{"id":48993,"date":"2020-04-24T13:57:04","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T20:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiosurvivor.com\/?p=48993"},"modified":"2020-04-24T13:57:07","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T20:57:07","slug":"college-radio-watch-wmhd-relaunch-kslc-goes-classical-wnuw-coronacasts-and-more-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.radiosurvivor.com\/2020\/04\/college-radio-watch-wmhd-relaunch-kslc-goes-classical-wnuw-coronacasts-and-more-news\/","title":{"rendered":"College Radio Watch: WMHD Relaunch, KSLC Goes Classical, WNUW Coronacasts and More News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More than a month into serious social-distancing measures across the United States, college radio continues to readjust to broadcasting during a pandemic. I shared a flurry of posts during that first week of shelter-in-place in my neck of the woods here in San Francisco as many stations moved to automated programming<\/a> and also brainstormed creative approaches to continue doing live radio.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bulk of our recent Radio Survivor coronavirus reporting has been taking place on the radio show\/podcast. In a 4-week series of episodes, we checked in with college and community broadcasters from Alaska to New Jersey as restrictions grew more intense for both the country and for stations generally. It worth listening back to episodes 237 (How Community and College Radio Can Deal with COVID-19<\/a>), 238 (Social Distancing, Going Remote and Automation During Global Pandemic<\/a>), 239 (Hunkering Down with Raven Radio in Sitka, Alaska<\/a>), and 240 (WFMU is Still on the Air During the Pandemic<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CMJ Brand’s New Owner Revealed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We also covered a bit of college radio-related news in episode 242<\/a>, in which out guest James Cridland chimed in about the news that the CMJ brand’s purchaser is a European broadcasting company, Amazing Radio<\/a>. While details are still sparse, this puts an end to speculation about who has been working behind the scenes to resurrect CMJ’s independent-music focused charts, live music events, and editorial content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WNUW’s Coronacasts & College Radio during COVID-19<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the past few weeks, college radio stations have been expanding their programming and I’m happy to see that some stations that had shut down broadcasts have put plans in place so that they are able to stay on the air. WNUW at Neumann University (see my tour<\/a>) even started<\/a> a new project, Coronacasts, to share personal experiences of its DJs and listeners over the radio and social media. Take a listen to some of these stories by visiting Neumann Media’s YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, Billboard<\/a> covered some of the challenges that college radio is facing, pointing out that emptied out campuses pose a problem, yet student radio staffers are finding new ways to broadcast. “Resourceful student programmers have figured out ways to build playlists while isolating in their homes far from campus,” according to the piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WMHD Relaunches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I was super impressed to hear that one university has relaunched its college radio station during the pandemic. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre-Haute, Indiana has spent close to a year working on the new version of its radio station WMHD<\/a> and aired a virtual launch event on April 16 and 19. According to WMHD, “The launch event culminates 8 months of work from the Officer team to grow and reestablish the presence of WMHD both on campus and online.” The special broadcast included both student and alumni DJs and can be heard on the station’s Mixcloud<\/a>. WHMD’s Faculty Advisor Kevin Lanke reached out, telling Radio Survivor, “We had dozens of alumni interact with us and listeners from 8 nations during Launch Weekend. So the event was a huge success.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linfield College Station Goes Classical<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I was surprised to hear that Linfield College’s student radio station KSLC FM has given its airwaves over to a classical music station. Oregon Arts Watch<\/a> reports, “All Classical Portland is integrating Linfield College’s campus radio station into its network, meaning the signal of 24-hour classical music and arts programming will be much clearer for the 100,000 people who live in McMinnville and surrounding communities. The donation of Linfield\u2019s KSLC 90.3 FM<\/a> to All Classical Portland was, according to a press release, initiated by McMinnville college students.” The details are a bit unclear, but All Classical Portland began broadcasting over 90.3 FM on April 2, 2020 according to the Regal Courier<\/a>. The FM license remains held by Linfield College per a search of FCC records today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Facebook announcement from KSLC states, “After more than a year of planning for the future, KSLC 90.3 FM, Linfield College ASLC Leadership, and Linfield JAMS Leadership have decided to move toward the future of digital media by deciding that KSLC will no longer be producing live, traditional radio content and will become the KSLC Podcast Network in the immediate future.” The statement goes on, explaining that “…the spirit of student-radio will remain the same as we move into the podcast era. KSLC and Linfield’s JAMS department are committed to keeping student voices active and heard.”
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More College Radio News<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

College Radio and COVID-19<\/h4>\n\n\n\n