Student-Run KUCI to Boost Power

UC Irvine’s weak-signaled radio station, KUCI-FM, has gotten the financial backing to proceed this summer with a power boost that will make it a higher-profile presence on the Orange County airwaves.

The university administration recently approved immediate funding for the lease-purchase of $70,000 to $80,000 worth of new equipment needed to boost KUCI’s power from 24 watts to 200 watts. That spares the student-run, nonprofit station from having to wait to raise the money on its own.

“We’re fortunate we could get this approval” at a time of tightening university finances, said Kevin Stockdale, who as the university’s broadcast media coordinator serves as a paid adviser to the students who run KUCI.

Stockdale expects the more powerful KUCI to be on line by mid- or late-summer.

It’s uncertain just how great the station’s reach will be. KUCI (88.9) can now be pulled in most reliably in Irvine and Costa Mesa, with farther-flung pockets of reception that vary with the weather and time of day.

Alternative-rock music makes up about half the station’s programming. KUCI also features slots for jazz, classical, rap, reggae and blues music, as well as 20 hours a week of news and public affairs.

“I don’t think (programming) is going to change significantly,” said Linda Granell, UCI communications director, who is the university administration’s main liaison to the radio station. “That’s in the students’ hands.”

Under the newly approved funding plan, the university will give KUCI subsidies totaling $173,500 over the next three years--about half the station’s total budget of $389,500 for the period. Starting in July, 1995, KUCI will be expected to pay its own way with money raised from sponsorships, special promotions and fund-raising drives.