For a self-proclaimed pioneer of college radio, not a whole lot has been explored in the ways of technological advancements in the last 30 years at KJHK. KU's college radio station has been broadcasting from the same location for over 33 years, but a major face-lift is in the works. This fall, the station will be unveiling a slick new studio located in the Kansas Union that will, once again, place KJHK at the forefront of college radio excellence.
"The studio's going to be state-of-the-art, and one of the best studios available to a college radio station in the country," KJHK Program Director Nick Spacek says.
The old station in the Sudler Annex, which has been affectionately nicknamed "The Shack" by the staff, has been the home to KJHK since October 1975. Now, three generations later, the entire studio will see a renovation unlike anything KJHK has ever been through before. The new location, on the third floor of the Kansas Union, will span 1400 square feet including three production rooms, the entire music collection, and offices for KJHK staff members, the majority of which are student volunteers. The cost is currently approaching half a million dollars.
The buzz around the staff at KJHK is unmistakable. Everyone is looking forward to the upgrade.
"I'm super excited about the move. I'll be a little sad to lose the nostalgia that goes along with the shack, but the facilities will be new and in great condition. All the frustrating things that went along with the shack being as old as it is won't be an issue any more, and it'll be in a much more convenient location," KJHK News Director Abby Olcese says.
These frustrating things, as detailed by several DJs and staff members, include things like malfunctioning headphones, broken or missing chairs, phone-lines with little to no reception, and an unreliable internet connection.
"Most people would be surprised at how low-tech and resourceful the station is day-to-day... if you saw the humble little studio where it all happens, you might say it's a miracle," KJHK Archive Director Peter Adany says. All reasons the new studio will be a very welcomed change from the every day operations at "The Shack."
"Students that might not have had a chance to DJ before will now have all the advantages that might not have been available to them in our current location," Spacek says.
A secondary service provided by the new location is an increased awareness of the experiences and learning opportunities KJHK provides students. The Kansas Union is a place where all KU students will be able to see exactly what KJHK has to offer.
"Students
will have the opportunity to learn broadcasting on state-of-the-art equipment,
all while working together in a highly visible campus hub within the
The station is much deserving of the upgrade, having brought in a station-record 15 awards at the annual Kansas Association of Broadcasting competition this year.
They are also undertaking an ambitious digital archive project. Their vast array of over ten thousand compact discs and five thousand vinyl LPs will be digitally cataloged into an enormous digital audio archive. The station plans to move all archived albums to a climate-controlled off-site storage facility to protect their historic and valuable audio collection. For more information about the digital archive project, visit http://www.kjhk.org/fundraising/digitalarchive.shtml
"The biggest concerns with the digital archive are making sure that our archive interfaces well with the new equipment, that all data is stable and protected, and that DJs use a balance of digital content combined with use of CDs, vinyl, etc., so that the broadcast experience is still fairly organic, and not just like loading up an I-Tunes playlist," Johnson says.
Even the sports programming will see a huge benefit from the move. Sports Director Sean Levine is most excited about the opportunity to simultaneously broadcast and record interviews and other segments.
"We do a lot of pre-produced stuff, as you can imagine, so the whole three studio setup really helps us because we can be doing a live sports talk show in one studio, bring in a guest to interview in another studio, and probably even be editing stuff like game day audio from our play by play calls in the third one. It really opens up our options, and should make for a ridiculously more advanced presentation," Levine says.
Adany clarifies how else KJHK is on the cutting edge of the college radio scene.
"I am excited to finally get the sound technological footing this station can use for the digital archive project, website development and also the general communication between DJs, staff and listeners. Very few other radio stations are as ambitiously digitizing and cataloguing their music, reviews, schedules and podcasts and so forth, and integrating with social network applications, and developing an online frontier as well as contributing to a local musical culture," Adany says.
The studio should be up and running by September 2009 according to Johnson, and KJHK has already taken care of security issues surrounding their 24 hour broadcast schedule, considering that the Kansas Union is not currently open 24 hours a day, with electromagnetic ID cards for KJHK late-night DJs. Other plans, such as a new reception area where guests can come take a tour of the studio, sign up to volunteer, and learn more about KJHK are all geared toward making the new studio a more interactive and visible experience. For more information about the history of the radio station, visit http://www.kjhk.org/?q=node/about/history
Leave a comment