KRLX

Last updated
KRLX
KRLXLogo.png
Broadcast area Northfield, Minnesota
Frequency 88.1 (MHz)
BrandingKRLX 88.1 FM
Programming
Format Campus radio
Ownership
Owner Carleton College
History
First air date
1948
Call sign meaning
Ka RLten(X)
Technical information
Class A
ERP 100 watts
HAAT 5 meters
Links
Website krlx.org

KRLX is a student-run, freeform radio format, non-commercial FM campus radio station broadcasting from Northfield, Minnesota. The station is affiliated with Carleton College. The station's call sign was chosen to read "KaRL-ten," since X is the Roman numeral for ten. KRLX broadcasts with 100 watts of power at 88.1 MHz and produces live streaming media, expanding the station's reach to the world. The KRLX studios are located in the basement of the Sayles-Hill Campus Center, Carleton's student union; they feature basic production tools, a record library, and a live FM studio. The basement location is the motivation for the station's motto, "It's better on the bottom." KRLX is licensed for continuous broadcast, but because the station is student-run, the signal is present only when school is in session. Because Carleton does not offer a summer term, the station generally broadcasts September through June, though not during winter and spring breaks.

Contents

In the fall of 2005, KRLX introduced podcasting for all of its non-music shows, including all of the station's original news programming and Periscope.

Beginning in 2005, The Princeton Review began ranking KRLX as one of the nation's top college radio stations. In 2009, KRLX was ranked the 12th best station in the country. [1] By 2018, it had moved up to position #4 on the Princeton Review list of best college radio stations. [2]

In March 2020, Nicole Collins led the station in restarting its music arts and culture magazine, No Fidelity, which had previously gone defunct in 2015. The publication also doubles as a record label, releasing compilations of music made by Carleton students. It has since published over ten issues and receives over $3,000 in funding annually.

History

Carleton College radio started in 1917 with the Music Department's initiative to bring radio to Northfield, MN. With an antenna mounted atop Willis Hall, this AM station broadcast until 1929 at an unknown frequency. In 1948 several students on the G.I. Bill, most veterans from the United States Navy, sought to construct and operate a radio station for students on the Carleton College campus. Using money raised from local businesses and out-of-pocket, they paid the college to allow them to construct a small studio dug out next to the foundation of Scoville Memorial Library on the South side. [3] All electronics were handmade out of spare parts and the transmitter was from a scrapped World War II destroyer. The carrier current transmission was carried via coaxial cable through the Carleton College tunnel complex and radio station KARL 680 was born. The studios were relocated to the top floor of Willis (then the student union) somewhere before 1970.

During the early 70s, station manager James Stiles led the effort to take the station to the broadcast airwaves. Washington DC Carl alums assisted with the FCC licensing process, and by 1975 a boxy FM transmitter had arrived on campus. After a winter of engineering challenges, chief engineer Ben Stiegler (with a lot of help from consultant John Rooks and the MPR engineering team) achieved the first broadcast and the greater Northfield area tuned in. For a brief time, KRLX retained the carrier current operation as a training ground for new DJs; eventually it was decommissioned.

KRLX is one of the most popular student organizations at Carleton, with over 200 students DJs each trimester—roughly one out of every eight students. [4]

Programming

KRLX's format-free nature makes for very diverse programming, and recently the station has started to program vertically so that similar shows are scheduled consecutively. Radio programs on KRLX run the gamut from bluegrass to independent hip hop to classical, and DJs are restricted only by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) guidelines. Despite the station's flexibility, there are several long-running programs that are consistent in format, if not in content. Bandemonium is a weekly show devoted to the works of a single band, tracing artists' history and influences. Periscope is the station's documentary program, and the station also programs evening news and hourly news briefs. Although almost all of KRLX's programming has its genesis at Carleton, the station also broadcasts the syndicated news program Democracy Now! KRLX's content largely consists of music broadcasting, and the station contributes to the College Media Journal Radio 200 chart.

KRLX's programming can be heard around the world via live stream from their Web site.

Technical data

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WREK</span> Radio station at the Georgia Institute of Technology

WREK is the radio station staffed by the students of the Georgia Institute of Technology. It is also located on channel 17 on the Georgia Tech cable TV network, GTCN. Starting as a 10-watt class D, WREK currently broadcasts a 100,000-watt ERP signal throughout metropolitan Atlanta, making it among the ten highest-powered college radio stations in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHRW</span> Radio station at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York

WHRW is Binghamton University's non-profit, student-run, free-format radio station. The station is licensed and owned by Binghamton University, serving the New York college area. The station has operational facilities in and on top of the Glenn G. Bartle Library Tower and in the SUNY Binghamton Student Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KCMP</span> Radio station in Northfield, Minnesota

KCMP is a radio station owned by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) music format including a significant rotation of songs by local artists. Licensed to Northfield, Minnesota, and covering the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, the station's studios are located at the MPR Broadcast Center on Cedar Street in downtown St. Paul, while its transmitter is located atop the Vermillion Highlands near Coates. The Current is also broadcast on stations in Rochester, Duluth-Superior, Pasadena-Los Angeles, translators around Minnesota, and online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMMR</span> Active rock radio station in Philadelphia

WMMR is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group through licensee Beasley Media Group, LLC and broadcasts a broad rock radio format. The station's studios and offices are located in Bala Cynwyd and the transmitter is atop One Liberty Place at in Center City Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KTXT-FM</span> Student radio station at Texas Tech University

KTXT-FM is a non-commercial educational college radio station licensed to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, United States. KTXT-FM is licensed to broadcast 35,000 watts of power to Lubbock and the surrounding South Plains of West Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WUSC-FM</span> College radio station at the University of South Carolina in Columbia

WUSC-FM is a student-run college radio station operating at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina.

