Students interested in broadcasting are planning ways to help save KUTE, the U’s student-run radio station.
A recently formed student committee met Tuesday afternoon in the Languages and Communication Building to discuss efforts needed to bring KUTE back from its almost dormant state.
The committee ultimately decided to draft a document presenting KUTE’s mission and vision, as well as possibly conducting surveys to measure campus interest in the student-run radio station. Members said they want to draft a mission statement that meets the needs of the current student population. The committee will meet within a couple of days to synthesize these proposals before the meeting with the Student Broadcasting Council on March 12.
“(KUTE) offers a great experience to people who want to go into broadcasting,” said Erica Hansen, a junior in French and intercultural communications. “KUTE is like a chemistry lab where students get hands-on experience (in broadcasting).”
Hansen said the educational nature of KUTE is just as important or, perhaps, even more important than the entertainment it provides students.
Committee members pledged to inform fellow classmates and friends about their plans to save KUTE. The student survey would not only examine student interest in listening to KUTE, but also students’ interest in working for the station. The committee said that interest in KUTE is at an all-time low because there’s been a lack of marketing efforts — not because of a genuine disinterest among students.
The committee also discussed the possibility of holding fundraising events to bring KUTE back to the airwaves, but such a decision has not been formalized.
KUTE has been in financial trouble since the Associated Students of the University of Utah suspended its funding in 2006. ASUU felt the funding, which could reach a maximum of $15,000 per year, was not justified given the relatively low number of student listeners. To start up again, KUTE needs funding to pay more than $4,000 to the Recording Industry Association of America for royalty fees.
Jake Fawson, KUTE assistant general manager, said student interest in the radio station could help pressure ASUU to fund KUTE.
Students said they are concerned that just providing music would not make the station competitive enough.
“Generating interest to listen to music on campus is difficult when students have high-quality mp3 players ready accessible to them,” said Keith Yowell, a junior in mass communication.
Students discussed the possibility of offering sports, news and talk shows, but concluded they need to set up the technical aspects of the station before focusing on additional programming.
Fawson and Dan Bammes, a radio journalism professor and KUER anchor, fear that if KUTE shuts down, students who would want to start a radio station in the future will have to do it from scratch.
KUTE was supposed to begin broadcasting again on 1620 AM starting in January, but installment of an antenna on LNCO has been postponed because of weather.
The station now broadcasts on Channel 66 of the university’s cable TV system. Internet streaming stopped this summer because the station couldn’t pay the $4,000 in RIAA fines.
“We need to get everyone excited because students would take ownership if they thought that they could save (KUTE),” said Josh Stoddard, a senior speech communication major.
For more information about KUTE and its student committee meetings, contact Fawson at [email protected].