Moscow - Idaho
October 15, 2004
By Greg Meyer

Several years ago, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it
was taking license applications from groups who wanted to start
non-commercial, low-power FM radio stations in their communities.
That's when a small band of radio people got together in Moscow, with the
idea of starting an independent, free-form station. The result is a brand
new 100-watt FM station which is now on the air - KRFP-FM.

Borrowing the catchy tag line Radio Free Moscow from the good old days of
KUID-FM, free-lance radio reporter Leigh Robartes and some like-minded folks
set out back in 2001 to make their dream a reality.

"Because of the homogenization of radio, and because of the large chains
that sometime own more than 1,000 stations in this country, localism has
gone out of radio," said Robartes.

KRFP has been on the air since Tuesday, and can be heard throughout Moscow
and even out into the countryside. Leigh Robartes is thrilled, but admits it
has been a long road getting to this point.

"We were up against an FCC-imposed deadline in late November," he said. "If
we weren't on the air by a certain date we would have lost our license
opportunity forever. We had 18 months to get on the air, and we made it in
about 16 and a half months."

The station is located upstairs in the 100-year-old Anderson building in
downtown Moscow. And there is still plenty of work left to do before
holding any kind of open house.

"You know, we have to adjust levels," said Robartes. "We have to hook up the
turntables and the tape decks. We have to move computers around. We have to
get our automation system going, because, in the middle of the night, we're
going to probably run on automation, at least until we get enough DJ's to
run 24 hours."

Some $20,000 needed to be raised to get the station on the air and fund
raising is ongoing to keep it on the air. Volunteer DJs, talk show hosts and
field producers are still needed to round out the programming schedule.
Robartes said the focus will be on providing the community with a variety of
news, information and music.

"We're planning on having a local news department," he said. "We're going to
go around and record local events, like panel discussions. We did the
candidates forum, which has already aired, with the League of Women Voters.
We're going to have call-in talk shows. We have two phone lines, so we
definitely want to engage the community in community issues. And, of course,
we're going to have music shows."

So, if you're in Moscow or driving through Moscow, and you want to tune in
to a brand new station, just set your FM dial to 92.5 and check out Radio
Free Moscow.

Anyone interested in helping out the non-profit organization that operates
the station can call them at (208) 892-9300 or visit their web site at:
http://www.radiofreemoscow.com

http://www.klewtv.com