The Treasure Valley will have a community radio station next fall under plans announced by organizers.
The radio station will be known as KRFR-FM, K-Radio-Four Rivers, according to a Thursday, Sept. 12, press release.
Billy Carter, the president, said the radio station will carry music, entertainment and non-political local news.
He said the station plans to broadcast to Ontario, Nyssa, Vale, Payette, Fruitland, New Plymouth and Weiser. Where it will operate from hasn’t been established.
He said without a local television or radio station focusing on the area, the community is often in the dark about local happenings and events. That is the motivating factor behind establishing the community radio station, according to Carter.
“We want to help people understand what is going on in the community,” he said.
Carter, an instructional assistant with the Ontario School District and a former corrections administrator at the Snake River Correctional Institution, said the nonprofit will begin the construction of a radio tower.
Fundraising will start later this year but there is no goal, Carter said. It’s unclear what the annual operating costs will be, according to Carter.
He said the organization is also looking for a broadcast facility.
He said the land for the radio tower has already been donated by Leroy McBride, a local landowner. The location of the property will be northwest of Ontario. He said the nonprofit is working with an engineer, who needs to finish the architectural drawings that will then be submitted to the county for approval.
According to the radio station’s website, Four Rivers Community Radio was formed in 2021, and the station’s press release noted that the Federal Communications Commission granted the permit for the nonprofit station in 2022.
The board of directors includes Carter, Jon Dennis, vice president, who is a local attorney from Ontario; Diana Raquel Ramirez, the board’s secretary, who is from Ontario; Norma Ramirez Gonzalez, the board’s treasurer and an Ontario resident; and Michael Paul, the director, who is from New Plymouth. Carter said the board is looking to expand the number of seats on the board to get more representation from other towns in the Treasure Valley.
Carter said that while the station is still planning its programming.
“We want to be entertaining and desirable for everybody,” he said. “We don’t want to be dividing our listener base. It’s better to be non-political and be entertaining and interesting.”
The last time the western Treasure Valley had a community radio station was roughly 10 years ago, which was KSRV-FM/AM. The radio station dropped its country format in 2007 and rebranded itself as Bob FM. It moved its transmitter to a tower in rural Boise County and the broadcast now covers a tiny part of eastern Oregon and a large section of western Idaho.
According to the press release, the station is conducting an online survey to gauge community interest and understand what kind of programming people are interested in hearing.
Also, Carter said the station is looking for volunteers to help with the launch or station operations. For more information, email [email protected]. The community interest survey can be found at frcradio.org.
News tip? Send your information to Steven Mitchell at [email protected].
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