KOCZ-LP is a non-commercial low-power FM

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...

station in

Opelousas, Louisiana Opelousas (; ) is a small city and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 in Louisiana, Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 in Louisiana, U.S. Route 190 were constructed with a ju ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The station operates at a

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...

of 94.9 MHz and features a mix of

cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states. Whi ...

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and local public affairs, with a focus on the area's

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

community. KOCZ is licensed to the Southern Development Foundation, a civil rights group that provides funding and technical support to selected cooperatives and community organizations. The foundation operates a full-power (25,000 watts) FM station in nearby

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette ( , ) is the most populous city in and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Lafayette Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River (Louisiana), Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's List of municipaliti ...

, KIEE 88.3 FM.

History

KOCZ-LP, which was started as part of the third community radio " barnraising" initiative of the

Prometheus Radio Project The Prometheus Radio Project is a non-profit advocacy and community organizing group with a mission to resist corporate media consolidation and radio homogenization in the United States.Hill, Ricky. "Prometheus Radio Project (United States)." '' ...

, went on the air on June 20, 2003. The station originally broadcast at 103.7 FM and received FCC approval for it current frequency, 94.9, in 2019.

Recognition

KOCZ has garnered national attention for the role it plays in the Opelousas community. It was the subject of a

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

article in 2011 and was cited by FCC Commissioner

Jessica Rosenworcel Jessica Rosenworcel (born July 12, 1971) is an American attorney who served as a member and chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). She originally served on the FCC from May 11, 2012, to January 3, 2017, and was confirmed by the Sen ...

in 2013 as an example of the unique local service low-power FM stations provide in top 50 radio markets.

References

External links

Southern Development Foundation
Low-power FM radio stations in Louisiana Community radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 2003 2003 establishments in Louisiana Radio stations in Louisiana Opelousas, Louisiana {{Louisiana-radio-station-stub

History

Recognition

See also

References

External links