For the week of August 20 - 26, 2003

---

NPR fund raiser

Alex Chadwick, host of NPR’s new daily radio news magazine called "Day to Day," will host a surround-sound "radio expedition" Friday, Aug. 22, at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey to support a new transmitter for NPR News 91 in the Wood River Valley.

The event—which will start at 8:30 p.m.—will present audio from a variety of global travel adventures, including diving with humpback whales and tramping through a forest clearing with wild elephants.

For more information on the event, call 1-888-859-5278, extension 663.

---

NPR News 91 seeks increased presence for valley service

---

By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Boise State Radio, the Boise-based affiliate of National Public Radio, is proceeding with plans to establish in the Wood River Valley a full-power broadcasting station for its NPR News 91 programming.

Boise State Radio in June received permission from the Federal Communications Commission to convert its existing low-wattage radio transmitter on Bald Mountain’s Seattle Ridge into a full-power radio station, said Jim Paluzzi, general manager of the radio group.

"We anticipated the need for a full-power station for the Wood River Valley ever since we turned on our first translator in Ketchum in 1991," Paluzzi said. "We applied to the FCC for this permit in 1997; it took over five years to get it granted."

The new radio station is slated to be called KBSS.

KBSX, Boise State Radio’s flagship station for its NPR News 91 broadcasts, currently transmits to the Wood River Valley area on FM channel 91.1 from the Bald Mountain repeater station, called K216CY-Sun Valley.

Boise State Radio plans to replace the existing 8-watt translator with a new 700-watt transmitter on Seattle Ridge. As planned, the new transmitter would utilize Boise State Radio’s standing broadcast tower, company officials have noted.

Paluzzi said it is imperative for Boise State Radio to replace the existing translator to ensure the 91.1 FM frequency is not bumped off the air by a competitor. "Recently, other communities across the country have lost their NPR services because the FCC is forcing low-power translators to shut down to make room for full-power broadcasters," he noted.

The KBSS station is not planned to include on-site staff. The station is planned to broadcast KBSX programs and an array of NPR programs, plus local and regional news stories that would be generated by a new central Idaho news bureau in Twin Falls.

Boise State Radio has announced that it is seeking to raise $120,000 by October to fund the project.

Paluzzi said a local task force has been established to guide the local fund-raising efforts. The group includes state Rep. Wendy Jaquet, arts advocate Dan Drackett and four other Wood River Valley residents.

In addition to clearer and more reliable reception, the new station would offer listeners a variety of modern features through a digital "high-definition" radio system.

The HD system would give listeners with compatible receivers the options of viewing program details on a screen, storing programs for later playback and listening to a second program service on the same frequency. The second program service to be offered by Boise State Radio is called "Idaho’s Jazz Station," featuring an assortment of jazz music.

If adequate funds are raised, work on the project will start "as soon as the snow melts next spring," Paluzzi said. Installation of the new transmitter and a new antenna is expected to take approximately two weeks, he noted.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.