A Quiet Day for KKJZ Radio Means Changes Ahead.

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- It will be quieter than usual in the Chuck Niles Studio at KKJZ Radio, 88.1 FM, on the California State University Long Beach campus much of the day on Tuesday, December 7.

The station will go dark about 10:00 a.m. that day. As the signal ceases, KKJZ contractors will be climbing the 160-foot broadcast tower on Signal Hill to begin modifying the transmitter antenna and orienting it properly. If all goes as planned, the radio dial will again light up at K-JAZZ by 4:00 p.m.

That planned six-hour quiet period is the first step in a months-long process to increase the station's power to 30,000 watts maximum, a much-needed upgrade for one of America's top straight-ahead jazz stations. It will also be the inauguration of some other changes that listeners will love.

In fact, December 7 will be a very good day to listen to KKJZ on-line. Jazz fans who catch the on-line stream day may also catch a prize. There will be an Apple I-Mac, an I-Pod, and other prizes awarded to listeners that day, according to Station Manager Sean Heitkemper.

The on-line prize giveaway is an effort to create awareness of the station's need for member-listeners to step up and contribute toward the cost of the signal increase, Heitkemper says. "We are making this and some other changes because it's what our listeners want, and we hope that our thousands of supporters will make paying for them easy."

The signal increase and some planned studio upgrades will cost about $250,000. At this point, about half of that cost has been recouped, thanks to a KKJZ listening audience that literally stretches across the country.

Heitkemper says listeners will notice a difference once the process is completed. Indoor reception will improve, there will be a stronger signal in the existing coverage area, as well as improved coverage up and down the coast toward West Los Angeles and into Orange County. In addition, the power increase will protect the signal from encroachment from stations close to KKJZ on the dial.

"At 6,500 watts, KKJZ's signal doesn't have the clarity and robustness that jazz listeners need and deserve," said General Manager Judy Jankowski. She points out that KKJZ will also be converting to HD (High Definition) Radio. That upgrade will allow listeners to catch KKJZ on the new HD radios now hitting the market which provide higher quality digital audio with less noise than FM.

With HD, the more-distant future for KKJZ could include the transmission of auxiliary services like 'now playing' and artist information, promotional text and graphics, and secondary audio services -- maybe even a second format on the same radio channel at some point in the future.

Further down the line, with the financial support of member-listeners, KKJZ wants to replace studio production equipment that's more than 20 years old, and provide a digital path to the transmitter. Those changes will bring the studio-quality audio product in line with the transmission and delivery capabilities provided by the power increase and conversion to HD.

"It's all about our listeners," Jankowski says. "This station is on everyone's top 10 list because it is jazz at its best. KKJZ helps define the genre because of the quality of the music and the people who play it, and the wonderful support we receive in turn from our audience."

By the time the power increase takes effect, KKJZ will have an even wider, more international audience. Before the year ends, the KKJZ signal will be heard in Japan via direct broadcast satellite. The Mobile Broadcasting Corporation (MBCO) asked the station to be one of just five from the U.S. whose signal will be broadcast in Japan. The MBCO satellite will offer 50 audio channels that can be accessed by specially equipped digital mobile devices, including car radios, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones, and Marine and portable radios.