KPIG
Encyclopedia
KPIG-FM is a radio station
located near the city of Santa Cruz, California
, USA. Founded in 1988, the studio is based in Watsonville, California
, and broadcasts to the counties of Santa Cruz
and Monterey. It also has a radio repeater
on 94.9 MHz FM in San Luis Obispo County as KPYG (from 2004). The station's logo features a sunglasses-wearing pig in farmer's clothing and a cowboy hat. Its format tends to be Rock, Blues, Folk, Folk/Country and is largely self-determined. In 2001 the station was bought by Mapleton Communications
.
KPIG has strong community ties featuring local disc jockey
s, local sponsors, local news and commentary, and the Hog Call line, a free community call-in line for leaving recorded announcements that will be played on the air. Much like newspaper classifieds, common "Hog Calls" are regarding items for sale or upcoming community events.
Among its most well known programs are "Cousin Al's Bluegrass Show" on Sunday nights, "Uncle Sherman's Dirty Boogie" on Saturday nights, "Please Stand By" the in-studio live music show, on Sunday mornings. "Please Stand By", hosted by Sleepy John Sandidge, features local and world famous Country, Folk, and Blues acts. The station also hosts several popular music festivals each year including the Humbug Hoedown in December, and is the radio volunteer for the free music festival each October in Golden Gate Park called Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.
KPIG is well known worldwide as well. It was one of the first radio stations in the world to webcast their program, going online on August 2, 1995 during Cousin Al's show. Frequently song requests are submitted via e-mail
from listeners around the globe. Indirect references to KPIG appear in the songs "I'm Coming Home" by Robert Earl Keen and "Beer Run" (which references the Robert Keen song) by Todd Snider, both of whom are frequently featured on the air and perform at KPIG's events.
In March 2010, KPIG dropped its free Internet radio stream, and replaced it with a subscriber-only stream.
from 1976 to 1982. Much of KPIG's founding staff and current on-air personalities worked at KFAT. KFAT specialized in true Country and Folk as well as many off-beat oddities. Archived tapes of broadcasts are still streamed from the KFAT web site.
, the Cowboy Cultural Society web site and stream http://www.cowboyculturalsociety.com/ that plays contemporary and classic Cowboy music.
Former morning disc jockey Dallas Dobro is also the regular mainstage Master of Ceremonies
at the twice-annual Strawberry Music Festival in Camp Mather, Yosemite, California. Dobro left the station in 2006 and now resides and works in radio in Petaluma, California
.
"Wild" Bill Goldsmith, KPIG's former webmaster, and the person who first put its program on the web, founded Radio Paradise
, a webcast of "Eclectic Online Rock".
offers KPIG's programming to other stations across the United States
via satellite distribution. KPIG's programming is offered to stations as either a primary format, or via a station's HD Radio
subchannel. The format makes KPIG one of only three terrestrial based radio superstation
s in the United States (WBBR
, a business-talk radio network and 660, The Fan
, a Sports station, both in New York City, being the others).
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
located near the city of Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
, USA. Founded in 1988, the studio is based in Watsonville, California
Watsonville, California
Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 51,199 according to the 2010 census.Located on the central coast of California, the economy centers predominantly around the farming industry. It is known for growing strawberries, apples, lettuce and a host...
, and broadcasts to the counties of Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...
and Monterey. It also has a radio repeater
Radio repeater
A radio repeater is a combination of a radio receiver and a radio transmitter that receives a weak or low-level signal and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power, so that the signal can cover longer distances without degradation. This article refers to professional, commercial, and...
on 94.9 MHz FM in San Luis Obispo County as KPYG (from 2004). The station's logo features a sunglasses-wearing pig in farmer's clothing and a cowboy hat. Its format tends to be Rock, Blues, Folk, Folk/Country and is largely self-determined. In 2001 the station was bought by Mapleton Communications
Mapleton Communications
Mapleton Communications is a broadcast media company, formed in May 2001, operating in the western United States. The company currently owns and operates 41 radio stations in California, Oregon and Washington State....
