KFAI

Infobox Radio Station
name = KFAI


area = Minneapolis-St. Paul
branding = Fresh Air Radio
slogan =
airdate = May 1, 1978
frequency = 90.3 FM, 106.7 FM
format = Public; talk/music
erp = KFAI: 125 watts
K294AM: 170 watts
class = A
callsign_meaning = Fresh Air, Inc.
owner = Fresh Air, Inc.
webcast = [http://tres.kfai.org:8000/listen.pls mp3 stream]
[http://kfai.org/smil/kfailive.ram RealAudio stream]
website = [http://www.kfai.org/ www.kfai.org] |

KFAI (90.3 FM Minneapolis and K294AM 106.7 FM West St. Paul) is a community radio station in Minnesota. The station broadcasts a wide variety of music, and also airs programming catering to many of the diverse ethnic groups of the region. KFAI has frequently been honored by local media critics for its shows and musical diversity (for instance, the local alternative weekly "City Pages" has frequently included it in the annual "Best of the Twin Cities" awards).

The station offers public access services, so they encourage anyone in the community to make their own show and have it broadcast over the air. The station is part of Minnesota's Independent Public Radio network and, despite relatively weak transmitters, is considered by many to be the group's flagship station. The call sign stands for Fresh Air, Inc., the non-profit organization that owns KFAI.

History

The station first went on the air with a 10 watt signal on May 1, 1978, after drawn-out deliberations with the Federal Communications Commission, which was licensing a few low-power FM stations at the time. The first home was in the belfry of the Walker Community Church in South Minneapolis. In 1984, the primary transmitter was moved from the roof of the Seward Co-op to the top of the Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis and upgraded to 125 watts. The studios moved from the church two years later, when it moved to the second floor of a Butler Drug store on Lake Street. In 1991, studios were built especially for Fresh Air Radio at Cedar-Riverside near the University of Minnesota, where it remains today. The 170-watt West St. Paul translator went up in 1994.

In March 2007, KFAI's main transmitter moved to IDS Center, after the new owner of Foshay Tower evicted all current tenants of the building as part of a redevelopment plan to turn it into a hotel [http://www.northpine.com/broadcast/index.html] . Since November 6, 2007, the station has been operating under an FCC Construction Permit with an upgraded effective radiated power of 900 Watts and an IDS Center tower height of 247 meters (811 feet)above ground level. This upgrade allows the station to have a stronger from the IDS Center which extends the station's coverage deeper into St. Paul and the southeast suburbs.

KFAI's limited power means that it really targets the core communities of the Twin Cities region. Three other IPR stations exist in Minneapolis-St. Paul: KBEM (jazz), KMOJ (urban), and KUOM (college/eclectic). KVSC, another college station in St. Cloud, Minnesota, can also be received by some area residents. The station has major plans for expansion into HD radio by late September 2008.

Programming

KFAI's programming is highly eclectic and uses block programming, so that, for example, one might find a country music program followed by an hour of news about LGBT issues, or a reggae program followed by an hour of spoken word readings or an hour of Hmong programming. Although programs almost always occupy the same blocks from week to week, programs often have little or nothing to do with what precedes or follows them, and the station prides itself on being a "different radio station every hour".

Some of the station's programming is carried on other radio stations. The show "Crap from the Past" airs on several stations in Arizona, plus one in New Zealand (in addition to a few Internet radio streams). KFAI offers archives of locally-produced shows, and many of the station's various hosts and programmers also offer their own archived broadcasts at other sources.

External links

* [http://www.kfai.org/ KFAI]
* [http://romm.org/podcast/Dave%20Romm%27s%20Portal/Podcast/Podcast.html Shockwave Radio Theater Podcasts]
* [http://www.crapfromthepast.com/archives/index.htm Crap From the Past archives]
*FMQ|KFAI
*FML|KFAI
*FMQ|K294AM
* [http://www.styluscity.org/KFAI/ KFAI's page on StylusCity]
* [http://www.rakemag.com/reporting/rakish-angle/higher-fi/ Higher than Fi]
* [http://www.geocities.com/vintagecountry Good & Country]