KNHS (California)

KNHS
Frequency89.7 MHz
Programming
FormatDefunct (was high school radio)
Ownership
OwnerTorrance Unified School District
History
First air date
March 1966; 58 years ago (1966-03)
Last air date
1991
Call sign meaning
"North High School"
Technical information
Facility ID67342
ClassD

KNHS (89.7 FM) was a high school radio station at North High School in Torrance, California, United States.

History

On August 16, 1965, the Torrance Unified School District received a construction permit for a new non-commercial educational radio station to broadcast with 10 watts from the North High School campus.[1] The antenna and technical facilities were completed that fall.[2] Broadcasting began in March 1966, making North High the second high school in the United States with its own radio station; KNHS initially operated for just one hour a day.[3] A closed-circuit station on campus had operated as early as 1957.[4] Two years later, a closed-circuit campus TV station was started.[5] By 1982, it was airing six hours a day on weekdays.[6]

In later years, new disc jockeys were juniors who learned from the previous year's students and, as the school year progressed, shifted away mid-year from music to begin writing public service announcements and conducting on-air interviews.[7] Although it was against school rules for students to carry radios on campus, some students managed to listen with transistor radios and later Walkmans, or on tape recordings the student broadcasters' parents made.[7] At this time, the station had no working tape deck, nor did it have a CD player, so all music came from vinyl.[7] The station went off air by 1991.

References

  1. ^ FCC History Cards for KNHS
  2. ^ "FCC Grants License: North High to Operate Own FM Radio Station" (PDF). Torrance Press-Herald. February 27, 1966. pp. A-1, A-3.
  3. ^ "Will Reach 7 Miles: High School to Air Programs on FM". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. March 6, 1966. p. K3. Retrieved January 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "North High Student Larry Lutz Attends SC TV Class" (PDF). Torrance Herald. July 21, 1957. p. 2.
  5. ^ "Educational TV Station In Operation on Campus" (PDF). Torrance Press-Herald. November 1, 1968. p. A-1.
  6. ^ Secord, Al (October 22, 1982). "North High's 'Exposure' bows Tuesday". News-Pilot. San Pedro, California. p. E2. Retrieved January 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b c Rae-Dupree, Janet (November 23, 1989). "High School Radio Station Fine-Tunes Students' Skills". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. J1, J2. Retrieved January 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.