History

The History of 90.9 FM Grizz Radio

Grizz Radio started out as KASC, which was a club that offered an alternative programming for college students. KASC purchased airtime from a local AM station KQIW, where they aired their prerecorded shows Monday through Friday. There was no transmitter on campus at that time.

In 1964, KASC built its own transmitter in the basement of what today is the Rex Gym. The transmitter was built by students and aired on an AM frequency. At that time the station was limited to only ASC students living in the dorms.

In 1968, KASC left the dungeon of the Rex and changed its call letters to KAS and over its studio to the third floor of Richardson. AS&F appropriated funds for three state of the art transmitters. They were placed in three of the campus residence halls, which helped to increase the broadcasting area. The station was broadcast on an AM frequency at 660 MHz. This was the greatest learning period for KAS and they faced being scrutinized for various questionable. They were over-transmitting (using too much power). It also seems that the patients of the nearby hospital were complaining that they were receiving the broadcasts through various life saving medical equipment.

The station continued on until 1970 when the station moved directly East of the ES Building and switched to FM frequency. This was done due to the FCC’s decision to shorten the AM spectrum eliminating 660 MHz. The students of ASU thought this would be a bad move, chiefly because FM radios were still fairly rare. This morning was also the same year that classes started being offered to teach broadcasting.

Today the station is located in the north side of the Student Union Building and is housed in The Haynie Center for Mass Communications. The station 90.9 FM Grizz Radio is also known as KASF at times. Grizz Radio strives for constant improvement, and works hard to maintain a positive image for the ASU campus and SLV community.