Battle Rages Over a College Radio Station’s Sale

By REYHAN HARMANCI
March 19, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/us/20bckusf.html

In mid-January, the University of San Francisco abruptly took KUSF off the air.

In announcing the sale of the station — which for 34 years beamed cutting-edge rock, public affairs and other programming to a diverse audience — the university said KUSF would not be ending, but merely changing to an online-only format with an enhanced student presence.

Since then, the station’s community volunteers, a group called Save KUSF, have been furiously working to halt the sale, with the hope of eventually buying the signal.

In the meantime, the university’s online radio efforts have stalled.

Miranda Morris, fund-raising and marketing coordinator of KUSF, estimated that the station used to reach around 30,000 weekly listeners at 90.3 FM, while around 20 people at a time currently listen online.

It seems that even in the digital age, a radio signal still matters.

Ken Freedman, station manager at the free-form radio station WFMU in New Jersey, said, “It’s not realistic for a terrestrial station to move online and maintain the same audience.”

Mr. Freedman, whose station has been helping Save KUSF’s efforts, said a radio station needed both online and traditional broadcast components. Thanks to WFMU’s donated broadband, Save KUSF will begin streaming live online as KUSF-in-Exile this weekend from a studio in the Bayview district.

Irwin Swirnoff, a former KUSF music director and a leader of Save KUSF, said, “It’s a temporary situation that will hopefully lead to us regaining a spot on the terrestrial dial.”

With a dedicated core group of around 30 volunteers, Save KUSF has mounted a spirited campaign against the station’s $3.75 million sale to the Classical Public Radio Network, a nonprofit largely owned by the University of Southern California.

In addition to raising about $25,000 for legal fees to petition the Federal Communications Commission block the transaction, Save KUSF pushed the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the San Francisco Democratic Party, State Senator Leland Yee and other political leaders to condemn the university’s divestment publicly.

Local venues and musicians have been staging benefit shows, and music groups like Yo La Tengo have written statements in support.

In early March, Save KUSF’s lawyers petitioned the F.C.C. to block the sale. The university said the largely volunteer-run station was losing money and not serving students.

“Not a single critic has explained why it is fair that our students foot the bill for a radio station run primarily by outsiders for the benefit of others,” said Gary McDonald, a university spokesman.

Mr. Freedman said that moving online “makes no sense” economically. Steve Runyon, KUSF founder and current general manager, agreed, calling the sale “a loss to the university.”

But Save KUSF hopes that the college’s loss can be its gain.

“No one is questioning U.S.F.’s right to liquidate an asset,” Mr. Swirnoff said. “All we want is to have the opportunity to buy that transmitter.”