KAFA-FM (97.7 FM, "97.7 The Academy") is the

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

operated by current

officer cadet Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University ...

s at the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Un ...

in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The station does not hold a direct

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

license, as it is owned by a service academy. The United States government has a direct assignment of the call sign. KAFA first broadcast in 1971 and has been on the air continuously since 1989. A full-time civilian station manager is employed in its operation and assists the cadet and permanent party DJs.

History

The station first began broadcasting on the FM band on January 17, 1971; it was the first FM station compared to the carrier current AM stations at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

. (The "KAFA" designation had once been used by a closed-circuit TV station at the academy.) Broadcasts were part-time and consisted of DJ-led programs, an annual charity marathon, and Academy football games, before those rights were sold commercially. The station faded out some time after 1980, but it was revived on 104.5 MHz on February 13, 1989; it moved to 104.3 MHz in October 1993. In 2004, KAFA was given a grant and updated its studio to current radio

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

industry standards with the introduction of Prophet Systems software and

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

computers. In June 2006, KAFA changed frequency to 97.7 MHz. The station subsequently solidified a format of

Alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

and

Indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

branded as "The New 97.7". The programming also allows distinct DJs and personalities to maintain their own distinct shows. In 2008, the station began web streaming with support from the Association of Graduates. KAFA moved from Vandenberg Hall to Fairchild Hall in 2018.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kafa-Fm AFA-FM AFA-FM United States Air Force Academy Unlicensed radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1971 1971 establishments in Colorado