KSVU CONTACT INFORMATION: Rip Robbins — KSVR General Manager, Media Instructor
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| A River Home Companion Holiday Show was a great success! | ||||||||||
| A River Home Companion Holiday Show was presented Thursday, Dec. 15 at the Concrete Theatre. The proceeds of this show will be used to support KSVU-FM.
This "live radio show" starred Steve Denzel of Mount Vernon, who portrayed host Harrison Wheeler. Those in attendance enjoyed stories and skits, along with favorite Christmas, gospel and holiday music. Among the many talented performers were Mason Eger, Jason Miller, Bruce and Judy Newburn, Nicola Pearson, Kelly Siebecke and Joyful Noise, Don Smith and Friends, Stuarto Glasser and Rhonda E. |
There were also door prizes and a raffle. Stuarto Glasser donated a dinner/cooking lesson in the home of the lucky raffle winner.
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| Great turnout for the ribbon-cutting dedication for the KSVU studio in Concrete | ||||||||||
| In celebration of its new radio station located in Concrete, Skagit Valley College hosted a celebration and ribbon cutting at the KSVU 90.1 FM station on Thursday, November 17. The station is located on the grounds of the Concrete School District.
The president of Skagit Valley College, Dr. Gary Tollefson, was in attendance, along with staff and volunteers from KSVR and KSVU. Chef Stuarto, of the popular Kitchen Cuisine program cooked up some delicious food in honor of the occasion. Many Eastern Skagit residents, who helped build the momentum needed to reach this historic moment, were also in attendance. "We had a nice turnout for this fun event," stated Rip Robbins, KSVU's General Manager and Media Instructor at SVC. "This was a symbolic transfer of operations from the Mount Vernon radio staff to local folks who can produce radio programs," he said. |
According to Robbins, KSVU has almost enough support for the local studio internet connection to establish a contract with Frontier Communications in a couple of weeks. "This will allow us to have our first local broadcast before the year's end," said Robbins.
Working in cooperation with local citizen organizations, the Concrete Herald, local bloggers, churches, coffee shops, and the town's bulletin boards, KSVU will be the place for community members to help create on-air programming.
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| Listen to Lunchbox Radio at noon — only on KSVU-FM! | ||||||||||
Enjoy eating your brunch, lunch or just a mid-day snack duringLunchbox Radio, heard only on KSVU 90.1-FM. Each weekday afternoon from noon to 1 p.m. brings a different host and musical flavor to your speakers.
* These busy radio enthusiasts also host programs on KSVR, KSVU's sister station. Learn more about the music and information programs they produce by going to the KSVR-FM Web site. Thanks for your support!
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KSVU IS LOOKING FOR AN INTERESTED PERSON WHO WOULD LIKE TO TAKE OVER A SLOT FOR THE WEDNESDAY LUNCHBOX RADIO. INTERESTED? CONTACT RIP ROBBINS AT rrobbins@skagit.edu |
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| KSVU-FM live spring broadcast at the Cement City Street Fair | ||||||||||
| On Saturday, July 23 the Lunchbox crew set up a table at the Cement City Street Fair to broadcast live.
Street Fair events were brought to life on the airwaves, the first time this was attemped by the newly created KSVU. The Hi Lo Hotel provided KSVU and the Lunchbox crew with the electrical power needed for this live broadcast. |
 Pictures courtesy of the Concrete Chamber of Commerce. |
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| A River Home Companion fundraiser reaped many donations for KSVU-FM | ||||||||||
| KSVU received $872 in donations, as musicians and theater donated profits to the new Community Radio Station. About 100 people attended the event.
