City Clearwater, Florida Frequency Low powered part 15 | Broadcast area Clearwater, Florida First air date 12.25.2004 | |
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Slogan “The world’s only kid owned & operated FM radio station” Format 70s, 80s, 90s, contemporary, modern | ||
WKID 96.7 FM is a low powered FM radio station in Clearwater, Florida. Known as “the world’s only kid owned and operated FM radio station”, they have received praise for their work in providing kids with a proactive place to build life skills all while transmitting across the world via online streaming.
History
WKID 96.7 FM started as a Christmas present in 2004 to (now CEO) Adam “A-Dawg” from his dad and adviser of the station, Rodger. He was inspired to build an FM transmitter kit for A-Dawg after he expressed his discontent for constant commercial breaks across several channels at the same time along with his previous radio repair knowledge. The transmitter kit sat on a small, wobbly computer desk in A-Dawg's bedroom. Nightly on air content included new stories picked out by the starting crew of Adam “A-Dawg” (Owner), Eric “BoBo The Monkey” (his younger brother) (Co-Owner), Melissa “MARS” (Director),Conner “Cons-Cons-Rooster”(Assistant Director), Michael “MIKErophone” (Manager), Tony “DJ Tony” Manamger), and Tommy “Big T” (DJ). They took turns reading off the stories on the same microphone. At the time, they were only able to transmit throughout the community.
Two years later, Adam’s bedroom was rearranged to accommodate for a bigger setup that included an extra microphone and two extra computers. Spacial Audio became a sponsor of the station as they donated their online streaming service so that the kids could experience a bigger listenership. The station grew to be about 25 kids strong.
With expanding media attention from local media outlets such as The St. Petersburg Times, WTSP, ABC 10 Connects, Fox 13, and Bay News 9, they were able to get listeners in during their nightly shows in the thousands and tens of thousands. They once had a show that included 105,000 listeners made possible by Spacial Audio’s online stream. To handle the heavy demand, they now have five computers, 4 microphones, and a 48 channel mixer board to manage the new equipment added after their early days. They also have made public appearances for several Tampa Bay area charities, sports teams, and events that require music and DJ/emcee services.