FM ('''C-89.5''') is a student-run Class C1 Non-Commercial
FM station in
Seattle, Washington , primarily broadcasting
Dance and
Contemporary Hit music. Its best coverage is in the Seattle metro area
{Link without Title} .
KNHC is owned by the
Seattle Public Schools and is operated by students of
Nathan Hale High School in the
Lake City area of north Seattle, many of whom work at the station as part of a radio broadcasting course. Production, programming, music selection, copy, and on-air hosting are done by the student staff, with assistance and supervision when necessary by adult staff and volunteers. Some regular programs are hosted by alumni or other non-students.
The station usually plays
Top 40 dance music during the day, with a number of specialty shows playing anything from
House to
Industrial appearing midday, in the evenings, and on weekends.
Since around
2002 , the Seattle Public School district has excluded funding for the station, save for the salaries of District employees, from its annual budget. The entire $200,000/year operational budget of the station is raised via fundraising efforts, primarily from two bi-annual
Pledge Drive s, as well as from some amount of commercial underwriting. The station continues to be free of traditional commercial advertisements, though sponsorships are occasionally noted with pre-recorded underwriting spots from the sponsor.
The C in 89.5 stands for '''Communications'''.
As of
October 2005 , C89.5's current weekly schedule includes the following specialty shows which play slightly different music than the station's regular rotation:
- Monday Madness (Monday 8PM - 11PM), host: Ken Thompson
- Tuesday (Tuesday 8PM - midnight), host: Andrea Collins
- Nocturnal Transmission (Wednesday 8PM - midnight), playing Trance Music host: Paul Adams - mixed by: DJ Tamm
- Save The Wave mix (Thursday 7AM - 9AM), playing mostly 1980s New Wave and Synthpop , mixed by: DJ Trent Von
- Planet Dance (Thursday 9PM - 11PM), playing early 1990s dance music, host: Mel McCoy
- ElectroBox (Friday 8PM - midnight), playing mostly Electropop , host: Timothy
- The Lockdown (Friday midnight - 1am)
- The Vortex (Saturday 8PM - 2AM), playing mostly House , Breaks , and Drum And Bass , host: Drew
- Powermix (Saturday 2am - 4am), playing mostly Nightclub music, mixed by: Randy Schlager
- The Gospel Show (Sunday 8AM - 2PM), playing Gospel Music , hosts: Eddie, David, Monica and Unika
- On The Edge (Sunday 6PM - midnight), playing mostly Industrial , Darkwave , and Goth Music , host: Paul Alienikoff
The station's schedule also includes additional shows including:
- The Drive @ 5, every weekday from 5 PM-6 PM, continuous mixes of regular rotation songs by Victor Menegaux, DJ Tamm, and Richard J Dalton
- The Noon Workout Mix, every weekday from noon-12:30 PM, by Richard J Dalton
- The Phat 5 @ 7, Saturdays from 7 PM-7:30 PM, counting down the station's top songs from the past week
- The Hot 8 @ 8, every weekday from 8 PM-8:30 PM, counting down the top requested songs of the day
The station's signal reaches an area from north of Seattle to roughly halfway into
Tacoma, Washington and across the
Puget Sound . The signal can be received as far east as
Snoqualmie, Washington . It identifies itself as a Seattle station.
The station also provides multiple live
Streams from its website, currently operating one 32 kbit/s
Shoutcast stream and 32 kbit/s and 128 kbit/s
Windows Media streams, which can be received throughout the world via the
Internet .
- 1960s
- ---December signal, at 1210 AM.
- 1970s
- ---January 1971 : KNHC goes on the air with 10 watts at 89.5 FM, covering about a 5 mile circle in the north end of Seattle.
- ---September 1972 : Power is increased to 320 watts with a directional antenna.
- ---January operations.
- ---November 1974 : Power is increased to 1,500 watts directional.
- ---December / NTIA grant creates a new studio, and a sister studio at Cleveland High School on Beacon Hill . The Mass Communications Magnet School program at Hale begins, including courses in radio, television, journalism, photography, and graphic arts. During this period (through the early 1980s) the "C" in KNHC was said to stand for "Cleveland." Though some Cleveland students participated in the KNHC program, the majority of student staff continued to be students enrolled at Nathan Hale.
- 1980s
- ---Early 80s: KNHC played a light rock/pop format during the day, with specialty shows in the evenings and on weekends, including jazz and classical.
- ---October 1981 : Power is increased to 3 kW non-directional.
- --- 1982 : KNHC adopted an R&B/"urban" format, and the number of listeners rapidly increased. Since then, though the format has shifted slightly, the station's focus has remained on danceable and rhythmic music.
- --- 1983 : KNHC begins to use the nickname "C89".
- ---December 's KRAB files with the FCC to force the Seattle School District to share KNHC's frequency. The school district fights the takeover attempt.
- ---April dish to receive the Sheridan Broadcasting Network .
- ---July 1986 : A BE 3.5 kW transmitter is installed extending C89.5's power to 10 kW.
- ---February 1986 : The FCC designates the KRAB case to full scale federal hearing.
- ---August 1987 : Unique Jampro 6 bay state-of-the-art antenna is installed minimizing downward signal.
- ---June studio transmitter link is installed.
- ---February Newspower satellite newsfeed is installed.
- ---May 1988 : Federal courts rule in favor of KNHC.
- ---January 1989 : KNHC prevails over a federal appeal by Jackstraw.
- 1990s
- ---September 1990 : Magnet grant is awarded to enhance the radio and TV program.
- ---June 1990 : QEI transmitter is installed extending operations to 30 kW.
- ---March 1991 : Radio facility is renovated; second production studio, engineering room, and offices are built.
- ---December which gives station workers opportunities for higher education. Jobs, college credits and scholarships are made available. Two students participate in the program in its first year.
- ---September 1995 : Introduced digital audio technology with three digital audio editing workstations.
- ---January 1997 : Moved to digital station operation with introduction of a digital music stream and placement of computer workstations in every studio.
- ---April 1998 : Station launches www.c895fm.com website.
- 2000s
- ---January recording elements and programs, making the station completely tapeless and completing the studio transition to all digital.
- ---August 2000 : Completely remodeled and rewired all three studios with new audio consoles and furniture.
- ---June .
- ---July 2002 : Began transmitting from Cougar Mountain, significantly extending the reach of the signal to the North and filling in "dead spots".
- ---October , thanks to its Internet audio stream.
- ---March to be a monitored reporter when they join the Billboard Magazine Dance Radio Airplay panel.
PSA information, underwriting inquiries, business issues, pledge drive questions, contest questions:
:Business line: +1 206 252 3800
:Fax line: +1 206 252 3805
Requests, music questions, event questions:
:Request line +1 206 421 8989
Feedback and ideas:
:Listener Service line: +1 206 252 3802
