Here are answers to common questions we get asked. If you have
a burning question and don't see it here, drop us
a line.
General
Programming
Public Service Announcements
Streaming On-line
General
Q: How can I volunteer at KDVS?
A: Potential volunteers must attend one of the tri-quarterly
recruitment meetings. After completing 50 hours of volunteer
service during a quarter, volunteers become eligible for a show. For more
information on meeting times and volunteer tasks check out the
volunteer page.
Q: DJ GFizzle is my favorite!! How can I contact him?!!
A: Sorry, personal contact information is not publicly
available.
The studio line is 530-752-2777 or you can leave a message at 530-752-0728.
You can also check a specific department's page for more information on
a particular DJ.
Q: How can I contact a Staff Member?
A. The Contact page has what you are
looking for.
Q: My record label (or band) wants to submit
CDs/singles/records/tapes for airplay consideration on KDVS. Where
can I send them?
A. Send your music to
KDVS 90.3 FM
ATTN: MUSIC DIRECTOR
14 Lower Freeborn
Davis, CA 95616
If you want to submit to a particular department,
replace the line "ATTN: MUSIC DIRECTOR" with:
Metal: "ATTN:
DEREK RICE"
Hip Hop: "ATTN:
HIP HOP DEPT."
Punk:
"ATTN: TROTSKY"
Electronic:
"ATTN: ELECTRONIC DEPT."
Experimental:
"ATTN: EXPERIMENTAL DEPT."
As always, check out departmental websites for more information.
Q: My band wants to play live on the air.
A: Every Thursday, KDVS offers bands a chance to perform Live
In Studio A, from 11-12 p.m. Availability can be narrow, so contact
L.I.S.A. well in advance. We must have recorded material on-hand before
booking and you must be able to play for at least half an hour. Submissions
(ATTN: L.I.S.A.) can be sent to the above address.
Q: My band wants to promote their upcoming shows in northern
CA on the air.
A: Shows, art gallery openings, and other events of interest to
the Davis community are aired daily on the Events Calendar. Please contact
the Events Calendar Staff for more
information.
Q: I have stuff you might like- my old computer, vinyl collection, cds,
etc. Can I donate them to KDVS?
A: YES! We appreciate your donations. Check out the
donations page for
all the information.
Programming
Q: I just heard the coolest song but missed the
artist/title. How can I find out who it was?
A: Check out the schedule, where
show archives are kept for one week.
Q: I like hip hop/rap/experimental/punk/metal. Where can I
get a list of all DJs who play such music on their shows?
A: Check out the departmental websites; they're all linked above,
or from www.kdvs.org.
PSAs
Q. What are PSA's?
A. PSA stands for "Public Service Announcement." KDVS
plays PSA's as a community service throughout the day to inform the community of events
and services available to them, as well as other facts they may find useful.
Q. What types of PSA's are there?
A. Currently there are four types of PSA's: events, community service,
health notices, and general information.
Q. How do I get a PSA on KDVS?
A. There are two ways to get a PSA on KDVS. You can either send a
premade PSA in wav, MP3, or CD audio format on a CD, or send us the information
about your organization or event. We prefer that you send us the information
and we will make your PSA for you within accordance of FCC guidlines. To send your premade PSA's or PSA information
to: KDVS 90.3 FM, 14 Lower Freeborn Hall, Davis, CA 95616.
Q. Then what?
A. Your premade PSA or PSA information is then received by the PSA
director. If you send a premade PSA, the PSA director will listen to it and decide
whether or not it is suitable for airplay. If you send us a flier or press
release, then a KDVS volunteer might make a PSA out of it.
Q. A volunteer?
A. Volunteers at KDVS make the majority of PSA's aired on KDVS.
The volunteers take fliers, press releases, and pamphlets sent to KDVS and extract the
relevant information to create original PSA's for airplay. The volunteers
tend to use their own creative sensibilities in order to make an appealing
announcement.
Q. How much will this cost me?
A. This service is offered free to the community as part of our role as
a community alternative radio station.
