If you feel like there’s a hole in Portland
radio where hometown music ought to be, you’ll want to program 91.1 FM
into your car radio presets right now in anticipation of 2009, when the
recently announced, ad-free, listener-supported, full-power station run
by MetroEast Community Media is projected to hit the air. For nearly 25
years running, MetroEast has offered a variety of media services to the
eastern fringe of the Portland metro area, from television broadcasts
of Gresham government meetings to video production classes. Late last
month MetroEast learned that they emerged victorious from an arduous,
exceedingly rare Federal Communications Commission (FCC) application
process that granted them a highly coveted chunk of the FM dial that
will extend from East Metro to at least as far west as the inner
Eastside of Portland. MetroEast has worked closely with several local
music organizations, including the Portland Radio Authority and
Musicians Union Local 99, throughout the process, and, though details
are still emerging, Portland-made music is expected to be at the center
of 91.1’s curatorial vision. Hot off their FCC triumph, MetroEast Chief
Executive Officer Rob Brading and Musicians Union President Bruce Fife
spoke with me about their plans for the station.

MERCURY: Now that you have permission, what has to happen
before you can get the station up and running? 

FIFE: We
have to build it. We have a construction permit and three years to get
it up. As soon as it’s built and approved (a permitting process), we
can broadcast.

What will the format of 91.1 be? Who will be in charge of
determining programming?

FIFE: The MetroEast board is in charge of making the global
decisions. The size of the board is in the process of being increased
to add “radio” people to the board. It is my hope, and has been since
day one, that programming be DJ-driven, with new original music of all
styles as the focus, with clear emphasis on the local and regional, as
well as touring artists not already represented on commercial
radio. 

In what ways will 91.1 be different from other community-oriented
and-run stations, such as KBOO?

BRADING: The primary difference may be in format. The new station
will be a music station while KBOO is more eclectic in its programming
and includes much more news and information than the new station
will.

Will the public have a role in determining exactly what the
nascent station is going to be?

FIFE: Personally speaking, I
would say yes, with certain qualifications. Again, the goal from my
perspective since day one has been to highlight and support the great
diversity of music that is underrepresented in our community on radio.
That community should be well represented at the table, and we hope it
will be and want it to, though the details are not worked out yet.