Gaining Experience

Communication students benefit from experience in their chosen field on campus and off.

Hands-on Learning

Students benefit from access to complete, professional radio and TV broadcasting facilities.

Field Trip

One of the highlights of the year is the communication field trip, when students visit TV and radio stations, advertising agencies and newspapers, often resulting in internships.

Advancement

KGSW Channel 18

Southwestern Adventist University is the only Seventh-day Adventist college or university in the world that owns a television station. The station, KGSW, was the first television station in North America to become an affiliate of the Hope Channel.

History

The FCC has given KGSW until October 29, 2012 to make the switch to digital or it will lose the rights to broadcast in any format. In an effort to meet that deadline, KGSW has obtained permits from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to begin broadcasting in a digital format on Channel 18. However, the station currently lacks the funding to purchase the equipment needed to make the switch to digital.

Ministry

A digital signal will increase KGSW’s potential viewing audience to more than 500,000 people, reaching into five counties. In addition, KGSW has already begun talking with cable providers in the surrounding area who might be willing to air our programming with the potential to reach even more viewers.

Income

This transition will be very beneficial for the university as well as the surrounding communities. Currently, KGSW had one television channel but DTV would provide four channels. One channel will be dedicated to the University’s internal audience, creating a new emergency and announcement system for the University campus. The second channel will feature content from the Hope Channel and locally produced features, giving students the opportunity to create and broadcast items of interest to the community. The third channel could be leased as a dedicated Christian Spanish channel, something not currently available in the area. A fourth channel could also be leased, providing an ongoing income stream to cover the cost of operating KGSW.

Cost

The cost of the project is approximately $91,000, which includes the cost of equipment and installation for a new transmitter. The University is planning to lease two channels to provide an income stream to cover the ongoing operation of KGSW. The current transmitter will also be sold to raise revenue.

Budget

 

$91,000                 Total Project Cost: (Equipment and Installation)

 

Income:

$25,000                 Sale of old transmitter

$16,000                 Income stream for leasing channels

 

$25,000                 Funding requested and received from Versacare Fund


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