KULT 94.5 FM, UNI’s only broadcasting radio station, has announced a new name and a change in their services alongside their 70th birthday — now Radio UNI, the student-run radio station, is streaming-only through their website. Mikayla Capman, the general manager of Radio UNI says that the change wasn’t just needed for the broadcasting station itself, but for listeners as well.
“Through broadcasting, KULT could only broadcast within a five mile radius of campus,” said Capman. “So DJs families and even some students couldn’t listen to broadcasts. Switching to streaming-only opens up our audience beyond campus.” On top of being able to widen their audience reach through streaming, Capman has also seen exponential growth for the radio station over the course of 2024. According to Capman, there was a point in 2024 where KULT had almost no DJs, and Capman was working with her advisors to keep the radio station afloat. Now, Capman’s contact list for DJs has grown to over 70 students.
“Seeing this kind of interest from students is really exciting,” Capman said. “It’s also taken a lot of work off of my shoulders, so I can focus on running the station and helping schedule DJs.” With a new wealth of DJs at Radio UNI comes a wealth of radio personalities. From diverse tastes in music to talk show hosts and now sports broadcasting, Capman thinks that Radio UNI has something for everyone.
On Radio UNI’s new website, users can find the schedule of DJs for the day and the rest of the week, alongside a description of what that DJ intends to broadcast. “One hour you could be listening to 80s rock, and the next you could be listening to an astrology podcast, and then they’re playing Broadway tunes…I think that’s the beautiful part,” Capman said. “I think that there’s a show for everyone.” Listeners can choose shows they listen to based on the descriptions given on the Radio UNI website. Despite the downturn in staffing from 2024, the radio currently boasts over 15 different scheduled and recurring shows from DJs, who broadcast anything from talk radio, to the Grateful Dead, to UNI Softball games.
According to Capman, moving to streaming-only can also ease the DJs responsibilities. “Since we stream, we can record and replay shows if we want to,” Capman said. “So if a DJ is out sick one day, we aren’t scrambling to fill their broadcast hour, we can just replay one of their older shows.” Capman says that this can help allow DJs to focus on being creative and providing a streaming show that people want to listen to.
As Radio UNI looks to the future, Capman hopes to continue to grow the station and cultivate a safe creative space for hosts and listeners. “Right now, we don’t have a budget,” said Capman. “In order to keep up with everything we want to do and keep going, we need to start fundraising. So, we’re absolutely looking for partnerships, ads, anything like that.” Alongside fundraising, Capman also hopes to continue to provide a space to allow DJs creative freedom. With the switch to streaming only, Capman says that the station no longer has to adhere to FCC broadcasting rules, which could open up new avenues for DJ creativity on the station.
Radio UNI has also changed locations. They formerly broadcasted out of the Keyhole Room in the Maucker Union basement and have since moved their operations to Lang, and now stream out of Lang 031. Radio UNI is available to stream at radio.uni.edu, and provides a calendar schedule for DJs and their shows on their website.
