KRCL (FM-90.9), Utah's sound alternative, is celebrating its 10th birthday this year.
Since 1979, this non-commercial community radio station has used hundreds of volunteers to broadcast music, fiction, news, opinions and local events to a diverse audience area along the Wasatch Front.The idea for KRCL was conceived by Steven Holbrook, a member of the Utah Legislature, who was concerned that local media would not cover alternative viewpoints in the 1960s. While visiting California, he discovered KPFA, a Berkeley community radio station that voiced the opinions of listeners who had been traditionally denied access to radio broadcasting.
Holbrook returned to Utah and worked hard to get KRCL on the air. He has since moved on to other community concerns, but the ideal and dreams of the station have remained the same.
KRCL stands for "Listener Community Radio," with the call letters listed backward. (A military ship originally had the KRCL call letters and it took a real effort to secure them.)
Some have called the station "Radio Free Utah" because of its unique ability to broadcast what most other stations will not.
Presently featured music on KRCL includes Asian, Bluegrass, folk, soul, African, new wave, jazz, rock, Native American, blue, new age, punk, women's, gospel, reggae and Hispanic styles. This list is always growing.
Regular non-music programs also focus on important, yet otherwise ignored news items, comedy acts, poetry and minority perspectives.
KRCL also publishes its own program guide, seven times a year, to keep the community informed. The station also hosts the "Women Aloud" weekend each spring.
The station strives to serve all members of the community, regardless of gender, race, religion, creed or belief.
Volunteers are the mainstay of KRCL, and they are men and women from all walks of life. The station's studio is at 208 W. 800 South. Several fund-raisers year, as well as grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, keep the station on the air.
-KBYU (FM-89.1) kicks off the 50th anniversary celebration of Saturday afternoon opera radio broadcasts Saturday, Dec. 2, with "Met Marathon" at 11:30 a.m.
This annual program is a prelude to the 20 live Texaco-Metropolitan opera broadcasts that begin Dec. 9 and continue weekly through April 21. This prelude program will feature rarely heard historical excerpts from the first Texaco-sponsored broadcast season.
-RADIOVISION, a Utah based company, is now broadcasting the state's ski report to more than 2,300 radio stations on the ABC Radio Network. The reports air once a hour for 16 hours per day.
Each three- to five-minute report includes snow, weather, airport conditions, as well as other happenings in Salt Lake City and rest of Utah.
In addition to the estimated 20 million listeners-per-hour radio audience, the report can also be heard by satellite dish owners.
RadioVision hopes that this ski report service will give Americans a Utah prelude to the 1998/2002 Winter Olympics.
-KSL (AM-1160) - University of Utah basketball coach Rick Majerus will be the guest Friday, Dec. 1, on Sportscentral at 6:30 p.m.
- The BYU at Penn State game airs Saturday, Dec. 2, at 5 p.m.
-KALL (AM-910) will air the Denver at Los Angeles Raiders NFL game Sunday, Dec. 3, at 1:33 p.m. The Utah at Washington basketball game will be broadcast Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 7:35 p.m. and the "Coach Rick Majerus Show" will precede that game at 7:05 p.m.
- On Saturday, Dec. 2, KALL's special morning programs for do-it-yourselfers will feature the following lineup:
On the "Grow-It" show, 7 to 8 a.m., the subject will be "Pruning and Winter Care of Trees and Shrubs" by Alex Morris, Jordan River LDS Temple grounds supervisor.
The "Hometalk" show, 8 to 9 a.m., will address the topic of "Dealing with your Home's No. 1 Enemy (water)" (children are No. 2) with Wilson Martin and Don Hartley of the Utah Historical Society Office of Preservation.
From 9-10 a.m., "Do You Adore or Abhor your Floors?" will be discussed by Larry Jensen, a floor-covering specialist from Murray.
On "Auto-Medic," 10 to 11 a.m., "What's Ailing Your Car" will be answered by Brett Baird of the Salt Lake Community College.