User:Katerosetaylor

Origins and History
Utah Free Media is an all-volunteer non-profit community internet radio station founded in Salt Lake City, Utah in February 2008 by a collaboration between Troy Mumm, former program director of KRCL, and Michael Place of XMission Internet, as well as a number of community supporters and volunteers. They have a 24-hour stream, with live programming from 9am-9pm Mondays through Fridays with Saturday programming coming soon. They also have one of the world's first, direct-to-iPhone streams.

Impetus for starting a new community station arose when the local community radio station, KRCL, announced a change in their format from volunteer programmers and diverse genre programming to an all paid-DJ, AAA format during weekdays. Other community stations, such as KBOO in Portland, OR, have also considered format changes in response to threatened cuts in CPB funding if listener ratings were not raised in a certain period of time. Utah Free Media is a community response to the changing market in terrestrial radio, and attempts to bring community radio into the internet age. In addition to providing former KRCL programmers affected by the change with a new venue for their existing shows, the founders of UtahFM hoped to take advantage of the growing flexibility and multi-media potential of the internet to provide a source of alternative media and community information in the state of Utah. The station began broadcasting live on May 12, 2008. They are currently developing an arts & entertainment podcast for the Salt Lake area.

Funding and Operations
The station is funded by community support from businesses and individuals. Working in a downtown studio space donated by Urban Utah Homes and Estates, and streaming on bandwidth donated by X-Mission, UtahFM provides diverse music programming with live volunteer DJs from 9 am to 9 pm, Monday through Friday, and from 9 am to 12 pm, Saturday. When not providing live programming, the station provides rebroadcasts of previous shows.

Community Involvement
UtahFM has partnered with many community organizations, and provides public service announcements for community events in the greater Salt Lake City area. The station website also provides a community calendar.

Their partnerships include: SLUG Magazine (underwrites Thursdays) Utah Arts Festival 9th & 9th Street Festival Avenues Street Festival Snowbird Renaissance Center City Weekly Brazilian Arts & Cultural Center CounterPoint Studios Q Salt Lake

Challenges
Challenges to the station include sustained community interest, the prevalence of terrestrial radio, sources of funding and encouraging music enthusiasts to listen online.