WGLS-FM, known as Rowan Radio, is a college radio station licensed to Rowan University. The studios are located in the College of Communication on the campus of Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. WGLS-FM is Gloucester County's only FM radio station.

WCBN-FM is the student-run radio station of the University of Michigan. Its format is primarily freeform. It broadcasts at 88.3 MHz FM in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WLTL</span> Radio station at Lyons Township High School in LaGrange, Illinois

WLTL Radio ("WLTL-FM"), and formerly known as "Rock88" is a nonprofit high school educational radio station located in LaGrange, Illinois, and run out of Lyons Township High School. WLTL has won several national and local awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WLSO</span> Radio station in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Laker Radio is an internet radio station in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States. Broadcasting a college radio format, The 46th Parallel Radio is the campus radio station of the city's Lake Superior State University, and also provides mobile DJ services for on-campus and Sault Ste. Marie events. From 1993 to 2017, the station broadcast at 90.1 on the FM dial with the call sign WLSO, before becoming solely an internet radio station during the 2016–2017 school year.

WVCR-FM(88.3 The Saint) is a variety hits radio station located in Loudonville, New York, owned by Siena College, and primarily staffed by students from the college. The station broadcasts on 88.3 MHz at an effective radiated power of 2,800 watts from the Heldeberg Mountains in the Town of New Scotland. In addition to simulcast programming at www.wvcr.com, WVCR is perhaps the only non-commercial licensee to emulate the variety hits format made popular by the Jack FM approach in the Capital Region. The format is very popular in the region with a very diverse selection from classic 1960s hits to current hits of today—something of a 2,800 Watt iPod for Baby Boomers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WVBR-FM</span> Radio station in Ithaca, New York

WVBR-FM is a commercial, student-owned and volunteer-run college radio station that broadcasts to Ithaca, New York, United States, and surrounding areas. It operates at 3 kilowatts from a transmitter on Hungerford Hill, in Ithaca. Prior to 2016, WVBR had a translator on 105.5 FM. The website WVBR.com provides an additional web-based stream.

WRGP is the student-run radio station of Florida International University in Miami, Florida, United States. WRGP broadcasts on 88.1 MHz from a transmitter site in rural Miami-Dade County at 17107 SW 248 Street and from rebroadcasters on the two largest FIU campuses: W237CP (95.3 MHz) at the main Modesto A. Maidique Campus, where the station's studios are located in the Graham Center, and W245BF (96.9 MHz) on the Biscayne Bay Campus in North Miami.

WCVF-FM is a radio station in Fredonia, New York. The station is licensed to the State University of New York at Fredonia. "CVF" stands for "Campus and Community Voice of Fredonia," the station's slogan. The station primarily features "alternative" rock, but includes an eclectic mix of genres at consistent times throughout the week. Listeners can catch blocks of Polka, Spanish, Blues, Jazz, Folk, Reggae, Hip Hop and anything in between. Live programs hosted by student and community jocks can be of any format/genre from talk, music, to radio drama. WCVF also covers local sports and includes live broadcasts/commentary for several Blue Devil teams. Our music director reports to College Music Journal for charting, and devotes time slots for new music sent to the station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WUVT-FM</span> Radio station in Blacksburg, Virginia

WUVT-FM is a non-commercial FM radio station in Blacksburg, Virginia, serving Montgomery County, Virginia. It is licensed to Virginia Tech and is operated by The Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech. WUVT-FM is largely student-run and broadcasts a free form radio format. The radio studios and offices are located in Squires Student Center.

KRCC is a public radio station in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is owned by Colorado College and operated by Colorado Public Radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WIOV-FM</span> Radio station in Ephrata, Pennsylvania

WIOV-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Ephrata, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Radio License Holding CBC LLC, a part of Cumulus Media, and broadcasts a country music radio format. The station's studios and offices are located on South Reading Road, along PA 272, at Rothsville Road in Ephrata. The station's broadcast tower is located off Tower Road near Ephrata at.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WRUR-FM</span> Radio station in Rochester, New York

WRUR-FM is a public, listener-supported radio station located in the Rochester, New York area airing an Adult Album Alternative format. Its transmitter is located on Pinnacle Hill in Rochester.

WNUB-FM is a radio station licensed to serve Northfield, Vermont. It is the radio station of Norwich University, airing a college radio format from studios and transmitter on the university campus.

KMSM-FM is a radio station licensed to serve Butte, Montana. The station is owned and operated by Cameron Maxwell, through licensee Desert Mountain Broadcasting Licenses LLC, and airs a variety format.

References

  1. ↑ "Best College Radio Station". Princeton Review. Retrieved 2015-06-09.
  2. ↑ "2018 Princeton Review "Best College Radio Station" List is Released - Radio Survivor". Radio Survivor. 2017-08-02. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  3. ↑ Urbanski, Debbie (1998-04-10). "CARLETON COLLEGE'S STUDENT-RUN RADIO STATION TURNS 50".
  4. ↑ "College Radio stations in Southern Minnesota defy the norm". Southern Minn Scene. 2018-05-14. Retrieved 2018-05-23.

44°27′40″N93°09′22″W / 44.461°N 93.156°W / 44.461; -93.156

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.