8A | JULY 29, 2021 |
KNND
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Th ough the construc-
tion permit obtained from
the FCC to get the FM
broadcast working gave a
three-year time limit, the
station’s owner and staff
felt there was time to post-
pone the project.
“When we found out
that we were going to have
to move from our old facil-
ity to our new facility, with
fi nancial considerations
that sort of put the FM on
the back burner,” Reiten
said. “So then we got into
the new building, and we
were just about ready to
jump back on the FM train
again and fi nally get back
going when, well, along
comes a global pandemic.”
Th e fi nancial toll on the
community had a deep im-
pact and the radio station
was not immune.
Once again, FM was rel-
egated to the back burner.
Presently, as COVID-19
restrictions have lift ed and
with the construction per-
mit nearly at its deadline,
the station decided it was
time to make its move. A
from A1
lator in 2018, though it
would be years before real
progress was made.
“Th is ended up actually
being a much more long
and arduous process than
we ever thought,” said Re-
iten.
While KNND’s partner-
ship with South Lane TV,
whose tower is used for
KNND’s transmitter, had
forged a clear shot to start
the project, the station was
about to be uprooted.
KNND’s lease of its space
with the Odd Fellows was
up and the fraternity opt-
ed to do some work on the
building. Aft er conferring
with their counterparts in
the Metro area, it was sug-
gested that the rent price
was unreasonably low and
it should be raised to a lev-
el the group felt was more
consistent with current
market conditions.
“Two to three times
more than what I was pay-
ing,” said Reiten.
little aid from counterparts
swung in to the rescue as
well.
“We fi nally got back on
it with the help of some
radio stations in Eugene
that generously passed on
some equipment that they
had upgraded and were no
longer using,” said Reiten.
“Th ey let us have an old
transmitter and a processor
and an amplifi er that we
needed to make this work.”
Following some con-
struction and awaiting ap-
proval from the FCC, the
new FM broadcast fi red up
for the fi rst time on Satur-
day, July 24.
“It’s already showing
some promise,” said Reit-
en. “We’re getting lots of
calls from people saying
we love the FM and obvi-
ously, at the end of the day,
what we really hope that
will turn into is not only a
better product for our lis-
teners to enjoy, but more
revenue for the station –
because small, standalone
independents like us are
getting to be fewer and
further between at this
point.”
While excited to show
off the stations new fea-
ture, Reiten was clear that
had no intention of aban-
doning AM broadcasting.
“I grew up on AM ra-
dio,” he said. “AM radio, if
you have the right radio,
is absolutely phenomenal.
Th ere’s honestly, I think,
something magical about
the sound of AM radio.”
AM broadcasting has a
place in the culture as a ret-
ro artifact, though it serves
useful purposes beyond its
reputation for local talk
radio — emergency con-
ditions, weather and traffi c
coverage can off er listeners
valuable information.
Still, it is getting pushed
to the margins due to the
popularity of newer tech-
nologies.
Reiten added that he
thinks radio manufac-
turers tend not to invest
much in providing quality
AM equipment on modern
radios, if at all.
“I mean, I understand
why people don’t want to
listen to AM on many of
the new AM radios because
it’s bad,” he said. “But now,
if you’re somebody like me
and you’ve got 40-year-old
receivers in every room in
your house, you turn on
the AM radio, it’s fantas-
tic. But those are getting to
be lesser and lesser all the
time. So, FM is obviously
a clearer sound for a lot of
people.”
While KNND’s signal of-
fers this clearer option, the
station’s coverage area is
staying roughly the same,
extending as far north
as the southern end of
Springfi eld.
Th e addition of FM is
likely to help with the sta-
tion’s ad revenue as well.
“Advertisers are unlike-
ly to advertise on strictly
AM stations, because that’s
what their marketing data
is telling them — that peo-
ple don’t listen to AM any-
more,” said Reiten. “But
we’re also FM now, so we’re
attracting a lot more lis-
teners that way — at least
that’s the hope.”
Reiten said that he had
checked in with other sta-
tions which had taken ad-
vantage of the same FCC
program. Th e stations re-
ported a noticeable change
in their business with
other companies, indicat-
ing the upgrade may have
similar benefi ts in store for
KNND.
Th ough FM brings with
it new opportunities, Reit-
en emphasized that KNND
has no plans to change the
programming structure of
the station.
“We aren’t planning
any program changes at
this time. We’re still go-
ing to keep our emphasis
on local [issues], all the
personalities are going to
stay the same, all the same
programming is going to
be at the same times,” he
said. “So it’s basically the
KNND that people have
come to know and love.
Now just over on the FM
dial as well as the AM.”
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