On College Radio Day, KUSF staff fight (and spin) on

Hundreds of college radio stations around the country came together to proclaim Oct 11 College Radio Day.

The celebration of stations that often have a cult following came amidst a particularly trying time for the format. One by one, universities are selling off stations to raise cash. FM licenses in major markets are worth millions. Recent sales include KUSF at the University of San Francisco, KTRU at Rice University in Houston and WXEL at Barry University in Miami.

The January sale of KUSF to the Classical Public Radio Network, just one transaction in a multi-station radio shake-up of the Bay Area dial, set off strenuous protests by the station's staff and fans. Many of the DJs and programmers moved to the online-only KUSF in Exile (listen here), an effort to keep the music playing while KUSF's sale of its license awaits FCC approval.

KQED's Nina Thorsen spoke with KUSF Music Director Irwin Swirnoff, who online deejays the same Friday morning show he did when the station was heard on the radio. Swirnoff talked about the current effort by KUSF supporters to get the FCC to hold public hearings on the sale and why he thinks it's so important to preserve college radio in a community.

Read the full KQED story here.