Three years later, it jumped up to 100,000 watts. It wasn't until August 1984, with a federal deadline looming, that KABF aired its first program, at 10,000 watts. Jim Youngdahl, a lawyer, had donated about 100 records, including some jazz and blues on old 78 rpm discs (known as "78s").īut they still needed a broadcast studio and some turntables, a console, tape recorders. The bespectacled Scott Holladay, station manager, predicted they might get on the air by February. When the Arkansas Democrat's Alex Brandon shot this photo in January 1984, the foundation had just erected KABF's 200-foot broadcast tower and its transmitter building atop Crystal Mountain, adjacent to Shinall Mountain's antenna farm. Donors who gave $25 or more got a poster and a certificate. The Wanna Buy a Watt? fund drive suggested that each $1 donated would buy one watt for the transmitter. With grants from ACORN, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, the federal government and individual donations, KABF acquired a secondhand transmitter that needed work. The A, B and F stood for Arkansas Broadcasting Foundation, which owned the license for a 100,000 watt signal. Meanwhile, volunteers with ACORN (Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now) were trying to create KABF-FM, 88.3, a station that would air diverse genres and local artists while offering a platform to community groups. An educational station, KLRE-FM, precursor of today's public powerhouse KLRE/KUAR-FM, was heard only in and near the capital city. With a few exceptions (like KARN-AM), in the 1980s, Central Arkansas radio paid only the least legally required attention to public affairs. Fans of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, reggae or alternative rock motored about the aural deserts of Arkansas in cars littered with cassette tapes. Print Headline: UALR Radio receives historic gift of $1.Does anyone recognize what's happening in this photo from the Democrat-Gazette archives?įorty years ago, individual Arkansans still owned radio stations, but many had rigid musical formats with playlists picked by distant marketing consultants. "This anonymous donation will leave a lasting impact on public radio in our community for years to come." "This generous endowment provides both stability and a steady revenue source that allows us to plan for the future of KUAR and KLRE," Christian O'Neal, vice chancellor for university advancement, said in the release. They provide professional experience in news reporting and broadcast production to students who work as interns and part-time staff members. The public radio stations, with a combined listenership of about 80,000 a week, according to the release, are part of the university's College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education. ![]() Driving status, travel modes and accelerometer-assessed physical activity in. What will be called the UA Little Rock Public Radio Operating Endowment will provide about $60,000 a year to support reporting, music and cultural programming. 2020, Velez-Suberbie ML, Morris SA, Kaur K, Hickey JM, Joshi SB, Volkin DB. "With that in mind we will be applying this gift to strengthen and expand services as the region's NPR news and information provider, classical music radio station and as a local and regional news organization." "The purpose of the gift is to provide an ongoing stream of operating funds to support UA Little Rock Public Radio," Vandiver added in an interview with the Democrat-Gazette. "This gift is a wonderful testament to the impact of public radio," Nathan Vandiver, general manager of UALR Public Radio, said in a news release. Donations topped $100,000 during the morning drive, with staff members and volunteers celebrating loudly enough to be heard on the air. ![]() The university announced the donation on the air Friday, the final day of the stations' weeklong annual fall fund drive, which sought $150,000 over the course of five days. It is the largest cash donation to the radio stations in its history. ![]() ![]() The university operates two stations: KUAR-FM, 89.1, which carries news programming from National Public Radio and a range of national and local programming, and KLRE-FM, 90.5, which airs classical music 24/7. LITTLE ROCK - An anonymous donor has given $1.5 million to University of Arkansas at Little Rock Public Radio.
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