KZSU

Radio station at Stanford University

KZSU (KZ Stanford University) is a freeform FM radio station broadcasting from the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, United States. KZSU broadcasts in stereo at 90.1 MHz FM with an effective radiated power of 500 watts. The station is owned by the trustees of Stanford University and is governed by a board of directors appointed by the university's president. Operations are managed by a general manager selected each year from the student body.

KZSU began broadcasting on January 6, 1947, using the informal call letters KSU. Originally an AM carrier current station, it relied on cables strung throughout Stanford's network of steam tunnels to carry its 590 kHz (later 880 kHz) signal. The first broadcast was a musical comedy revue starring Doodles Weaver. At first, the station broadcast only in the evenings. In the 1940s and 1950s, KZSU was a commercial station broadcasting popular and classical music, local cultural events, talk shows, and radio plays. The station was shut down for two years following a raid by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in August 1958, which resulted from rising interference with the signal of radio station KGO AM at 810 kHz. Broadcasting resumed in the fall of 1960. Renamed KZSU at the behest of the FCC, the station received a noncommercial FM license in 1964, moved its transmitter from the center of campus to the nearby foothills in 1970, and upgraded its transmitter power from 10 to 500 watts in 1978. The AM carrier gradually died in the early 1980s. KZSU's all volunteer staff is currently made up of locals as well as Stanford students and staff. While the height above average terrain (HAAT) of its 500 watt transmitting antenna is minus 3 meters ( 10 feet), owing to proximity to mountains, its height above mean sea level (AMSL) is 155 m (509 ft.), giving it a vantage over the flat regions visible from the transmitter site. These include all of Stanford and Palo Alto, and much of the Peninsula and South Bay. KZSU says that its signal extends as far north as the San Francisco International Airport and south as San Jose. KZSU has also broadcast live on the internet since 1995.