Texas A&M’s student radio station, KANM, has been approved for a low-power FM construction permit by the FCC. Student leaders say they hope to be on airwaves by spring 2026.
Texas A&M University senior Eren Rudd says last fall was her most stressful semester of college. It wasn’t because of grades, but because her team at the online student radio station had the opportunity to apply for a low-power FM frequency in about a six-week period.
Many phone calls, emails, paperwork filings and stressful days later, A&M’s student radio station KANM was approved by the Federal Communications Commission on Monday for a low-power FM construction permit. This is the first step toward operating on an FM frequency for the online station.
“While we do love that space that we’ve created online, an FM frequency is something we’ve always strived for as an organization,” said Rudd, KANM’s station manager. “Some of the earliest founding documents that you find are mission statements from years ago that say, ‘Oh, by the way, we want to get a frequency one day. That is our goal.’”
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KANM has an office team of around 20 people and 130 students registered as DJs. Many of them double up on shows. Another 70 students are general members as the station provides a place for music loves to have community on campus. The station has been around since the 1970s.
As station manager, Rudd said she gets a lot of junk in her email. But back in September, she received an email from a person at Common Frequency, a nonprofit organization that provides low-cost aid to help new community and college radio stations. The email told KANM leaders the FCC was taking applications for low-power FM frequencies and that the station appeared to be a good candidate. The only problem was the deadline to apply was Nov. 8 and the application process was hard to navigate and had a lot of bureaucratic red tape. KANM leaders said it was worthwhile pursuing, though, since the FCC only opens frequency applications on average once a decade.
“We were like, ‘Oh my god, we only have a month-and-a-half to figure out how we do this.’ And we’ve never done anything like this before,” Rudd said.
Station leaders began asking around to see who the right person at A&M was that could help them. Conversations began by walking across the hall to talk with Spencer O’Daniel, assistant director of A&M’s student media. He then reached out to his boss, Stefanie Baker, A&M’s director of student life. KANM leaders gave her a pitch, but she felt the decision was above her. Time began to run short when Hart Blanton, head of A&M’s Department of Communication and Journalism, reached out to them during the last week of October and said he would be an advocate. KANM leaders discovered they needed to reach out to the university’s communications lawyer to file the paperwork for them. Blanton helped get their pitch into the university president’s office. Once KANM received approval from A&M President Mark A. Welsh III, their pitch was passed onto the A&M Board of Regents and eventually signed off by Bill Mahomes, chairman of the board.
The deadline for applications was extended to the first of December as KANM leaders reached out to Common Frequencies to do an engineering survey to prove there would be no interference. After all the hoops and hurdles, KANM’s application was submitted the day of the deadline.
“We had to put together a really impressive package for them to help us in the short amount of time,” said Nayab Warach, KANM’s system administrator.
Months passed before an answer was given. On Monday, Warach came to the KANM studio after his first class. When he opened his email, he saw a message that said their FCC license had been granted. He immediately called Rudd and then sent messages to the station’s officers and folks at the university that helped them in the application process.
“We were ecstatic because we had heard no news for the past two months and I kept being told by everyone I asked and deals with this stuff professionally that no news is good news,” Warach said. “I was like, I would rather just have an answer.”
As the only alternative music station in the B-CS area, KANM member Sofia Wynn said having a FM frequency will allow the station to connect with more of the community. Programming will be tweaked to follow FCC guidelines.
“It’s been so rewarding to have all of our hard work culminate in the best possible scenario despite the setbacks,” Wynn said. “At the end of the day, it all worked out. It did take a while, but it all worked out and we’re all super excited.”
One item KANM had to provide in its application was an educational statement. Charlie Hubenak, KANM’s programming director, said their list of proposed educational programs includes financial literacy, this day in history and other science or sports shows.
“It was exciting just imagining what the future of KANM could look like,” Hubenak said. “Right now, it’s so special, but it’s very freeform. A lot of times some of the very fun shows to listen in are when two friends are just riffing off each other for an hour. It’s such a treat as listeners to get to hear that because these are our friends and we love listening to them, but for the community that doesn’t know us and only listens to us, I think it’s really exciting that we’ll be able to be a bit more sophisticated and organized and structured.”
There’s still plenty of work for KANM leaders to do before the station hits airwaves, though.
The station must first reserve a call sign. Student leaders have discovered the rights to KANM through the FCC belong to Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Board of Education. But since the call sign is used in a different market, it’s possible for KANM to be used here in B-CS. Warach said Blanton has agreed to reach out to the folks in Albuquerque on behalf of the university. KANM leaders have discussed alternative call signs. Their best option so far is KAGZ. Nothing is set in stone, but student leaders say it would be hard to leave KANM behind because of its longstanding name at A&M.
Once a call sign is reserved, the station can begin to purchase FM equipment that is heavily regulated by the FCC. Fortunately, the station has a head start on a studio since one is already in place. As soon as all boxes are checked, the station can go back to the FCC for it to sign off on a permit for full frequency. Warach said his hope is for this to be completed before he graduates in spring 2026. While ambitious, he believes it’s a feasible goal.
“I think the struggle with something like this in a college setting is that everybody is here for four years or less, so to get something off the ground like this is tough when you’re making promises that you won’t necessarily be there for,” Rudd said.
Nonetheless, strides have been made to get KANM on airwaves for public consumption. KANM leaders said it’s been a worthwhile endeavor even if they won’t get to participate once the process is fully complete.
“One of main reasons I really wanted to do this and we all wanted to do this is not necessarily for us because a majority of us will be graduated by the time we’re active and on-air,” Rudd said, “but for the future of A&M students so they can have a voice, not just on our beautiful little website, but in the whole community for all of Bryan-College Station.”