Theatre awaits FCC ruling on rights to radio frequency
BY ALEX CANTATORE
At 90.7 FM on your radio dial you’re likely to find, well, nothing, at the moment.
But if Rick Nagel and the West Side Theatre have anything to say about it, that narrow frequency could soon be broadcasting across Newman and Gustine, carrying a community-driven radio station that might even be heard as far east as Turlock.
The efforts to create a radio station unique to the West Side - one which would carry news and information that could bring Newman and Gustine together - began back in 2007 when the Federal Communications Commission announced they would begin accepting applications for new noncommercial radio stations for the first time in more than a decade.
Nagel, a long time radio fanatic who has been involved with noncommercial radio for more than 35 years, jumped at the opportunity to provide his home town with an alternative to pop-rock, hip-hop, and national news.
First thing first, though, Nagel had to find an open frequency to broadcast the new station on. He called a friend in the business who, quite regretfully, found no available frequencies in the Newman area.
Thinking the quest was over before it even started, Nagel went about his everyday work for a few days until the phone rang. It was the friend again, saying he’d taken another look and there was an available frequency: 90.7 FM.
“So crack a beer,” Nagel recalled the friend as saying, “but you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
Another friend donated $5,000 to fund the initial study and paperwork required for an FCC commission and, much hard work later, West Side Radio submitted its FCC application in October of 2007.
The rare opportunity to secure a noncommercial radio station drew 12 applicants from the area, all vying for the same frequency. As competing radio waves could render stations inaudible, the FCC would only grant one license.
A year and a half later, West Side Radio is still awaiting an FCC decision.
“It’s kind of open-ended,” Nagle said. “The sooner we find out, the better, as far as I’m concerned.”
Competitors for the frequency include the University of California, Merced, various church groups, and even non-profits from as far west as Calaveras County. While a radio station in Newman would likely not interfere with one in the foothills, a station in Merced would affect both, complicating the issue in the eyes of the FCC.
According to Nagle, West Side Radio is a front-runner for the frequency, due to a FCC application scoring system. As there is only one other audible noncommercial radio station in the Newman area, the FCC sees Nagle’s proposal as fulfilling an unmet need.
While no decision on the frequency is imminent, the competing stations have begun to sit down and discuss an agreement that could, hopefully, leave everyone happy.
In the meantime, Nagel has continued work on the station, which would broadcast from studios in the West Side Theatre attic through an antenna mounted to the City of Gustine’s water tower. Gustine has pledged $25,000 to the fledgling station, while, not to be outdone, Newman has offered a further $30,000 should the FCC award West Side Radio the frequency.
Merced County has also thrown their support behind the station, pledging $15,000, and just last week Stanislaus County drafted a letter of endorsement.
Should West Side Radio go on the air, Nagle sees the listener-supported radio station as providing information for the community by enlisting the aide of high schools and clubs like the gardening society and Veterans of Foreign Wars. The station could even potentially broadcast events live from the West Side Theatre or cover local football and baseball games.
Even music could find its way onto West Side Radio, but, “not the type of music you could hear on the current dial, because what’s the point?” as Nagel said.
While the FCC decision could still be far away, Nagel says that he’s already had a few people contact him with designs on their own radio show. One person expressed a desire to produce old time radio plays, while another wants to host a jazz program.
Regardless of what ends up happening with West Side Radio and the FCC, Nagel says the journey has been exciting - but the prospects for a community oriented, Newman and Gustine-based noncommercial radio station are even more exciting.
“I have a great love for noncommercial radio,” Nagle said. “In fact, I’m kind of a noncommercial radio snob -I don’t have much need for the commercial side of the dial.”
To contact Alex Cantatore, e-mail acantatore@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2005.
Originally published in the Turlock Journal 5/16/2009.
Retrieved from the Turlock Journal Web site.