The marathon will be officially launched by former college radio station KTRU who will be returning to the airwaves as a newly-licensed LPFM radio station (with the call letters of KBLT-FM). While the original KTRU call letters were lost in 2010, the station will still use the KTRU moniker in house and commence broadcasting on 96.1 FM with the call letters KBLT-FM.
KTRU Student Station Manager Emily Meigs says, “KTRU is excited to return to the FM airwaves and to coincide our launch with the 24-Hour College Radio Marathon. KTRU has had an interesting past, but we believe our move back to FM goes to show that college radio is still thriving and will continue to do so. We are looking forward to starting the marathon and joining others in the celebration of college radio!”
In 2010, several college radio stations were facing being shut down and sold to corporate interests seeking to gain a stronghold on the lower half of the FM dial. College stations like KUSF in California, WRVU in Tennessee and KTRU in Texas were some of those effected by those seeking to gain control of their licenses, thus taking away some of the bravest programming heard on terrestrial airwaves.
Harnessing the power of TuneIn radio, College Radio Day will also be launching a college-radio dedicated TuneIn radio station called College Radio Forever, which will be the home of the 24-Hour College Radio Marathon. The marathon will feature programming from 24 college radio stations from around the country with KTRU leading the charge. After October 2nd, College Radio Forever will feature college radio stations from around the United States on a rotating format, pulling unique programming from all stations participating in College Radio Day.
Finally, the organizers of College Radio Day will be producing their annual college radio simulcast for stations to broadcast on October 2nd at 1 p.m. EST. This year the simulcast will feature support from artists such as Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Mike D’Antonio of Killswitch Engage, Calvin Johnson, founder of K Records, Bruce Pavitt, co-founder of Sub Pop Records, Mike Pickerel of The Screaming Trees and more to be announced.
“After discovering college radio during the second semester of freshman year, I’ve been enamored with the medium and community that is college radio. I’m proud to serve as the President of the Board and look forward to hearing all the unique programming put out by stations from around the nation during this year’s event!”, says Anthony Saia, President of College Radio Day.
Over the last five years, College Radio Day has become an annual tradition on college campuses across the country, and has seen supporters such as Moby, Andrew WK, Coldplay and even President Obama recognize the event for college radio.
More at www.collegeradioday.com
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(This post taken from a release from College Radio Day)
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