Several vie to bring radio station to area
last updated: November 23, 2007 04:49:31 AM
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NEWMAN -- Rick Nagle made a splash on the radio airwaves in the late 1970s as a disc jockey for KFAT, a free-wheeling alt-country station that became infamous for bucking traditional radio conventions and shocking the Santa Clara Valley by playing such songs as "Moose Turd Pie" by Utah Phillips.
Although the station went off the air in 1982, the Gustine native has remained a voice in noncommercial radio for 32 years in the South San Francisco area, where he worked in the information technology sector.
Now retired and living back in his hometown, Nagle is heading up an effort to bring a noncommercial educational radio station to Gustine and Newman. It would broadcast a variety of local news, music, sports, council meetings, community events and other programming of interest to the area.
"I'm trying to erase the line between Newman and Gustine and have a radio station that would serve both communities," said Nagle, who books shows for the West Side Theatre in Newman.
The West Side Theatre Foundation, which includes Nagle and a dozen other members, filed an application last month with the Federal Communications Commission for a construction permit for a FM station on 90.7 megahertz.
They aren't the only ones.
It is the first time in nearly a decade the FCC has released the frequency and allowed people to apply for a new station. During the two-week period in October it allowed applications, the agency became flooded with interest.
Expansion of the AM or FM radio bands is unlikely to occur soon. The FM band cannot expand above 107.9 megahertz be- cause of aeronautical operations and it cannot expand below 88.1 megahertz because of television.
Other applicants vying for the same frequency as the West Side Theater Foundation include UC Merced, several churches and an affiliate of Capital Public Radio in Sacramento.
Decision to be made next year
The FCC will accept applications through January, then sometime next year will select which organization receives the frequency based on a point system. Among the considerations are whether the organization already has nearby stations, and if the station would serve at least 10 percent of the population or more than a competing proposal.
At UC Merced, the drive to bring a radio station to the campus is being headed up by a group of engineering students. As part of the engineering curriculum, students work in the community on actual engineering issues.
A team of about six students decided to examine designing and building a radio station that would serve the campus as their project, said Jeff Wright, dean of engineering at the university.
"We're hopeful of being successful. The radio we anticipate would build linkages between the region and the campus," he said.
The station would be student-run and broadcast music, information about campus research projects, issues and human interest news. The campus has a very low-powered radio station that cannot broadcast beyond the main campus quad.
"As a new campus, we're very much scrambling to get on our feet, and engineering stepped forward and said, 'We will do this for the students.' They helped construct the application and researched how to put it together," Wright said.
Another contender for the frequency is California State University, Sacramento, which wants to operate a Merced satellite station of Capital Public Radio station KXPR. Capital Public Radio has seven stations in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada.
Church groups filed applications
The proposed station would be run out of a studio in Sacramento, but would devote a portion of its programming to Merced issues and assign reporters to cover the region.
A handful of churches and religious organizations also have filed applications for the frequency.
Alabama-based Old Time Gos- pel Ministries wants a Merced station that would "focus on both local and national pro- grams to bring the spiritual component of mankind to the attention of our listeners," ac- cording to its application.
The station would be nondenominational, but would have an oversight board "composed of members who believe and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ," according to the organization.
A nonprofit group, Centro Cristiano de Fe Inc., applied for the frequency to broadcast to the "growing Hispanic-American community" in Merced.
The station would broadcast news and activities, "reinforce positive family values" and play "uplifting" Christian music, according to the group's application.
Nagle said he hopes his dream of a radio station on the West Side will be realized, although he recognizes that he is facing stiff competition for the airwaves.
"This will probably be the last opportunity ever for noncommercial, educational stations unless the FCC can figure out how to put more stations on the air," Nagle said. "This is a great opportunity in this neck of Stanislaus and Merced counties."
Bee staff writer Christina Salerno can be reached at csalerno@modbee.com or 238-4574.
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