the project in its entirety, but KBeach intends to reimburse them from commercial revenue created as a result of the new system.
“ASI is paying the bill,” KBeach Assistant General Manager Joe Kay said. “But, to pay that back and more, we’re looking to advertising. That’s another reason were pushing it. Not just to be credible and for more listenership, but also for financial reasons.”
The $40,000 package includes labor from qualified engineers, a digital line to take radio signals to Signal Hill, importing and exporting boxes, and a special transmitter used to split up radio signals.
“It’s called HD, but it’s a digital signal,” Trapper said. “We take a transmitter and cut a signal up into multiple signals so it can be shared.”
The move to HD has been highly anticipated for years, and is only now seeing success. Its intent is to grant popularity and money to the station itself, as well as boost credibility.
“We’ve had the contract in place with the foundation for three years,” Trapper said. “We’ve been trying to come up with the right plan, and we’ve now had our plan OK’d by the Board of Control.”
Though the Board of Control has already agreed to this, the exact specifics have yet to be explained to the Senate. The appeal will be brought to this week’s Senate meeting.
“Companies are going to want to be associated with a college station on an FM signal,” Kay said.
Another new feature of KBeach is that the radio station has made an official agreement to broadcast all home volleyball, basketball, and baseball games live. But once teams enter NCAA playoffs, the agreement will be played by ear.
“It’s exciting because it’s the first time you’ve been able to take games on the go,” Trapper said.
He said the feature is beneficial in such situations as leaving a game early and arriving late after being delayed.
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