Covenant News
KICY Website Offers New Look, Streaming Audio
NOME, ALASKA (May 5, 2005) - It's a new look for the KICY Radio website – one that also adds new services for users and is easier to navigate than previously.The station is owned by Arctic Broadcasting Association, a non-profit corporation of the Evangelical Covenant Church of Alaska. It broadcasts throughout the Seward Peninsula, Yukon and Kuskokwim Deltas and the Russian regions of Chukotka, Kamchatka and Siberia. Other forms of media are not available in many of these areas.
The new site allows 10 users at a time to access live streaming audio of
the radio station's programming. The number of users currently is
limited due to cost, says Dennis Weidler, general manager. Programming
is a mix of music and teaching that includes Chuck Swindoll and James
Dobson.
The new site also includes regular photo updates, downloadable audio files, online newsletter archives and even webcams from Nome. One of the individuals working with Weidler to lead the new website design is Joshua Rogers, shown in the accompanying photo (at left) with volunteer Neil Peterson.
"Dennis and I worked together to come up with a site concept that would build on the current site," Rogers explains. "We both wanted a system that would allow future volunteers and staff the ability to update easily without having to know website code. I designed the site and all the other staff helped to write a lot of the content. It was really a collaborative effort by everyone here - it would have taken a lot longer if just one person had done all that work."
Recent developments in the broadcast industry have made it more affordable for a radio station to stream live audio on the Internet, Rogers explains, especially non-profit stations. "There have been enough people in our broadcast area and supporters in the lower 48 states who have inquired about us webcasting that we thought we would try it out," he adds.
The radio station has increased its power to 50,000 watts and broadcasts 24 hours a day, enabling KICY AM 850 to send its messages into places where other forms of media are not readily available. A second radio station, KICY 100.3 FM, also is featured on the website and offers programs for Nome and the surrounding communities.
To learn more about KICY, its programs and the streaming audio, visit its website at KICY.
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