KTRU goes HD through KPFT

By Seth Brown     2/10/11 6:00pm

While the FCC continues to contemplate KTRU's analog future, on Monday morning Rice's radio station will begin broadcasting on KPFT's HD2 channel using KPFT's 100,000-watt transmitter in northwest Houston. The university announced the seven-year agreement with Pacifica Radio, which runs KPFT, on Saturday. KTRU will continue to broadcast on 91.7 FM through its own transmitter until the FCC reaches a decision on whether or not it can be sold to the University of Houston, and it will also continue to broadcast online.KTRU Station Manager Joey Yang said that although HD radio is not currently a widespread technology, the same was originally true of FM radio.

"The future of HD radio is uncertain, but we feel pretty confident in the opportunity," Yang, a Lovett College junior, said. "The longer a technology is around, the more ubiquitous it will become."

Yang said that after paying an upfront fee to KPFT, the monthly cost of using the HD2 channel will be comparable to the monthly operating costs for KTRU's 50,000-watt FM transmitter. President David Leebron said that the costs for using the HD2 channel will be paid in part by the sale of KTRU's transmitter and frequency to the UH, but he declined to specify how much the university will be paying Pacifica.

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"Overall [the cost] isn't going to significantly affect the resources available to KTRU or significantly affect the resources available for other purposes," Leebron said.

Yang said that although Pacifica initially wanted the agreement to only last for two to three years, KTRU's student leadership pushed for the longer contract so that a whole cycle of students could benefit from broadcasting on the HD2 channel. He said that his counterpart when the agreement expires will have a good idea of whether KTRU should continue to broadcast on HD2. Leebron said that, should the HD2 channel be successful for KTRU, he would see the agreement being renewed.

Jones College junior Irina Patrikeeva, who DJs the ska show on KTRU, said being broadcast on the HD2 channel is better than only being broadcast online.

"People can still listen to KTRU in the car, but it's inconvenient in a way if you don't have an HD [tuner] in your car," Patrikeeva said.

Yang said that KPFT will not have any programming or fundraising requirements for KTRU. There is already a link between KTRU's studio and KPFT's, Yang said.

KTRU will be giving away around 100 HD radios - which the station bought wholesale out of pocket - on air in the coming weeks, Yang said. He said that although some will be given to Rice students, he suspects there will be more interest for them from the community.

Yang said KTRU is adding a renewed focus on local programming in order to stay relevant locally and on-campus. He said DJs now have a requirement to play some local music every hour.

"We wanted to keep that relationship strong going forward - we wanted to stay grounded in Houston, in Texas," Yang said. "Not a lot of people really give Houston credit for its local music scene, but it deserves credit."

KTRU's programming will replace BBC news and special features currently running on KPFT's HD2 channel.

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