By David Porter, Associated Press Writer
May 21, 2004

FLEMINGTON, N.J. -- Even with CD players and iPods, America's teens still
listen to the radio. And they tune in even more when the DJs are their own
age.

Their unwavering devotion has meant that high school radio has managed to
survive -- even thrive at the margins at the low end of the FM dial.

In New Jersey, high school radio epitomizes what is characteristic
nationwide. WCVH, out of Hunterdon Central High School, celebrated its 30th
anniversary last month. WJSV, based at Morristown High, has been
broadcasting since 1971, and West Windsor-Plainsboro High's WWPH has been on
the air 28 years. Other stations operate out of Atlantic City, Piscataway
and Brick high schools.

At 78 watts, WCVH can be heard as far as 20 miles from the school. The
student-run shows are done in two-hour shifts, with three DJs on each shift.
The banter can get silly but stays safely within the boundaries of good
taste.

"They have to keep it clean," said David Kelber, WCVH's faculty adviser
since 1975. "They have limited free rein."

David Connolly, who does an afternoon show with classmates Jacob Lewandowski
and China Ejim called Random Nation, gets to play his favorite music while
learning about the radio business.
"We have an order to the show, but as far as the music goes, it's kind of
skewed," Connolly said.

There are about 300 high school stations nationwide, said Fritz Kass, chief
operating officer of the New Windsor, N.Y.-based Intercollegiate
Broadcasting System, an organization that serves mainly college stations.
There are about 2,400 stations classified as educational by the Federal
Communications Commission.

There is no national organization specifically for high school stations, and
the FCC does not maintain statistics on them. But Kass said high school
stations have made up most of the growth in his organization's membership in
the last few years.

Kelber has overseen the growth of WCVH from a one-room operation manned by
six or seven students to one that features radio and television studios with
state-of-the-art equipment used by about 100 students. He and engineer John
Anastasio designed and built most of the furnishings themselves.

In the early days, students broadcast live from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays,
with some taped programs in the afternoon. Today, students broadcast from 3
p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. The rest
of the time, the station offers computer-programmed music and taped
public-interest programming.

Wayne Cabot, an afternoon newscaster on New York's WCBS AM, cut his teeth in
radio at WCVH while a student at nearby Voorhees High in the early 1980s and
remembers "spending every spare minute" at the station.

"We had a lot of fun, but it was a great place to learn," he said. "You
learned everything about programming formats, engineering, what rules you
had to follow to keep your license."

Federal legislation passed in the 1960s set aside the frequencies between
88.1 and 91.9 for non-commercial stations of 100 watts or less. Those
airwaves have become increasingly crowded in New Jersey, which has more than
130 AM and FM stations, according to FCC statistics. The Hunterdon Central
and Morristown stations use the same 90.5 FM frequency, as do WBJB in
Lincroft and WXGN in Egg Harbor Township.

Even well established high school stations operate largely at the mercy of
the larger outlets. FCC rules require smaller stations, categorized as Class
A, to make way on the FM band for larger stations in Classes B, C and D if
conflicts arise.

For example, when Radio One, the country's seventh-largest radio
conglomerate, bought 107.7 WSNJ in the Philadelphia area, it moved the
location of its tower and also moved the station's frequency to 107.9 to fit
into the Philadelphia market.

That amounts to a death sentence for WWHS, which has broadcast on 107.9 from
Haverford High School since 1949 and is considered the longest-running high
school station in the country. The station is expected to go off the air
before the end of the year, a Radio One spokeswoman said.

One solution would be to stream audio over the Internet, an experiment WCVH
tried two years ago but later abandoned. Kelber and Anastasio cited the cost
involved, on top of what the station already pays to music licensing
agencies ASCAP and BMI.

"We don't compete with the commercial stations," Kelber said. "We're not in
the business of making money or for ratings. But we do care about service to
the community."

© Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The Boston Globe picked up this story last week. Quite interesting, with
unfortunately one glaring error:

FCC rules require smaller stations, categorized as Class A, to make way on the
FM band for larger stations in Classes B, C and D if conflicts arise.

It's Class D stations that are the secondary service in the commercial
(non-reserved) portion of the FM band.

I'm looking for a list of high schools that broadcast internet radio,
anyone know where I can find it?

Klaus
VirtualTuner.com

"Mike Terry" wrote in message ...
By David Porter, Associated Press Writer
May 21, 2004

FLEMINGTON, N.J. -- Even with CD players and iPods, America's teens still
listen to the radio. And they tune in even more when the DJs are their own
age.

Their unwavering devotion has meant that high school radio has managed to
survive -- even thrive at the margins at the low end of the FM dial.

In New Jersey, high school radio epitomizes what is characteristic
nationwide. WCVH, out of Hunterdon Central High School, celebrated its 30th
anniversary last month. WJSV, based at Morristown High, has been
broadcasting since 1971, and West Windsor-Plainsboro High's WWPH has been on
the air 28 years. Other stations operate out of Atlantic City, Piscataway
and Brick high schools.

