New radio station in the works for Iowa City airwaves

IOWA CITY - Listeners could soon be tuning their dials to a new radio station that aims to air local news and cultural affairs.

With the Uptown Bill's Extend the Dream Foundation as the applicant and support from PATV Channel 18, a group of Iowa City residents recently has acquired the rights to a low-power FM license from the Federal Communications Commission.

In a market with several established stations, one of the heaviest hitters being Iowa Public Radio's Iowa City station, officials with the new non-commercial station say their programming will be focused on local issues, news and culture.

'There are great opportunities there and lots of interesting things going on in arts and culture and news and any area you can think of,” said Tom Gilsenan, executive director of the Extend the Dream Foundation. a non-profit that serves the aging and people with disabilities.

'We believe by opening up a little radio station, we can amplify some of those,” he said.

Falling within the low power FM spectrum, the future station at 105.3 FM would have a roughly 5-mile broadcast radius from the location of the 1,000 watt transmitter. Officials are also exploring options for a web presence with streaming capabilities.

Holly Hart, who has 30 years of experience in the radio industry, most recently at KSUI/WSUI, said discussions are underway to potentially attach that transmitter to existing infrastructure on top of Old Brick Church and Community Center at 26 E. Market St. Hart said approval from a cellphone company will be needed to proceed, and if it is not granted, officials will build their own tower.

First, officials say they will need to raise between $15,000 and $20,000 to pay for the engineering and equipment necessary to get 105.3 FM on the air. A fundraising page was established earlier this week on gofundme.com.

Temporary studio space also has been offered at the PATV building, 206 Lafayette St., and Hart said the hope is to be on the air by late summer or early fall.

Hart said programming still is coming together, but added that she hopes to have a structured format with a mix of original local content, national programming and music.

'I didn't want to play into the old stereotype of community radio which has polka music one hour, French news the next, cooking show the third hour, but have something that's actually like a real format because people who listen to radio, they listen to format,” Hart said.

Similar to PATV's programming, qualified residents interested in creating original content might have that opportunity, she added.

'If they have a viable program idea and can put together a pilot, we could offer them a show,” Hart said.

Gilsenan said much of what Uptown Bill's hosts every month, from music performances to literature readings, could translate well into the local radio realm.

Availability of low power radio stations opened up more than four years ago with the 2011 passage of the Local Community Radio Act, which allows community organizations or groups to apply for FCC licenses.

Iowa City resident Trish Nelson said she had been wanting to see her community join the growing number of low power stations for years and was a strong supporter of Iowa City's recent efforts.

'It's just super exciting, for a long time you just keep waiting to see if it would ever come to fruition,” she said. 'It would be crazy for Iowa City to not have one if they're available, that was my big goal.”

l Comments: (319) 339-3175; mitchell.schmidt@thegazette.com