History Radio
The Voice of Sacramento is Sacramento's only local community radio station. Actually we have two cable radio services. The Voice cablecasts round the clock on the Comcast cable system at 88.7 MHz. Our second service retransmits one of the oldest community stations in the country. KPFA has been around for over 50 years, transmitting on 94.1 MHz. from Berkley CA. Recently, as FM stations go on the air in our area, it has become increasingly difficult for local listeners to receive KPFA directly. We at Access can still pull in the signal and so we retransmit KPFA over our second service at 89.9 MHz. These two services compliment each other as KPFA provides greater alternative new coverage and The Voice provides local access for activists wishing to address their community.
Community radio at Access Sacramento has been around for nearly 20 years. We were a collection of independent radio folks in 1986 when Access opened its doors, the radio community grew and two years later became KCBL. An acronym for "cable" the unused call letters provided the base identity to draw the radio producers together as a station. As the years progressed, KCBL went out into the community and promoted Access Sacramento as we covered events and recorded programming. We broadcast live and recorded programming for later playback. One of our first remotes were the County and State Fairs in 1991. We were at the first and third "Thursday Night Markets", the Executive Airport Airshow from '93 - '98, the Sac City Planning Commission and many local governmental events like the opening of the Meadowview Community Center. Some years later we changed our identity to "The Voice" when the call letters became active and could no longer be used by our radio station. In 1996, we started streaming audio over the Internet, but had to cease in 2001 with the enforcement of the DMCA. 1998 saw the start of a three year timeshare aggreement with a local High School radio station. We have applied for a LPFM station and added Secondary Audio on Channels 17 and 18 in 2002. We're planning our return to the Internet and keep watch for other radio outlets.
The Voice is a free-form community cable radio station. The station is made up of local Sacramento County residents that bring in their music and information weekly to share with the community. As with any Access Sacramento activity, classes are available to teach you how to produce your own radio program. Classes are offered monthly except in June and December. Check with the front office for scheduling and fees. Contact Shane Carpenter, Radio Program Coordinator for more information at 916-456-8600 Ext. 144.
