Breanna Denney/Nevada Sagebrush
Wolf Pack Radio music director TJ Mertikas hosts his indie music show Skramz with his co-host Nino Pinneri
(not pictured) at the Wolf Pack Radio station on Friday, Feb. 13. Skramz is one of the programs that Wolf Pack
Radio plans on sharing with 89.1 KXNV as part of their partnership with the community radio station.
By Alexa Solis
For the first time in its history, the University of Nevada, Reno campus radio station will soon be able to be heard on FM radio station 89.1 KXNV. Wolf Pack Radio was previously available through its website wolfpackradio.org, 1700 AM and on their mobile app. The student-run radio station’s partnership with KXNV marks the beginning of its journey to more FM radio time.
KXNV is a new radio station in the area dedicated to highlighting the Reno community while maintaining a focus on local music, according to Tom Snider, station manager of Wolf Pack Radio. Snider mentioned that KXNV’s partnership with Wolf Pack Radio came about during the summer of 2014 while KXNV was still in the process of attaining its FM license.
“In general we’re just working with them because they’re a radio station out to help the community and represent what’s going on in Reno,” Snider said. NPR in Reno [KUNR] is really setting out to fill the talk radio niche market, and 89.1[KXNV] is trying to fill the music void.”
Both stations share one common goal — they are each trying to highlight the thriving arts and music scene that exists within the Reno community. Wolf Pack Radio hopes to further that mission for KXNV not only through highlighting the many local musicians who come in and play for the station, but also to help diversify what’s heard on the radio in general, according to Snider.
Snider noted that there is an immense amount of radio stations available in the Reno area. In fact, there are 62 radio stations within listening proximity to Reno, according to radio-locator.com.
“Looking at it from a business stand point, the market is flooded, but there is no one that really offers that diverse sound [that we have],” Snider said. “Everything [else] has it’s own niche.”
WPR is hoping to diversify their audience and increase listenership, and DJ Kelman Choice of the Kel and Kiki Show, one of the station’s more prominent hip-hop shows, said he was excited to see that the radio station will be able to branch out into some FM play.
The Kiki and Kel show is one of the few WPR radio shows that will be shared with KXNV. It will be broadcast on Fridays and Saturdays, beginning tentatively on Feb. 20. Other radio shows making their way to KXNV are Skramz and Live in the 775.
According to Snider, KXNV will air WPR radio shows that are more established and clean in nature as opposed to its late-night content. One of the major differences between Wolf Pack Radio and KXNV is that WPR only follows Federal Communication Commission guidelines until 10 p.m., after which DJs have free reign to air explicit content.
Everything that makes its way into FM must be edited and checked for FCC compliance. For DJ Kiara Brisker, the other half of The Kel and Kiki Show, that kind of experience is vital and allows college students to gain some real-world experience that they wouldn’t otherwise have.
According to Snider, the new partnership between KXNV and Wolf Pack Radio, though new, is one that seeks to bring out something that radio has been missing ⎯ local flair and fresh perspectives.
“I think the main thing to kind of take away from it is that this will be the first time that Wolf Pack Radio is on FM,” Snider said. “This is us slowly inching into becoming 100 percent FM and just working with as many people in the community as we can.”
Alexa Solis can be reached at alexasolis@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @thealexasolis.
