The importance of being low-power
KBJZ-LPFM went on the air for the first time Oct. 4, 2002. About a week later, a few days before Columbus Day, the Morning Madame debuted her morning show.
Since then, the Madame - Juneau resident/performer/fisher Collette Costa - has held down the 6 a.m.-noon shift Mondays through Fridays. The show may not always be live, but it always starts with "Wake Up Everybody" by Teddy Pendergrass and includes 40 minutes of comedy in each of the first two hours.
Where else in Juneau can you hear Ween, Johnny Cash, Mahalia Jackson and The Muppets in the same shift?
"I was just interested in being involved," Costa said. "I like a lot of things about this town, but I don't like the fact that you don't have a lot of choices about a lot of things. You don't have a choice about your newspaper or where to eat or where to get clothes. Anytime there's not diversification, there's no interest. And I think this town can make it easy for people to get lazy or complacent."
Ironically, Juneau's small market and isolated geography helped Gastineau Broadcasting secure one of 255 low-power FM licenses handed out by the Federal Communications Commission in December 2000.
KBJZ is not a pirate radio station. It has a low-power FM license, different from a regular FM license but sanctioned by the FCC nonetheless.
Low-powered FM, or LPFM, was proposed by Clinton-era FCC Chairman William Kennard in 1999. The idea came three years after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 sparked radio consolidation throughout the country. Kennard hoped to set up hundreds of 100-watt, low-power, non-commercial stations for educational purposes.
Commercial broadcasters said LPFM would create too much interference. FCC engineers insisted the complaints were unfounded. But Congress, under pressure from the National Association of Broadcasters and National Public Radio, still sliced the number of LPFM licenses by 80 percent, according to the Columbia Journalism Review.
The LPFM idea was revamped and many of the licenses were given to rural areas and small markets. With the program bogged down in bureaucracy, many applications are still waiting approval. Most of the licenses went to religious or educational institutions. Few, KBJZ being an exception, play mostly music.
Nineteen Alaska organizations applied for LPFM licenses, according to www.fcc.gov. There's one other active LPFM station in Southeast. Sitka's KAQU-LP, 88.1 FM, is run by the City and Borough of Sitka and broadcasts the sounds of the ocean via a single hydrophone immersed in 90 feet of water near Whale Park.
Juneau's Calvary Fellowship applied for a license at 92.7 but has not been approved. The Wrangell Adventist Broadcasting Corp. and the Hyder Community Association Inc., hope to set up stations at 99.9 and 105.5 FM, respectively.
KTOO-FM general manager and president Bill Legere said KBJZ has had no discernible impact on the public station's audience or pledge drive. KTOO's ratings have increased in the last year, he said. Eastlan Resources, an independent research firm from Oregon, surveys the Juneau radio market every summer.
"I've always welcomed any new broadcaster to Juneau," Legere said. "They're filling an important role in the type of music that they're playing and in providing local people a chance to access radio and learn skills. We believe that ultimately helps us. We saw the White Oak stations (KSRJ-Star and KFMG-Magic) come in, and it increased listeners to radio overall."
KBJZ does not subscribe to the Eastlan service, and in fact, has no idea whether anyone is listening at all.
"I wish there was some way to figure it out, but I kind of don't want to know because I don't want to have that affect how I present things or what I present or what I choose to say and do," Costa said.
"Say what you will about my opinions and my going off on certain things, but for me, if I was listening at 7:15 in the morning and I was driving down Calhoun to get my coffee and go to work at a job I may not like that much, and there's Steve Martin talking about his penis on the radio, it doesn't get any better than that."
• Korry Keeker can be reached at korry.keeker@juneauempire.com.
KBJZ-LP 94.1 FM First Anniversary Party
• Where: Elks Lodge, 109 South Franklin St.
• When: Doors open at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 10.
• Admission: $20, 21 and over.
• 7:15 p.m. - Fiery Gypsies.
• 8 p.m. - Collette Costa's Jazz Boys w/ Robert Cohen, Albert McDonnell, Dale McFarlin, Terry Schwartz and Simon Taylor.
• 9 p.m. - Contra Public.
• 9:30 p.m. - Peabody's Monster.
• 10:30 p.m. - Deering and Down.
• 11:30 p.m. - Dag Nabbit.
• 12:30 a.m. - Panhandle Crabgrass Revival Band.
• Throughout the evening: First ever KBJZ Awards, birthday cake and barbecued pork and silent auction.
KBJZ-LP 94.1 FM programs:
• 6 a.m.-12 p.m., Monday-Friday - The Morning Madame
• 12 p.m.-3 p.m., Monday-Friday - Genius Dance Mix
• 5:30-6:30 p.m., Monday-Friday - Free Speech Radio News
• 7:30-9 p.m., Saturday - DJ High Tide and DJ Low Tide
• 9 p.m.-12 a.m., Saturday - The Turntable Liberation Front w/ DJ Corporal Punishment and DJ Hellcat
• 6 a.m.-12 p.m., Saturday-Sunday - Steve Tada
• 10-11 a.m., Saturday-Sunday - The Mystery of Artie Shaw (documentary)
• The station broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The music in the remaining time slots is live, pre-recorded or automated.