Portland State’s radio station, KPSU, has been selected by Taiwanese radio station OH! Zone Radio Network to be part of a culturally insightful programming schedule that highlights college radio stations from around the world.
Jeremy Hardy, KPSU station manager, was contacted by OH! Zone last August about potentially broadcasting a few shows on the then up-and-coming radio station set to debut on Oct. 7.
Joining universities from all around the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, KPSU now broadcasts four shows on OH! Zone Radio: “The Jam Session,” “Anti-Apathy,” “The Indigo Blues Hour” and “Local Motion.”
“KPSU was picked for OH! Zone,” KPSU Volunteer Director Rachelle Schmid said, “because of Portland’s great local music and culture.”
Schmid hosts “Anti-Apathy,” a show featuring local music that often has local musicians in the studio. It airs on Tuesday nights at primetime in Taiwan, which caps off the “Women Rule” program, recurring every Tuesday with women disc jockeys and programs like “Women in Music.”
On Oct. 7, OH! Zone launched its first day of programming. According to Brian Hockertz, OH! Zone director, the launch-day festivities included several appearances by foreign government dignitaries and a performance by locally based South-African musician Dawid Vorster playing some blues and folk music.
The local media celebrated the launch day as well, with over 20 stories throughout the English and Chinese media, including a five-minute exclusive story with one of the largest television stations in Taiwan.
“The results were somewhat overwhelming,” Hockertz said. “Our audience increased by close to 6,000 listeners in one day, and it created a bit of a traffic jam on our server.”
Since then, they have quadrupled their bandwidth, which gives them some breathing room, as well as room to grow.
“We are aiming to have an audience of 10,000–5,000 people by the New Year,” Hockertz said.
As OH! Zone’s primary objective is to provide an English-speaking resource to local Taiwanese and international study abroad students, the station’s programming is fairly balanced between Mandarin- and English-speaking programs. And as university radio stations in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom join those in the United States, there will be some variance within the English language.
The OH! Zone Radio Network is a subsidiary of the OH! Study Education Center in Taiwan, an international education and study abroad organization based in Taipei. OH! Zone is one of three divisions of OH! Study, the other two being OH! Study Student Recruiting and OH! Apply.
This is KPSU’s first time broadcasting overseas. OH! Zone plans to pick up more college radio stations throughout more parts of the world as they refine their technique and gain more experience in producing a bilingual programming schedule.
“The OH! Zone is a new concept,” Hockertz said in an e-mail to Schmid, “and much of the work we are doing is going into uncharted territory.”
The four shows selected for Taiwanese syndication are:
“Anti-Apathy,” with Rachelle Schmid, features local music and interviews with local musicians.
“The Jam Session,” with Doug “Dangerous Doug” Friend, is a little mix of everything, from punk to funk, and classic rock to hip-hop, making it a nice sampler for Taiwanese listeners.
“The Indigo Blues Hour,” with Nadine Colb, offers great local blues, a timeless genre that has its roots in American culture, making it another great addition to the OH! Zone schedule.
“Local Motion,” with Johnny “Noblit” Randak, is another local music show, in addition to “Anti-Apathy,” that offers a great taste of what Portland music is all about.