Q. Who may send premade PSA's or PSA information?
A. Anyone may send premade PSA's or PSA information. If you have
an event that you wish to promote, a service that you offer, or have information that
you think the public should be made aware of, then a PSA on KDVS can help
spread the word. We accept submissions from everyone, although non-profit and
non-commercial organizations tend to have priority in the PSA creation
process. Services and events offered by the University of California also have
priority.
Q. When will my PSA air?
A. There is no schedule for PSA airplay. Each DJ is allowed some
freedom in choosing what PSA's he or she will play during his or her show. As
such, it is difficult for us to know when a PSA will air. However, we have
noted that newer PSA's tend to be played more often.
Q. I sent in a premade PSA or PSA information to KDVS, but KDVS is
not airing my PSA. Why not?
A. There are a number of reasons why certain PSA's may not make it on
the air. Premade PSA's may not meet our guidelines for on-air public service
announcements. These guidelines are based on the rules dictated to
us as a non-commercial station by the FCC. Event information sent to us to
be made into PSA's may not reach us until after the event has passed, and sometimes
information sent to us about a service or event is just never made into
a PSA. Unfortunately, since most of our volunteers are students or have
full-time jobs, we do not have the ability to make a PSA for every event or service that
we are informed of. We apologize for the inconvenience, and steps are
being taken to try and increase PSA production. For instance, the creation of a
community calendar is being considered in order to announce events that aren't
made into PSA's.
Q. I dislike the PSA that KDVS made my organization. What
can I do?
A. Contact the PSA director and express your displeasure. Since we
are doing this as a service to you, it stands to reason that you have the right to
ask that your PSA be pulled.
Q. What are the guidelines for creating a PSA?
A. 1. No mention of price can be made. The only exception is if something is free. 2. No qualitative terms can be used. This means not
attributing a non-measurable quality to something: coolest, best, grooviest, good, and
so on. Mentioning how long something has been established or has been around
has been deemed a qualitative term by the FCC because the implication of
experience is evident. Please keep your PSA objective in its wording. 3.
No calls to action. You can not command anyone to do anything. Do not
say, "Join us," "Come to our event," or "Call this number."
However, "Those interested can join us," and "For more information call this number," are
acceptable, because rather than command, they simply state facts. 4. The PSA should be no longer than 1 minute.
The shorter it is the more often it will likely be played.
Q. What are the guidelines for submitting a flier, pamphlet, or
other written information about what I want made into a PSA?
A. There are no guidelines. Our volunteers will make sure that
PSA's made from such information will conform to our rules. We do ask to be given
ample time prior to an event in order to make a PSA for it. It is almost
impossible for us to make a PSA for a event if we get the flier the day before the event
occurs.
Streaming
Q: I'm having trouble listening online. Help!
Sometimes a dial up connection may not be good enough to provide a continuous stream of digital audio to your computer. If you experience skipping or short periods of no audio the problem is most likely related to the quality of your connection to the Internet. There is nothing we can do about this type of problem. You need to contact your Internet Service Provider and explain your problem to them.
How to listen to KDVS on a MS Windows Computer
First and most important, you must have Winamp installed and your computer must be configured to use Winamp to automatically play files that end with the extension .m3u and .pls.
If you do not have Winamp already installed on your computer you can download a free copy of the software at www.winamp.com. The installation is brief and easy. If you are currently using a different type of media player you will have to make certain that your computer is configured to use Winamp for playing files that end with ".PLS". This is easily accomplished by starting Winamp and then navigating to the Options, Preferences menu. If Winamp is running you can use Control + P to quickly get to the Preferences Menu. Once in the Winamp Preferences Dialog Window, choose "File types" and then associate file types m3u and pls. You just click on the file type once to select and once again to deselect. That's all there is to it. Close the Preferences Window and now Winamp will automatically start when you click on the "Listen Live" mp3 links on the KDVS home page. You may need to reboot in order for this to take effect.
At last resort email our webmaster
detailing the problem you are having.
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