KCSF Pumps up the volume

BY SUSAN BARNES
Contributing Writer

Bonta Hill, known as ‘Joe Cool’, at the mike in the broadcasting studio at City College. PHOTOS BY ANTONELLA FABIANI

City College’s award-winning KCSF Radio (Cable 90.9 FM) may also be its best-kept secret — at least to the listening audience.

But it is no secret to the broadcast community, or to the ever-increasing number of broadcast hopefuls drawn to the Ocean campus program by its combination of real-world experience and cutting-edge equipment.

“We do everything that happens in a regular commercial radio station,” said Dr. Cecil Hale, a broadcast and music industry veteran who is now general manager of KCSF (or “The Zone”, as the station identifies itself) and director of the radio program at City College.

Radio student Tobias Medina lauds the station’s format as one of its strengths.

“Dr. Hale allows you to develop your own programs. We’re talking about anything from reggae to hard rock to Spanish music,” said Medina, who writes public service announcements, assists with news and talks on air.

Direct student involvement in every aspect of managing and operating KCSF accounts for much of the program’s success.

“I have a master’s in journalism from Berkeley, where I did radio journalism,” said Valerie Evans-St. John, KCSF news and public affairs program director. “Why I’m at City College is that you’re hands-on. You learn how to run your board. You learn how to make a radio station work.”

Medina agreed. “We’re seeing students from [San Francisco] State who are coming over here just to get the hands-on experience with our state-of-the-art RCS [broadcasting] system.”

“Equipment has changed radically in the radio industry,” Department Chair Francine Podenski said. “Radio’s gone from very local programming to huge consolidated networks and stations that are programmed and operated by computer-based systems. There are a couple of those systems that dominate the market and we have one of them.”

When an electrical fire some years ago destroyed KCSF’s vintage ‘70s broadcasting equipment, there was a chance that the pro-gram might be scrapped altogether. Instead, the radio station was resurrected with the new, all-digital RCS system.

“At the time, it was just devastating but in hindsight it was probably the best thing that ever happened to the station,” Podenski said.

It is not only broadcast novices taking advantage of City College’s broadcast department. Professionals wishing to brush up their technical skills also sign up for classes.

“We have always had students who work in commercial radio stations all over the city,” Hale said. “Many of those students now are moving into other areas … based on some of the things we do here like the RCS system.”

Since its inception over 50 years ago, the broadcast department has produced a number of well-known radio personalities and accomplished technicians. Among those who began their careers at KCSF are Nick DeLuca, who was a longtime public affairs director for KCBS; Peter Borg, former news director at KQED; Harry O, a personality for over a decade at a variety of local stations; Tony Sandoval of KISS; Renee Richardson of KFOG; Stan Burford of KGO, and many other program alumni both in front of the mike and behind the scenes.

With student enrollment rising steadily, KCSF’s schedule has become more ambitious. Just four years ago, The Guardsman noted that the station was broadcasting only two days a week, with “an eventual goal of five-day-per-week airtime as students become trained.” Today, KCSF broadcasts 24 hours every day.

The station broadcasts over the Internet via Comcast Cable Radio and can be accessed through the City College Web site (ccsf.edu).