KSER wants to expand to Whidbey
Published 9:33 pm Sunday, October 19, 2008
EVERETT — KSER, the Everett-based, listener-supported radio station, has big plans for its future.
It hopes to get federal permission to begin operating on a second radio frequency to serve Camano and Whidbey islands.
“Our long-term goal is to bring full-powered, local public radio to Island County,” said Bruce Wirth, KSER’s general manager. It would be a totally separate radio station focused on serving Whidbey and Camano islands, he said.
But the first step in the process is getting permission from the Federal Communications Commission to operate at a second frequency, at 89.9 FM. That’s the last remaining bit of public bandwidth in the Puget Sound area. The request was made in October 2007.
“There are only a few frequencies left in a big market like the Seattle metropolitan area,” Wirth said. The federal agency has had a freeze on such applications for at least seven years, he said.
So KSER is battling with 10 other stations, including KEXP in Seattle and KSVR in Skagit County, to win the rights to broadcast at 89.9, Wirth said.
It could take five or more years for the federal agency to make its decision, Wirth said.
The total cost of the application process, a new antenna and tower and building studios on Whidbey Island could be close to $1 million, Wirth said.
Wirth said he hopes to hear from people in Island County interested in having their own public radio station. Fundraising for the project is expected to begin in 2010, he said.
KWPQ, a low-powered Coupeville FM station, broadcasts with limited signal at 103.1 FM. Wirth said he’s been in contact with some of its volunteers.
“We look at this as an opportunity to collaborate with people on the island, to really bring local service to Island County,” he said.
If given the license for the second frequency, KSER would simulcast its broadcasts on the new frequency, probably for several years, until studios are built on Whidbey Island, Wirth said.
KSER, which first began operations in 1991, broadcasts at 90.7 FM. It can be heard in Snohomish County, as far north as Mount Vernon and south to Shoreline in north King County.
About three quarters of its current audience lives in Snohomish County and about 10 percent live either on Camano or Whidbey islands, and 12 percent in King County.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
