DJs start new station after KRCL let them go


Save Story
Leer en espaƱol

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

When a group of local radio DJs were let go, they didn't give up and go home. They started their own station, and today that station has listeners across the globe, from Utah to Russia to Africa. The trick: Utah FM isn't on your radio dial, it's on your computer.

Ten months ago, KRCL let go of their volunteer DJs and replaced them with paid ones.

The volunteers loved their jobs, so instead of giving up Michael Place pitched the idea of starting a new station. "Nobody said anything," he recalled. "Then the next day I started getting calls asking if I was the guy in charge of the online radio station."

And here they are today with Utah Free Media, an entirely online station. They're squeezed into the basement of a downtown condo building; the space was donated by one of their DJs, and they operate on $10,000 a year.

DJs start new station after KRCL let them go

As it was at KRCL, everyone at Utah Free Media is a volunteer. The station operates on donations. Since they're online and independent, they pay more for music rights. But they have the freedom of format. DJs play what they want. Podcasts and documentary work are posted on the Web site. Place said, "It doesn't matter if it's 24 hours a day or 2,400 hours in day. We can put as much content as we can get."

DJs start new station after KRCL let them go

Utah FM had examples to look toward independent stations online in San Francisco and Seattle, and they hope to do the same. They're posting their business plan for others to follow online.

We did talk with KRCL today, and while they said they need to wait a full year to see the impact of their new format, they do believe they've increased their younger listenership.

E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Sarah Dallof

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast