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The FCC Opens Air Waves for New Public Radio Station(s)
Gallatin Valley Community Radio and KGLT Apply for New FM Frequency

By Alison Grey, 10-18-07



A new public radio station could be hitting the Bozeman airwaves if its applicants are successful in a bid to the Federal Communications Commission to be granted a permit for a new frequency.



For the first time in seven years, the FCC announced that they would be accepting applications for new non-commercial educational FM radio stations. Only open to non-profits, organizations across the country have been compiling their applications, due by Oct. 19.



It is a unique opportunity that might not present itself for a long time and could be the last chance for small, community non-profits to be granted frequencies. A new group, Gallatin Valley Community Radio, and KGLT have both applied for frequencies in the Gallatin Valley.



Can this area support two public radio stations and is there enough frequency?



Jumping on this rare chance for new non-commercial stations, a group of Bozeman citizens formed the Gallatin Valley Community Radio — a non-profit organization with a mission to create a listener-supported, educational, free-form radio station.



Susan Cole, a retired Montana native and chairman of the group, said she wants to see another public station in the area that focuses on regional news and politics while also featuring opinions, music and cultural programming.



“We felt we needed a local public affairs station to seek out news and information beyond the mainstream media,” she said.



With KGLT mainly focusing on alternative music and Yellowstone Public Radio offering more national programming, Cole hopes that Gallatin Valley Community Radio will offer listeners a local public affairs, political talk-based radio station that focuses on local and regional news and commentary in the Gallatin County.



The application process is lengthy and expensive, with a good deal of legal and engineering fees, and requires applicants to find a transmitter site and a frequency that won’t overlap with any pre-existing stations.



The process can be an intimidating factor for organizations dependent on community support.



Despite the dedication required to time and fundraising, the organizers of Gallatin Valley Community Radio are committed to succeeding in their goal of providing the area with another public radio station.



Cole has dabbled in the radio business before. In the early 1970s she and her husband George Cole started Ten Watt Public Radio Station in Spokane, and she also hosted “The 1972 Woman,” a program created during the time that equal rights were on the forefront of national news.



Concerned by what she sees as commercialized, centralized radio operating under a concentration of ownership resulting in generic and one-sided information, Cole seeks to create another listening option for area residents.



“I think the more we are exposed to, the better information we receive, the better informed we are and the better choices we make,” she said.



Cole said we are fortunate in Bozeman to have two high quality public radio stations in the area already, KGLT and Yellowstone Public Radio, but thinks that the area can only benefit from another voice and believes there is a big enough audience to support another radio station.



As the area grows, Cole believes that so too can our news outlets, and Gallatin Valley Community Radio will fill a different niche than the two other stations and will not threaten to siphon off their audience.



“What we’re not getting is in-depth Gallatin County public news and affairs,” she said.



Gallatin Valley may have enough listeners for another radio station, but does it have the money to support another one? As many non-profits have found, it all comes back to the dollar, and that can be limited.



Ron Craighead, marketing director at KGLT, is less concerned about the new station taking away listeners.



He’s more concerned about the money.



He believes that the donating pockets in this area are already spread thin with the plethora of non-profits, a public television station and two public radio stations that hit up the same core base of people for support.



“The donating public is getting hit hard these days,” he said. “If you add anymore elements into that pot, that support could start watering down. KGLT is lucky to have a really strong loyal listening base here in Bozeman, and we still struggle to meet our target goal every year. Throw in another station competing for the same donation base, and that could be a real cause for concern.”



And as KGLT weans itself from ASMSU financial support, becoming completely dependent on public funding in the next two years, the donating public will be hit even harder. A new station will compete for the same donors, underwriters and community volunteers, threatening to splinter their support base, he said.



Along with Gallatin Valley Community Radio, KGLT is also submitting an application for a new frequency to broadcast its programs from a second signal. With many Bozeman listeners unable to pick up their broadcasts, KGLT is hoping to fill in the coverage holes that their current transmitter, located in Logan, had promised to fill, but has been unable too.



According to Craighead KGLT has found only one frequency available on Bozeman’s FM dials that won’t overlap with other stations, which puts all applicants in direct competition to be approved.



“This is a last ditch effort for us to fulfill our frequency range,” he said, noting that the station has resorted to every other option for filling their coverage before applying for a second frequency. “It’s our last, and only, option. We just want to cover the area we’re entitled to cover.”



Despite the competition for the frequency and funding, Cole believes that the support for another station is here, and hopes that with the success of their application, Gallatin Valley Community Radio could bring another important voice to area airwaves.



“Ideally, we would like to see this station become such an integral part of the Bozeman community, that people will wonder how we ever lived without,” she said.



From: http://www.newwest.net/city/article/gallatin_valley_community_radio_and_kglt_apply_for_new_fm_frequency/C396/L396/