Hey folks:
It’s that time of year to support the KBGA Radiothon at the University of Montana. I just spent a few hours in the studio answering phones. I couldn’t believe what a good deal the staff at KGBA has set up for anyone who donates to support KBGA and community radio. For example, if you donate $50, you get at least $50 dollars in goodies, like a $25 gift certificate, a T-shirt, spin classes and more. You can’t beat that. Also, just remember, that community radio is one of the best ways to get an unfiltered taste of community life in Missoula. Have you ever listened to the station? If you do, you’ll hear awesome DJs and music you won’t hear anywhere else, except on college radio. Or, at least, you can say you heard the band first on KBGA. While I’m at, it’s a good time to mention that KBGA will soon be airing a program called Indigenous Expressions Radio Show, a one-hour slot dedicated to news and music in Indian Country. Meanwhile, check out the KBGA Web site for more details about the programs being aired today. Finally, keeps the following five steps (this is on the KGBA Missoula Web site) in mind as you pick up the phone to support the KBGA station:
Step 1 – Remember how awesome KBGA is
Step 2 – Pick up your phone and dial 406-243-KBGA
Step 3 – Give any amount you’re comfortable with
Step 4 – Feel good about yourself for supporting a real community radio station!
Step 5 – Rinse and repeat
KBGA’s Radiothon is February 8th-14th. From 8am to 8pm any day during this week, you can call in and pledge your support for college radio. Here are a few facts about the station so you know what you’re supporting:
•KBGA is a student run operation, which means a group of young UM radio enthusiasts manage everything that keeps the station running on a daily basis. This includes audio production, marketing, scheduling, training others in the craft of broadcast, web management, budgeting significant operating costs, booking and promoting events (both local and national acts such as Vampire Weekend), and everything else that goes into keeping a community station on the air 365 days a year.
•While the staff is entirely made up of students, our 120+ DJs are volunteers from just about every age group, profession, and musical preference. Some of our DJs are professors, retired community members, moms and dads, former students, and a whole lot of good ‘ol music nerds.
•We have made a number of huge improvements to the station in the past year. For starters, we turned our stream on in the summer and totally redesigned our broadcast studio with all new equipment courtesy of a generous grant from The Greater Montana Foundation.
•We’re dedicated to quality news programming. We air Democracy Now every weekday at 11am and have the Thom Hartmann show on 4 days a week during latenight hours. Journalism students also provide an impressive amount of local programming with a newscast every day at 9 and 5. Out Tuesday night Talk Block features 2 hours of student news with Sports talk and the brand new Talking Heads news program broadcast live on location in the Journalism building.
That’s all for now!
Jodi Rave