At 78 watts, WCVH can be heard as far as 20 miles from the school. The
student-run shows are done in two-hour shifts, with three DJs on each shift.
The banter can get silly but stays safely within the boundaries of good
taste.

"They have to keep it clean," said David Kelber, WCVH's faculty adviser
since 1975. "They have limited free rein."

David Connolly, who does an afternoon show with classmates Jacob Lewandowski
and China Ejim called Random Nation, gets to play his favorite music while
learning about the radio business.
"We have an order to the show, but as far as the music goes, it's kind of
skewed," Connolly said.

There are about 300 high school stations nationwide, said Fritz Kass, chief
operating officer of the New Windsor, N.Y.-based Intercollegiate
Broadcasting System, an organization that serves mainly college stations.
There are about 2,400 stations classified as educational by the Federal
Communications Commission.

There is no national organization specifically for high school stations, and
the FCC does not maintain statistics on them. But Kass said high school
stations have made up most of the growth in his organization's membership in
the last few years.

Kelber has overseen the growth of WCVH from a one-room operation manned by
six or seven students to one that features radio and television studios with
state-of-the-art equipment used by about 100 students. He and engineer John
Anastasio designed and built most of the furnishings themselves.

In the early days, students broadcast live from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays,
with some taped programs in the afternoon. Today, students broadcast from 3
p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. The rest
of the time, the station offers computer-programmed music and taped
public-interest programming.

Wayne Cabot, an afternoon newscaster on New York's WCBS AM, cut his teeth in
radio at WCVH while a student at nearby Voorhees High in the early 1980s and
remembers "spending every spare minute" at the station.

"We had a lot of fun, but it was a great place to learn," he said. "You
learned everything about programming formats, engineering, what rules you
had to follow to keep your license."

Federal legislation passed in the 1960s set aside the frequencies between
88.1 and 91.9 for non-commercial stations of 100 watts or less. Those
airwaves have become increasingly crowded in New Jersey, which has more than
130 AM and FM stations, according to FCC statistics. The Hunterdon Central
and Morristown stations use the same 90.5 FM frequency, as do WBJB in
Lincroft and WXGN in Egg Harbor Township.

Even well established high school stations operate largely at the mercy of
the larger outlets. FCC rules require smaller stations, categorized as Class
A, to make way on the FM band for larger stations in Classes B, C and D if
conflicts arise.

For example, when Radio One, the country's seventh-largest radio
conglomerate, bought 107.7 WSNJ in the Philadelphia area, it moved the
location of its tower and also moved the station's frequency to 107.9 to fit
into the Philadelphia market.

That amounts to a death sentence for WWHS, which has broadcast on 107.9 from
Haverford High School since 1949 and is considered the longest-running high
school station in the country. The station is expected to go off the air
before the end of the year, a Radio One spokeswoman said.

One solution would be to stream audio over the Internet, an experiment WCVH
tried two years ago but later abandoned. Kelber and Anastasio cited the cost
involved, on top of what the station already pays to music licensing
agencies ASCAP and BMI.

"We don't compete with the commercial stations," Kelber said. "We're not in
the business of making money or for ratings. But we do care about service to
the community."

© Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

On 23 May 2004 02:41:39 GMT, "Mike Terry"
wrote:

By David Porter, Associated Press Writer
May 21, 2004

FLEMINGTON, N.J. -- Even with CD players and iPods, America's teens still
listen to the radio. And they tune in even more when the DJs are their own
age.

Since Mr. Porter appears to be a staff writer and not a broadcaster I
wonder where he got his information. I've been in the business a very
long time and have never seen a high school station considered
competition even by other non-commercial stations.

It sounds like a puff piece.

Rich

Rich Wood wrote:

On 23 May 2004 02:41:39 GMT, "Mike Terry"
wrote:

By David Porter, Associated Press Writer
May 21, 2004

FLEMINGTON, N.J. -- Even with CD players and iPods, America's teens still
listen to the radio. And they tune in even more when the DJs are their own
age.

Since Mr. Porter appears to be a staff writer and not a broadcaster I
wonder where he got his information. I've been in the business a very
long time and have never seen a high school station considered
competition even by other non-commercial stations.

It sounds like a puff piece.

Rich

Agree to puff n stuff - but - in some cases High School stations are it in a
given geographic area. When KLME 88.1 Battle Mountain Nevada at 10 watts first
came on line in about 1976, that was it for FM Stereo radio, actually FM
anything.

The high school kids loved being DJ's and playing their music. True - I forced
elevator music from 8 AM till 3 PM, but then the kids were it till 11 PM when I
went underground for me and a few others :-)

Took "student DJ's" to SF to take their 3rd class license exams - most of them
passed :-)

The idea here I think is an alternative to commercial or even non-commercial
and a way for "students" to be involved as broadcasters.

Wish more high schools could or would do same, but that was long ago and far
away

And by the way as best as I can tell today, KLME 88.1 FM Battle Mountain is now
defunct - oh well