Steve Denzel and a cast of great actors and musicians contributed their talents to A River Home Companion, a parody of a popular radio program. This show featured local characters and landmarks: |
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| Most Commonly Asked Questions: | ||||||||||
| What is KSVU? | ||||||||||
| KSVU is a non-commercial, listener community supported public radio service, with a signal covering the Skagit River Valley, including Sedro-Woolley, Lyman, Hamilton, Birdsview, Shannon Lake, Concrete and Rockport. Radio is another outlet to help increase the conversations and distribute local discussion, information and entertainment. Working in cooperation with local citizen organizations, the Concrete Herald, local bloggers, churches, coffee shops and the town’s bulletin boards, the radio service will become a place for people to tell the stories, and give the viewpoints, share the love of music, and relay the conversations and discussions of local leaders and just regular folks. Through radio, we can easily share in the successes and talents of our neighbors and families. Radio is a hands-free medium, and doesn’t require staring at a screen. Many of the radio programs to be heard on KSVU should be created by the listeners to the station, people living in the coverage area. | ||||||||||
| When did broadcasting begin? | ||||||||||
| Just after 4 p.m., March 17, the radio signal at 90.1 FM turned on for the first time. The Federal Communications Commission issued a license on April 8. The license is for 3 years. This inaugural event marks the end of the beginning, so to speak: the end of over 3 years for the planning, permitting, and construction phase. Now we begin the on-going fun of programming creation—you know, making radio! | ||||||||||
Where does the radio signal come from? |
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| The radio signal comes from an antenna on a commercial tower located near Grassmere. Space on the tower leg is rented for $7,200 per year (less than $1 per year per resident covered by the broadcast signal), and in the first year will be subsidized by KSVR (Mount Vernon) operations. Over time, this cost will be covered by KSVU fundraising activities, including local business patronage. For the future, the community needs to find a private solution to bring down the cost of renting space for the antenna and transmitter. A private land-owner, who would allow a tower for the radio station at little cost, would reduce the annual cost to transmit. | ||||||||||
| Where is the main KSVU studio? | ||||||||||
| The main studio is now located in Mount Vernon at Skagit Valley College. We have used our additional equipment to build a small news studio, also located at Mount Vernon. We are in negotiation to locate a studio in Concrete. Then begins the process of turning over studio production and scheduling to the locals. That’s where you come in. | ||||||||||
| What is the history of KSVU? | ||||||||||
| In 2007, the FCC suddenly announced it would be accepting applications for non-commercial public radio stations. Using $5,000 from a KSVR contingency fund, and with approval from administrators at Skagit Valley College, Rip Robbins hired an engineer to work out the potential for a radio station in the upper river valley. That area was not served by the college’s existing radio station. The application for Hamilton-Concrete was successful. Hamilton was named as the station’s community of license because it was within 25 miles of the SVC Main Studio and within the 60dB contour of the signal, both FCC rules for Non-Commercial Educational licensees. Robbins applied for a small U.S. Commerce Department grant which supports public broadcasting infrastructure (similar to way telephone lines in rural areas are subsidized with federal funds). The same federal agency is involved with the national upgrade of broadband internet service. When the FCC permit to begin construction of the radio station was granted in 2008, the college was suddenly confronted with a severe budget shortfall at the state level, and cutbacks were put into place across campus. This meant that money would no longer be available for the radio project. Fortunately most of the legal work had been done, and KSVR had $27,000 in savings to put toward a 75 percent match offered by the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program. Robbins could request a project total of $147,000 to build the new station. With $110,000 in matching federal funds, the radio station could have a solid high quality foundation of equipment. The college agreed to continue help with administrative support, seeing the tremendous potential in outreach opportunity, for a relatively small investment. | ||||||||||
| What will happen in the future? | ||||||||||
| Now that the station is on the air, the staff at KSVR is reviewing the program schedule to customize it for the Skagit River Valley. Staff will host public outreach activities, like programming training, and fundraising opportunities, and planning for special live broadcasts from local events. We will publish and broadcast information about those events. Send us your email, and stay in the know with the new radio station with our short weekly program highlights.
The first KSVU public event is a ‘benefit fundraiser’ donated by the Concrete Theatre, (thanks to Val!). Come see some fun on stage and hear some great music, and comedy skits, all part of the Radio Theater troupe, and the Cement City Home Companion |
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 Above is the proposed broadcast range for KSVU-FM which will potentially cover Rockport, Van Horn, Concrete and Birdsview, extending north to the Baker Dam area. |
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Robert 'Tex' McWilliams, broadcasting the Monday Lunchbox from the KSVU studio on the campus of Skagit Valley College. Tex is leading the drive to obtain an internet connection to the Concrete studio, so he will not have to drive all the way down the valley to do the show.
A presentation about Radio Interviewing was given by Joseph McGuire at the KSVU meeting in Concrete.
Steve Denzel stars in "A River Home Companion Holiday Show".
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| © KSVU-FM • Last Updated December, 2011 |