KURE
Encyclopedia
KURE is a radio station
licensed to Ames, Iowa
, USA, the station serves the Iowa State community, Ames, and surrounding areas. The station is currently owned by Residence Associations Broadcasting Services.
The station features a variety of programming, including most genres of music
, talk shows, and coverage of ISU
sporting events. Hip-hop, electronica
, rock
, americana
, and jazz
are just a few of the music genres played by KURE's constantly rotating staff of student DJ's. Music played at KURE is selected from a list made by student music reviewers. Large sections of the nightly programming schedule are not covered by a dedicated DJ, but are filled by an automated music selector. The station also provides coverage of Iowa State University
football
, basketball
, and wrestling
. Additionally, this station provides occasional news and talk style programming.
through the Government of the Student Body. KURE has always been staffed entirely by volunteer students.
According to the station's board of directors, KURE got its start as KMRA, broadcasting out of a Friley dorm room on 640 AM, on Oct. 17, 1949. Friley residents Cedric Curin, Chuck Hawley and Maurice Voland founded the station with two turntables, a small transmitter and a public address system.
Powered by one quarter of a watt, the signal was only able to provide Friley Hall with entertainment. A boost to 50 watts and implementation of the carrier current method allowed the station to use local power lines as its broadcast antennas and make its programming audible across all of campus.
In 1950, KMRA became KMRI. In 1961, KMRI became KISU. KISU applied for new call letters and in 1970 was given them—KPGY.
1969 brought the station to its current location in the basement of Friley, and the jump to the FM band was made in 1970. The initial frequency was 91.9 with a call of KPGY, "The Big Pig in the Sky". The FCC mandated a change to 91.5, 200 watts, and KUSR in the early 1980s to realign it to the non-commercial frequencies of the FM band. KUSR suspended broadcast operations Nov. 1, 1995, due to complications with its license.
The station now provides coverage to all of Ames as KURE 88.5 FM and has plans to expand its range further in the future.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to Ames, Iowa
Ames, Iowa
Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...
, USA, the station serves the Iowa State community, Ames, and surrounding areas. The station is currently owned by Residence Associations Broadcasting Services.
The station features a variety of programming, including most genres of music
Music radio
Music radio is a radio format in which music is the main broadcast content. After television replaced old time radio's dramatic content, music formats became dominant in many countries...
, talk shows, and coverage of ISU
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
sporting events. Hip-hop, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
, and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
are just a few of the music genres played by KURE's constantly rotating staff of student DJ's. Music played at KURE is selected from a list made by student music reviewers. Large sections of the nightly programming schedule are not covered by a dedicated DJ, but are filled by an automated music selector. The station also provides coverage of Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
. Additionally, this station provides occasional news and talk style programming.
Kaleidoquiz
KURE produces Kaleidoquiz, a 26-hour team competition that involves trivia questions read over the air every six minutes, scavenger hunts, traveling questions, and other contests interspersed throughout the 26 hours. Kaleidoquiz is conducted by KURE DJ's over the air waves and online. In recent years, the use of the internet has made this competition more accessible and the questions more difficult. In previous years, Kaleidoquiz has sent teams as far away as Toronto Canada and required teams to do everything from pull a bus to bring "Your Mom in a wedding dress" in as a scavenger hunt item.History
Previously using the call letters KMRA, KMRI, KISU, KPGY, and KUSR; KURE was established in the mid-1990s. In addition to being student-managed and student-produced, KURE is also funded by students at Iowa State UniversityIowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
through the Government of the Student Body. KURE has always been staffed entirely by volunteer students.
According to the station's board of directors, KURE got its start as KMRA, broadcasting out of a Friley dorm room on 640 AM, on Oct. 17, 1949. Friley residents Cedric Curin, Chuck Hawley and Maurice Voland founded the station with two turntables, a small transmitter and a public address system.
Powered by one quarter of a watt, the signal was only able to provide Friley Hall with entertainment. A boost to 50 watts and implementation of the carrier current method allowed the station to use local power lines as its broadcast antennas and make its programming audible across all of campus.
In 1950, KMRA became KMRI. In 1961, KMRI became KISU. KISU applied for new call letters and in 1970 was given them—KPGY.
1969 brought the station to its current location in the basement of Friley, and the jump to the FM band was made in 1970. The initial frequency was 91.9 with a call of KPGY, "The Big Pig in the Sky". The FCC mandated a change to 91.5, 200 watts, and KUSR in the early 1980s to realign it to the non-commercial frequencies of the FM band. KUSR suspended broadcast operations Nov. 1, 1995, due to complications with its license.
The station now provides coverage to all of Ames as KURE 88.5 FM and has plans to expand its range further in the future.