 "Photo: Erik Aguilar")
Celebrating 40 years of broadcasting, representatives from Chico State’s radio station KCHO 91.7 FM are looking to continue their service to the community.
Chico State’s first radio station has evolved since 1969. The radio station did not always have professional radio personalities.
“The station was once a student-ran production until the ’70s,” Program Director Joe Oleksiewicz said.
In the early ’80s, changes began to occur in order to receive a grant to keep the station running.
The employee base of the station had to change to a professional, full-time staff, be on the air all year and have a minimum power wattage to operate the station, Oleksiewicz said.
KCHO became certified under the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1980.
A popular show of the past was “Chef’s Edition,” a call-in cooking show about food preparation and whatever questions callers had, Oleksiewicz said.
Another show that is still a big hit is KCHO’s the “Good Olde-Fashioned Folk Music Show,” the station’s longest running show — airing since 1981.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of KCHO, there was a celebration a few months ago at a local restaurant reflecting the history of the radio station.
There was a celebration birthday party with those who work at the station as well as the founders, said KCHO General Manager Brian Terhorst.
The station is looking to extend its longevity by expanding its audience.
We didn’t have many younger voices in the past, said News Director Lorraine Dechter.
But now people are hearing younger voices and there is vitality here, it attracts people and it’s exciting, she said.
To get younger listeners, programs are being considered for the wants of the younger population, Terhorst said.
“If we don’t engage the younger audience, the radio station will disappear,” he said.
Another angle in keeping people interested in the station is to keep programming and information local.
“We can be like the other radio stations and offer all the national programs, but I really want us to serve the community,” Terhorst said.
The radio station also airs in Redding as KFPR 88.9 FM and in other local areas.
Dechter has traveled to different counties in the north state to write stories because some of the people get a limited amount of information, she said.
The North State Public Radio station is peoples’ source of what’s going on, she said.
“I think the station helps define for some people who we are,” Dechter said. “We are all from the north state and it kind of gives us our identity.”
Francesca can be reached at
fnesfield@theorion.com
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