Off the Air, Onto the Web: Channel 103.1

Clara Sturak
Associate Editor

   KACD-FM Santa Monica, better known as "Channel 103.1," will be going off the air sometime this week. However, it will not be the last we hear of the station and its "world class rock" format. Channel 103.1's destiny is being shaped by two important trends in American business: giant mergers, and the inevitable emergence of the internet as a viable media outlet.
   The merger of Clear Channel Communications with AMFM, Inc. earlier this year made it the biggest broadcast entity in the country. "Suddenly, Clear Channel had many more than the legal limit of stations," explains Channel 103.1's Program Director, Nicole Sandler. Since Channel 103.1 is actually two signals (KACD Santa Monica and KBCD Newport Beach), and since those two signals still do not cover the entire Los Angeles area, Sandler knew that her station would be one of the casualties of the merger. "We could see the writing on the wall," she says. 
   Indeed, Clear Channel announced in April that both KACD-FM and KBCD-FM would be among the 110 divestitures necessary to gain FCC approval of the merger.
   "World Class Rock," a mix of alternative, classic rock, blues and reggae, is not a new format to Sandler, nor to Santa Monica. From 1994 -1997 Sandler was the Music Director at KSCA-FM, one of the first commercial radio stations in the country to give play to "triple A" (Adult Album Alternative) artists like Paula Cole, Lyle Lovett, and The Dave Matthews Band. Although it had a loyal following, after 2 1/2 years it was taken over by a Spanish-language station. 
   "At that time I had the idea to broadcast KSCA over the internet. But it was too early. The technology hadn't caught up yet," says Sandler. Instead, in 1998 Sandler started over again in broadcasting, as Program Director of Channel 103.1. 
   This time she was ready. "Well, it wasn't just me, the corporate people at Clear Channel had already been looking into broadcasting over the internet." They had even created a "web services group"' to prepare for the future. 
   "This time the time was right, and I took the idea to them." Channel 103.1-FM would become Channel1031.com -- the first radio station to go from broadcast to broadband. "We had to show Clear Channel that we would be viable as an internet-only station. So we asked our listeners to come to our website, and sign a petition saying they wanted channel103.1 on the internet. The response has been incredible." (As of this writing, over 24,000 listeners have registered at the Channel1031 site). 
   Clear Channel has decided to take a chance on channel103.1.com (which is also accessible at the url: www. worldclassrock.com). The company is promoting the new internet-only station on its other outlets across the country, and even letting it share billboard space with its big-time stations. Meanwhile, according to Sandler, channel1031.com will remain eerily like Channel 103.1 FM. "It will sound just like it did when you heard it on the radio," she says, "the same format, the same advertisers (and commercial breaks), the same - even better - sound quality."
   It's not all rosy, though, and Sandler knows it. When I tell her that the first several times I attempted to listen to channel 1031.com on my computer it just would not work, she is a little embarrassed, or a little annoyed. "Look, it's so easy, I'll bring it up right now," she says as her mouse clicks away and windows open on her computer screen. But she runs into the same problem I did -- no sound comes out of her speakers. On the next attempt, with a small sigh of relief, it does. David Bowie, clear as a bell. "Once the site gets up and running, there really shouldn't be any problems -- but there will be a few glitches, I'm sure. It's such a new world out there, and the technology is changing everyday."
   Sandler is so cheerful, so determined to make a go of it, that I almost hate to bring up the elephant in the room. Isn't it true, especially in Los Angeles, that most people listen to the radio while driving in their cars? "Yes. As an Angeleno, It bums me out that I won't be able to hear the station in my car, but I figure my car's CD player will just get more of a workout. And I'll listen to the station at home. I'll just reverse my usual listening habits." 
   Sandler tells me about advances in technology that will soon allow people to access the internet from their cars ("It's still a few years away from being available to the general public") and thus be able to access her station. Another advance, the "Kima" system, which lets the listener hear music from the internet on a home stereo, is being given away to one listener a day as a promotion on the new website. 
   I listen to channel1031.com over my computer while I write today, and for the most part, the sound is clear -- probably better reception than I would get from the radio in my office. Sometimes there is a brief skip (for lack of a better word), and when I get a fax, the music stops, and I have to re-start. It's actually very pleasant to hear a little Tom Petty and REM in the background -- I could get used to this. About halfway through the day, I get an email from Sandler. The "Launch Party/Webcast" the station gave at the House of Blues was "wonderful! We did a brief interview and the Indigo Girls performed three songs!" The whole world (in theory, anyway) was invited to party along with Sandler, friends and 80 ticket winners, via broadband.
   As she waits for KACD/KBCD to lose its signal, Sandler stares into her computer, and into the future. "We will go on. More people than ever before will be able to hear us. And if, someday, there's a frequency available to us in Los Angeles, we'll be ready to go on the air as well. We're not going anywhere."
   Channel1031.com's next live webcast from the House of Blues will be on Saturday August 5th, and will feature Steve Earle. Log on for more information.