MetroEast offering more local radio acts

by Dennise Kowalczyk

MetroEast Community Media, in collaboration with a coalition of community groups, received word on May 6, that its application for a non-commercial educational (NCE) radio station had been approved by the Federal Communications Commission.
With its transmitter located on Mt. Hood, the signal of the new station — 91.1 on the FM dial — will reach most of the east metro area as well as much of Portland east of the Willamette via a translator — 107.1 FM — that has also been purchased. The goal is to start broadcasting in the fall of 2009 with efforts to provide podcasting and netcasting leading up to the terrestrial broadcast. The permit to build the station was granted as part of a rare opening of non-commercial radio licenses available to nonprofit organizations. The coalition had been working for more than a year to acquire the permission.
As a non-commercial station, it will not air advertising and will be supported by listeners and underwriting through business and non-profit partnerships. Programming will be dedicated to showcasing the diverse local music offerings in the area. In addition, the station will offer some public affair programs offering airtime to provide a varied look at community affairs. Finally, the station will support local arts and culture, primarily in the form of media sponsorship opportunities.
KZME will also participate in a variety of special events in order to build awareness and support of the station’s effort in showcasing local music. Most recently, two events took place to celebrate some of the local talent found in the area in conjunction with raising dollars and support for KZME:

n The Kate Mann House Concert (see www.katemann.com for artist information)
n The Skyway Bar & Grill Benefit Show with the following bands:
n Acoustic Minds (www.acousticminds.com)
n Keegan Smith and The Fam (www.keegansmith.com)
n Viasol (www.myspace.com/viasol)
n Rebel String (www.myspace.com/rebelstring)
n Eddy & The Haskells

Currently, KZME has the following partnerships: Willamette Week / Portland Makes Music series, Music Millennium / Community Day, and the Portland Center for the Performing Arts / Music on Main concert series. Potential partnerships include: The Oregon Music Hall of Fame induction event and PDX Pop Now! music festival.

Opportunities
There are a number of ways people can get involved in building the radio station:
n Musicians can donate music for our growing music library, do performances for benefit shows and become charter members at $20.
n Community members can become charter members at $35, host a house concert, and volunteer their time in laying down the foundation for the station.
n Nonprofit and arts organizations can partner with the station on events.
n Businesses can sign up as sponsors of the station as underwriting partners.

Information about this information can be found at www.kzme.fm. We encourage folks to join us on MySpace at www.myspace.com/kzme , on Facebook at www.facebook.com and our twitter account.

Dennise Kowalczyk