Sunday, March 27, 2011

Testing, Testing...

   
     Tired of Pandora playing bands that have no business on your selected channel? Run out of albums to listen to on our iPod? California State University Long Beach offers two alternatives with Kbeach Global Radio and KJazz, two radio stations broadcast here on campus.

     KBeach is the home of student generated content, ranging from morning talk shows focused on news and campus events to niche shows that focus on particular genres of music, sports or politics. Boasting over 45 different shows that air seven days a week, Kbeach truly is the student voice. With the implementation of an application available for both smart phones and android platforms, the amount of listeners has taken off.

     "Right now we're getting our greatest listener-ship from the iPhone and android," said John Trapper, Adviser for Student Media and acting General Manager of Kbeach. "We've got a lot of people in the community listening and a lot of people with the apps now are listening on their commutes."

     Kbeach, which is broadcast from the first floor of the University Student Union, has truly lived up to their name in reaching a global audience. Although it is a campus radio station, its internet platform has allowed listeners from across the globe to tune in. The site boasts over a million hits per year to go along with an increase in listeners since the inception of the app.
"People google music and Kbeach pops up," Trapper said."We have listeners in Europe, Africa...I constantly get emails in foreign languages and from different countries saying "thank you for the music."
Kbeach Radio Staff with advisor John Trapper in the studio at the USU.
Photo Credit: CSULB official website
     Although not it's not a student run station, Kjazz is still part of the campus with it being broadcast just outside the Liberal Art's buildings. Students can actually relax on the benches in front of the station and enjoy the smooth sounds of jazz as it's broadcast from hidden speakers in the planter area ajacent to the seats.

     Kjazz 88.1 FM, which utilizes an HD signal, has the capability to broadcast outide the realm of the internet. This feature will soon be added to Kbeach after they finalize plans to share the signal with Kjazz which will afford Kbeach the same opportunity to reach listeners outside of their current formats.

     The station is significantly older than the student run Kbeach, broadcasting since 1981, Kjazz works in conjunction with Global Jazz Inc. to provide the campus with a rich blend of new and classic jazz artists on a round the clock basis.