Mark S.
02-10-2005, 02:18 AM
KKJZ radio personality Kellen Yamanaka is fascinated by the fact that many
among his new listening audience will not understand what he says on-air.
In fact, Kellen will be speaking in the wee hours of his day to an audience
that can be reached by ship or plane, but not by car. His listeners will be
on the island of Japan. They will be hearing KKJZ's nationally-recognized
programming broadcasting from studios on the California State
University-Long Beach campus via satellite.
America's number-one jazz station is proud to be one of just five radio
stations whose signal will be transmitted across the Pacific Ocean by land
line to the new Mobile Broadcasting Corporation (MBCO) Satellite Master
Control Center in Tokyo. Via direct broadcast satellite, Japanese
subscribers can access KKJZ's programming by using specially equipped
digital mobile devices, including car radios, Personal Digital Assistants
(PDAs), mobile telephones, or Marine and portable radios.
"We are only 8,000 watts and we are serving the world," said station manager
Judy Jankowski. "People in Japan love jazz, and they won't hear it any
better than by way of a little radio station in Long Beach."
The MBCO satellite will offer 50 audio channels, five imported from the
United States, and 10 video channels on its system, which should formally
debut in November. The satellite was launched April 3 from Cape Canaveral,
Florida by Lockheed Martin.
Ron Thompson, KKJZ's chief engineer, said getting the signal to the
satellite is no easy task. A dedicated digital T-1 circuit gets the signal
from the CSU-Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles. From there, it travels via
undersea cable across the Pacific Ocean to Tokyo and the MBCO control
center, and from there to the satellite.
Kellen Yamanaka admits to being fascinated by the idea that his Japanese
audience could be larger than the one that hears him across the United
States and via the Internet. That's because he is the "overnight guy" on
KKJZ who will be the "drive-time" host in Japan, thanks to the 17-hour time
differential.
Jankowski says KKJZ's success and its expansion into a new and different
market is evidence of the power of music. "All cultures understand the
universal language that is music, they may not know the English language but
they know and love Miles Davis and John Lee Hooker."
KKJZ will soon mark its 25th year of jazz. Originally licensed to the Long
Beach Unified School District in 1949, the station moved to new facilities
on CSU-LB's campus in 1981.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/Oct/1082329.htm
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among his new listening audience will not understand what he says on-air.
In fact, Kellen will be speaking in the wee hours of his day to an audience
that can be reached by ship or plane, but not by car. His listeners will be
on the island of Japan. They will be hearing KKJZ's nationally-recognized
programming broadcasting from studios on the California State
University-Long Beach campus via satellite.
America's number-one jazz station is proud to be one of just five radio
stations whose signal will be transmitted across the Pacific Ocean by land
line to the new Mobile Broadcasting Corporation (MBCO) Satellite Master
Control Center in Tokyo. Via direct broadcast satellite, Japanese
subscribers can access KKJZ's programming by using specially equipped
digital mobile devices, including car radios, Personal Digital Assistants
(PDAs), mobile telephones, or Marine and portable radios.
"We are only 8,000 watts and we are serving the world," said station manager
Judy Jankowski. "People in Japan love jazz, and they won't hear it any
better than by way of a little radio station in Long Beach."
The MBCO satellite will offer 50 audio channels, five imported from the
United States, and 10 video channels on its system, which should formally
debut in November. The satellite was launched April 3 from Cape Canaveral,
Florida by Lockheed Martin.
Ron Thompson, KKJZ's chief engineer, said getting the signal to the
satellite is no easy task. A dedicated digital T-1 circuit gets the signal
from the CSU-Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles. From there, it travels via
undersea cable across the Pacific Ocean to Tokyo and the MBCO control
center, and from there to the satellite.
Kellen Yamanaka admits to being fascinated by the idea that his Japanese
audience could be larger than the one that hears him across the United
States and via the Internet. That's because he is the "overnight guy" on
KKJZ who will be the "drive-time" host in Japan, thanks to the 17-hour time
differential.
Jankowski says KKJZ's success and its expansion into a new and different
market is evidence of the power of music. "All cultures understand the
universal language that is music, they may not know the English language but
they know and love Miles Davis and John Lee Hooker."
KKJZ will soon mark its 25th year of jazz. Originally licensed to the Long
Beach Unified School District in 1949, the station moved to new facilities
on CSU-LB's campus in 1981.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/Oct/1082329.htm
--
ALT.RADIO.SATELLITE - Usenet's home for all things Satellite Radio
Ask your news server to add it today!