.
KPIG has strong community ties featuring local disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
s, local sponsors, local news and commentary, and the Hog Call line, a free community call-in line for leaving recorded announcements that will be played on the air. Much like newspaper classifieds, common "Hog Calls" are regarding items for sale or upcoming community events.
Among its most well known programs are "Cousin Al's Bluegrass Show" on Sunday nights, "Uncle Sherman's Dirty Boogie" on Saturday nights, "Please Stand By" the in-studio live music show, on Sunday mornings. "Please Stand By", hosted by Sleepy John Sandidge, features local and world famous Country, Folk, and Blues acts. The station also hosts several popular music festivals each year including the Humbug Hoedown in December, and is the radio volunteer for the free music festival each October in Golden Gate Park called Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.
KPIG is well known worldwide as well. It was one of the first radio stations in the world to webcast their program, going online on August 2, 1995 during Cousin Al's show. Frequently song requests are submitted via e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
from listeners around the globe. Indirect references to KPIG appear in the songs "I'm Coming Home" by Robert Earl Keen and "Beer Run" (which references the Robert Keen song) by Todd Snider, both of whom are frequently featured on the air and perform at KPIG's events.
In March 2010, KPIG dropped its free Internet radio stream, and replaced it with a subscriber-only stream.
KFAT
KPIG's predecessor was KFAT, broadcasting out of Gilroy, CaliforniaGilroy, California
Gilroy is the southernmost city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 48,821 at the 2010 census. Gilroy is well-known for its garlic crop and for the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, featuring various garlicky foods, including garlic ice cream. Gilroy also produces...
from 1976 to 1982. Much of KPIG's founding staff and current on-air personalities worked at KFAT. KFAT specialized in true Country and Folk as well as many off-beat oddities. Archived tapes of broadcasts are still streamed from the KFAT web site.
Related information
Program Director, Laura Ellen Hopper (April 29, 1950 - May 28, 2007), had produced a side-project webcastWebcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
, the Cowboy Cultural Society web site and stream http://www.cowboyculturalsociety.com/ that plays contemporary and classic Cowboy music.
Former morning disc jockey Dallas Dobro is also the regular mainstage Master of Ceremonies
Master of Ceremonies
A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
at the twice-annual Strawberry Music Festival in Camp Mather, Yosemite, California. Dobro left the station in 2006 and now resides and works in radio in Petaluma, California
Petaluma, California
Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. In the 2010 Census the population was 57,941.Located in Petaluma is the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, a National Historic Landmark. It was built beginning in 1836 by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, then Commandant of the San...
.
"Wild" Bill Goldsmith, KPIG's former webmaster, and the person who first put its program on the web, founded Radio Paradise
Radio Paradise
Radio Paradise is a listener-sponsored Internet radio station that identifies itself as an "eclectic online rock radio" station. The channel differs from most FM channels and other Internet stations in that the music played is not limited to a specific genre, instead representing great variety...
, a webcast of "Eclectic Online Rock".
National syndication
Effective 2007-12-31, radio format syndication firm Dial GlobalDial Global
Dial Global is a radio syndication company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triton Media Group and is a sister company to Townsquare Media, both of which are owned by Oaktree Capital Management....
offers KPIG's programming to other stations across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
via satellite distribution. KPIG's programming is offered to stations as either a primary format, or via a station's HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
subchannel. The format makes KPIG one of only three terrestrial based radio superstation
Superstation
Superstation in United States television can have several meanings. In its most precise meaning, a superstation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as "A television broadcast station, other than a network station, licensed by the FCC that is secondarily transmitted by a satellite...
s in the United States (WBBR
WBBR
WBBR is a radio station broadcasting at 1130 AM in New York City. It airs Bloomberg Radio, a service of Bloomberg L.P. WBBR's format is general and financial news, offering local, national and international news reports along with financial market updates and interviews with corporate executives,...
, a business-talk radio network and 660, The Fan
WFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
, a Sports station, both in New York City, being the others).