Sucks To Be KPSU

At a time when local community radio is beginning to thrive, the influence of college radio in Portland continues to shrink, particularly where KPSU is concerned. 

Last week, Portland State University's campus radio station had its budget for the upcoming academic term slashed by almost 40 percent, removing two paid staff positions and leaving little money to put on events.  

It's the latest in what promotions director Blake Hickman calls "a slow slide into irrelevancy" for the 21-year-old station. Its annual budget has steadily declined since going online-only in 2010. The newest cuts drop the total budget below six figures, which is now just a hair above $64,000. According to Hickman, that's enough to pay for the Web stream, podcast archiving, licensing fees and staff scholarships, "and that's basically it."

Station manager Shay Davis says the cuts occurred despite the station consistently meeting its revenue and listenership goals. 

"These cuts are definitely forcing students to work longer for no pay," Davis says, "and making it almost impossible to continue our marked growth."

A representative for the the Student Fee Committee, which allocates budgets for PSU's student organizations, did not return a request for comment.

The cuts came a month after the FCC rejected the station's application for a low-powered FM license, which would have returned it to the terrestrial airwaves after five years of being available only online.

"I feel like us being on an FM signal for first time in forever would've been a huge thing," he says. "Things might've gone more in our favor."

Despite not being accessible on the radio dial, KPSU has maintained a presence in the music community by hosting concerts and other events both on and off campus, such as the annual KPSU Kruise aboard the Portland Spirit. The new budget will severely restrict those events, according to Hickman. In-studio performances will also have to be scaled back, as it'll be unable to pay sound engineers to helm the sessions. 

While low-wattage community radio stations have filled the void of noncommercial radio in Portland, Hickman says he believes KPSU plays a unique role in the local music landscape. The programming appeals to a younger demographic than is typically served by stations such as XRAY, Hickman says. Beyond that, the station has served as a training ground for important figures in the Portland music scene.

"That's absolutely a loss, too," he says. "A lot of people who have these staff positions end up having a lot of experiences interviewing bands and hosting bands in-studio and doing a lot of stuff that isn't actually radio. Where else but KPSU can you get that kind of experience?" 

WWeek 2015