Penn State Intercom......October 19, 2000
The Lion is growing
Penn State's student radio station
is
becoming a major player in the local market
By Bill Campbell
Special to Intercom
The
Lion is roaring and staff members at Penn State's student radio station
plan to keep it that way.
WKPS, 90.7 FM, now known as The Lion, is a multi-formatted station offering a wide variety of music and programming, including mainstream alternative, jazz, gospel and Latin mix, news and sports programs, and a public opinion show.
"We try to determine what our listeners want and what the radio station can do to fulfill those wishes," Al Bianchi, operations manager, said. "As a student radio station, we have a responsibility to the students who come from all walks of life and from different parts of the country. They have many different music tastes and we try to meet their needs.
"By providing a huge mix of programming, we think we're meeting that goal. At the same time, we felt we needed a new image and for the past six months we've been broadcasting as The Lion. Most listeners identify with the name of a station and not the call letters. Many listeners are now identifying with our new name."
WKPS first went on the air Nov. 1, 1995, and originates from studios provided by the College of Communications in the James Building in downtown State College. It broadcasts 20 hours a day during the week, from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m., and 22 hours on weekends, from 7 a.m. to 5 a.m.
"While the station was created five years ago, we are back to infancy stages in terms of development," said Bianchi, a senior telecommunications major from the Philadelphia area.
"Last spring, an inordinate number of staff members graduated and we were left with a skeleton crew. During the summer and fall, we recruited intensely to obtain new staff members. Usually, we have approximately 125 staff members from a variety of majors. Everyone brings his or her own interests and perspectives to the station and that's what helps make it work.
"In the eyes of the University, we are a student club. In the eyes of the Federal Communications Commission, we are a fully functioning radio station and we operate as such. We try to work independently as much as we can but we depend on the University for support."
Bianchi said he and the other officers, Mike Walsh, station manager; Andy Nagypal, treasurer; Anthony Miccio, program director; and Horace Haugton, promotions director and vice president, have developed new logs and new manuals and have implemented expanded training programs for new staff members. The station also is moving from analog to digital broadcasting equipment.
"Digital equipment provides clearer, crisper signals," Bianchi said. "But it is very expensive to make the switch and we are doing a little at a time. We keep adding the necessary equipment to our budget requests to the University. I hope that by next fall the station will be digital and will compete with other area radio stations."
In addition to its broad mix of music, the station also offers a number of special programs. It carries all home football games, broadcasts other Penn State sporting events and does other remote broadcasts. Last month, its urban music show was broadcast from Alumni Hall in the HUB-Robeson Center as part of Late Night Penn State.
The station also has a contract with Web Radio, giving those outside of its listening area the opportunity to tune in by logging onto The Lion's home page at http://www.clubs.psu.edu/wkps/ and clicking on the link to Web Radio.
Bianchi, who had an interest in radio while in high school, came to Penn State as a psychology major. After meeting someone involved with the station in a communications class, he joined the staff as a morning show host, and then became involved in management of the station.
"I was more interested in working in the background to make the on-air shows successful. That is a challenge here and that's what I wanted to do."
He will graduate in December, while the other officers will graduate in the spring.
"We're hoping to leave in place new officers who will continue to work to make The Lion a better station," he said. "We've made improvements and we'll hand it over to new officers who we hope will improve on what we've done."