Bill Virgin's Radio Beat December 14, 2006

[radiofan]

Thursday, December 14, 2006

On Radio: College-based KVTI has built a solid audience

By BILL VIRGIN
P-I REPORTER

Public and non-commercial stations claim a major chunk of the Seattle-Tacoma radio audience, with six showing up in the ratings: KUOW-FM, one of the highest-rated stations in the market, its affiliate KXOT-FM, jazz powerhouse KPLU-FM, indie/college-rock darling KEXP-FM and KBCS-FM with its eclectic mix of musical programming.

The other entrant on the list: KVTI-FM (90.9), the student-operated station at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood in Pierce County.

KVTI may not have as high a profile as others, but it definitely has an audience for its pop-Top 40 format. It also is getting recognition in the industry, having picked up two awards recently from trade publication New Music Weekly (for Top 40 station of the year and Top 40 music director of the year, Beth Valiant).

One reason for the audience and recognition may be longevity: KVTI has had the same format since 1988, a period in which many commercial stations have gone through several rounds of format and call-letter changes. What also helps is a 51,000-watt signal, relatively strong for an FM station (KPLU is licensed for 55,000 watts, KUOW is at 100,000).

KVTI began in 1955 as KCPS on the campus of Clover Park High School. John Mangan, the station's general manager and a full-time faculty member at the college, says it was only the fifth FM station in the state. It ran until 1958, then re-emerged in 1960 at the district's adult vocational-education campus that is now Clover Park Technical College. In the early 1970s, it became KPEC-FM, then in 1983 switched to KVTI.

In 1988, KVTI was operating with what Mangan describes as "a format not unlike what The Mountain does now, except that no one paid attention to it when we did it." Then a Tacoma-based station (operating at the time as KNBQ) changed to oldies-format KBSG-FM. "The opportunity just fell out of the sky," Mangan says, noting that the South Sound had long had its own Top 40 station.

The format also fits far better with KVTI's student staff and its audience of prospective and current students, he adds. One of the few variations to the formats comes on Tuesday evenings, when KVTI broadcasts the open-mike "Victory Music" program of live acoustic performances from the Antique Sandwich Shop in Ruston. It has been on KVTI since 1983.

Today the station operates with Mangan, a full-time music director, a back-up instructor and part-time engineering staff, as well as students handling not just on-air duties but sales and billing for underwriting. "It's not a DJ factory," he says. The two-year program's enrollment is usually 15 to 20 students at a time.

Mangan says KVTI is a true working radio station that happens to be on a college campus. "I avoid the term college radio like the plague," he says.

Mangan is not one of those writing obituaries for the radio industry for which he is preparing graduates.

"I don't think radio is limited to AM or FM any more," he says. He tells students not to become wedded to any particular technology or piece of equipment, because it could well be obsolete by the time they graduate, although whatever someone comes up with "should be fun to play with."

What matters is developing programming for an audience, Mangan says; the technology is "just different delivery channels for the same basic concept." Looked at that way, he adds "I think the future's pretty limitless."

In other radio notes:

Former President Jimmy Carter is the guest on "Weekday" at 9 a.m. today on KUOW-FM (94.9).

KPLU-FM (88.5) presents a live broadcast of a production of "Miracle on 34th Street" from the Museum of History and Industry at 7 p.m. Saturday. The cast includes Pat Cashman, Nick Morrison, Dick Stein, Chris Wedes (J.P. Patches) and Tracey Conway.

Grey Filastine performs on "Sonarchy" at midnight Saturday on KEXP-FM (90.3).

Lizz Sommars' guests on "Conversations" at 6 a.m. Sunday on KBSG-FM (97.3), KISW-FM (99.9) and KKWF-FM (100.7) include environmentalist and TV host David Suzuki.

P-I reporter Bill Virgin can be reached at 206-448-8319 or billvirgin@seattlepi.com.

Bill Virgin's Radio Beat Thursdays in the Seattle P-I