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KJHK

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KJHK 90.7 FM is a campus radio station, located in Lawrence, Kansas at the University of Kansas. On December 3, 1994, the station became one of the first radio stations to broadcast a live, continuous stream over Internet radio. It currently broadcasts at 2600 watts, with a broadcast area covering Lawrence, parts of Topeka, and Kansas City. The station is overseen by the KU Memorial Unions, but is completely run by KU students.

1 History
2 Awards and achievements
3 See Also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 1950s-1970s

KJHK's roots go back to 1956, beginning as KUOK on AM 630, and even had basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain hosting his own show. By the 1970s, the popularity of the station was outgrowing its limited range and on October 5, 1975 the FCC gave final permission to broadcast at 90.7 megahertz, and granted the station the new call letters "KJHK". On October 15, 1975, Steve Doocy played the first song at 12:25 P.M., broadcasting at 9.9 watts.^[1] In 1978 a bored staffer wrote a fake news report claiming a nuclear reactor explosion destroyed Waterloo, Iowa killing 15,000 people. Another staffer found the report and read it on air. The news was picked up by other organizations causing panic and was mentioned that night on the CBS Evening News by Walter Cronkite on how a single radio station "blowed up" Waterloo.^[2] The writer of the story was suspended for one semester before being promoted to news director the next fall.^[3]

[edit] 1980s

In 1987, KJHK was granted a power increase to 100 watts. In 1988, the FCC fined the station after an excited DJ said "F-ck you Billy Tubbs!" multiple times after the KU men's basketball title game against Oklahoma. This led the school administration to remove music with expletives. The administration also prevented Ku Klux Klan members to come on the air for a show on race citing security issues. Angry students protested what they saw as a censoring of free speech with some going as far as to make anonymous death threats.^[4]

[edit] 1990s

On December 3, 1994, the station became one of the first in the nation to broadcast a live, 24-hour signal on the internet.^[5] In 1995 KJHK changed its tagline from "The Sound Alternative", which it started using in 1976, to "The Hawk", because of alternative's association with top 40 music. In 2000, it reverted back to "The Sound Alternative". The station increased its signal to 2600 watts in 1998.

[edit] 2000s

In 2003, after 28 years of supervision, the William Allen White School of Journalism decided that it could no longer support the station's operational budget, and KJHK was almost shut down. Fortunately for the station and the Lawrence community, KU Memorial Unions agreed in 2004 to take up oversight of the station. KJHK today is funded in-part by the KU Student Senate Media Fee as well as through donations by local businesses and private individuals. In 2005 KJHK celebrated its 30th anniversary by bringing a diverse group of artists to Lawrence such as Mates of State, LCD Soundsystem and Chuck D of Public Enemy.^[6] Later that year the police were again called to KJ because of an amputee, with his severed foot in a bucket of formaldehyde, came to hang out at the station.^[7] ^[8]

[edit] KJHK Today

The station currently has over 150 student volunteers, and continues with independent music as its charter and format. KJHK continues to grow, and will soon move to a new location inside the Kansas Memorial Union.

[edit] Awards and achievements

KJHK students have been annually recognized with several awards for its technical and creative merits from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters.^[9]^[10]

Winner of CMJ's 2006 "Most Improved Station."^[11]

Nominated for the 2007 PLUG Award for "Best College/Non-Commercial Radio Station Of The Year."^[12]

On June 8, 2007, KJHK was reportedly the first Kansas radio station to produce a live remote radio broadcast using the Broadcast Reliable Internet Codec. The station transmitted broadcast-quality audio over a Wi-Fi network at Clinton Lake State Park during the 2007 Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival.