KBXE to join Bemidji’s FM Dial

Northern Community Radio Develops a Sister Station

By Maggi Stivers and DJ Haffely

KAXE is located in Grand Rapids where
volunteers take over the microphones. 

May 13^th 1976, was the first time KAXE signed on the air, to serve the northern Minnesota community from its studio located at Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids. Steve Downing, a long time volunteer and now consultant to Northern Community Radio (NCR), said, “it was so cramped it was hard to move without running into each other.”Five years ago, KAXE changed locations and is now located right along the Mississippi River. The building, decorated with art and stacks of papers, had several employees working diligently on radio papers and spring cleaning. The station seemed to be in a buzz about the new station, KBXE, being built in Bemidji.

 In the beginning, its signal serviced Grand Rapids on, 91.7 FM, Bemidji, 105.3 FM and Brainerd, 89.9FM.

As time passed on, Bemidji gained several radio stations. Today, Bemidji hosts 25 FM radio stations. Several people from the Bemidji area are listeners of KAXE and the idea of providing the area with their own community radio station had been on the mind of the NCR Board of Directors. The best idea was to simply build a new sister station; and with that, KBXE was born to serve Bemidji, Bagley and other surrounding communities. KBXE will be found at 90.5 on the FM dial and the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) construction permit states that KBXE will go on the air no later than March 2012.

KAXE and KBXE are community radio stations, which are supported by the listening community and programmed for the community. In legal terms, both stations are defined as public but are completely separate from Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) or National Public Radio (NPR).  The majority of the programming on NCR stations is done by volunteers. However, some programming is purchased from MPR, such as “Car Talk,” “All Things Considered” and “World Café.” The station will also be featuring folk music, rock music, blues, bluegrass, jazz music, world music, and more selected by its listeners.

Every weekday morning from 5 to 9 a program from NPR is broadcast, 9 to 12 programming is provided a various of different volunteers, 12 to 2 is a program from NPR starring David Dye, 2 to 4 a show called “Currents,” done by the staff, 2 to 4 is “All Things Considered”, the rest of night is either volunteers or the system is placed on autopilot. Volunteers of all ages can participate including young children but all are subject to being trained and screened rigorously for sight-reading abilities.

KBXE is located at the corner of 3rd
and America Avenue in downtown Bemidji.

Downing, spends the majority of his time preparing for the start of KBXE in downtown Bemidji on America Avenue. KBXE and Harmony Food Co-op will be located in the same building, renovations are planned to start next week. Many walls are being replaced for the studio as soundproof walls are need.  The KBXE studio will have a couple of studios, library of music, and an engineering room. 

To ensure the radio station’s success, “We’ll be relying on volunteers at KBXE, just as we do at KAXE,” said Downing. The company does not have a plan for exactly how KBXE will be staffed, but some employees may have to spent time working at work KAXE and KBXE.

 KBXE is also considering partnering with schools and other organizations to provide internship opportunities. It’s a great opportunity, and I already have one applicant,” said Louise Mengelkoch, BSU mass communications professor.

The funding for KBXE was provided by several different organizations, including a grant by the Public Telecommunication Facilities Program located in Wash. D.C. This money, totaling $ 449,910, was used for the tower and other technical systems. The tower is located near Shevlin. The primary signal will encompass most of Clearwater Country, plus major portions of Beltrami, Mahnomen, Red Lake, Becker and Hubbard counties,” said Downing.  This means the signal will reach are Bagley, Bemidji, Lengby, Clearbrook, Shevlin, Solway, Pinewood, and other locations in the north central and northwestern Minnesota. However, as with all radio stations several things can affect the signal including antenna and tuner quality, weather and other radio signals.

KAXE community radio sends its signal to its listeners.

The George W. Neilson Foundation of Bemidji donated $150,000 to renovate the studio space. $50,000 was received from other grants. Corporations and businesses donated $40,000, member campaign supported KBXE with 50,000, and a major donor campaign provided $200,000. The last two sources of revenue include special events with $7,000 and KAXE reserves with $8000. The total amount of revenue source was $1,026,910.

The estimated costs include $484,628 for transmission facilities. This includes $320, 603 for tower, antennas and land. $107,280 for transmitter and shelter, $36,150 for tower and transmitter installation and $20,595 for other transmitter-related equipment are also built-in with the total.  

The studio facilities funds included $160,000 for studio construction and renovation, $13,185 for studio furnishings and office equipment, $15,800 for studio acoustics and $136,309 for studio broadcast equipment. The subtotal for the student is estimated to be $325,924.

Two links were needed for the studio one connecting the studio to the transmitter link and linking KAXE and KBXE together. The total both for links was $92,138. The last of the money was used for other things including legal, engineering, FCC, fundraising was allotted $124,850.

The total estimated cost is $1,026,910, the same amount of money that the revenue sources had totaled.

KBXE will allow people to become members of the radio station just as KAXE does. There are different levels of members, and KAXE has 6 different levels.  The levels range from $60 to $1000 dollars. “Members have the right to vote for the NCR Board of Directors,” said Jennifer Poenix, KAXE Member Services Manager and 2003 BSU Mass Communication Graduate.

As of now, KAXE’s Web site features events, programs, and the ability to listen to the radio shows live.  The KBXE Web site is under construction www.KBXE.org.

KAXE only reaches 13 people per square kilometer. The population of the coverage area is approximately 250,000 listeners. The signal of KBXE won’t reach much more. Despite that, both stations are dependent on the willingness of the community to support them in this endeavor.