Voice of North Port Florida

We digital stream broadcast 24/7 through www.kdwradio.com on broadband and we terrestrial broadcast on 97.5 FM for the North Port area community.

All of our programming is created in our community and by our community. That’s what makes us unique and different from both commercial radio and public radio. It’s simply people making radio for the people. Community radio is about building and supporting the well-being and positive growth of our area. It’s about communicating ideas, concerns, differences of opinion, health and financial issues, and the art and music of the community.

KDWRadio.com is non-competitive. We work in conjunction with our area broadcast stations, newspapers and magazines to foster communication and cooperation. KDWRadio does not have a bias for any political persuasion or religious philosophy. Our programming and our management is committed to free speech, presented in a respectful manner, no matter where that speech originates.

All responsible voices are welcome to participate in creating and presenting programming.We want you to listen to the voice of our community, but we also hope you will do more than listen. KDWRadio needs people who would like to create shows, sponsors to support those shows, and volunteers who would like to participate in the production of those programs and the operation of the station.

I. Create a Show

Yes you can. With a little advice and coaching, you can create a radio show fit for broadcast. Every show created for KDWR started with someone and an idea. In most cases that someone had no prior radio or production experience. Next thing you know, they’re producing good quality material.

So the first step is the idea. Think about what you want to do and how you are going to cover your topic. Then send R.J. (our program manager) an email at rjm@kdwradio.com with your thoughts. Don’t just say, “hey, I want to do a show about cows!” What about cows? Think about how your show on cows will have an impact or influence on our community. Then contact R.J. and he will send you the materials you need to proceed and he’ll work with you to bring your idea into reality.

II. Sponsors

You just can’t do this without friends and sponsors. It’s hard work, sometimes tedious, but well worth it in the end, knowing that you have had a positive effect on your community.

Take a moment and look through our rate card. You’ll find that it’s very inexpensive (some would say “dirt cheap”) to support community programming AND get your own commercial message across to our community. And it’s also important to know that as a IRS 501 (c) (3), your sponsorship is tax deductible. The Community Broadband Radio Association and KDWRadio also function as a foundation, providing grants back into our community for other charitable purposes.

III. Volunteers

We Need You. You just can’t do this without volunteers. Our favorite area broadcast stations, WMMF in Tampa and WSLR in Sarasota run their operations primarily with volunteers. It works and it’s fun.

There are plenty of things to do to get 7 days a week of programming on the net. You might also learn some new skills that can help with your career or job opportunities, like editing, broadcast software, audio engineering, graphic arts, and business marketing and planning, to name just a few.

Make a difference in our community and contact us to explore volunteer and training opportunities now. Come and Join our Community Radio Team.

Building Community Through Open Communication

With the advent of digital broadcasting, free and open communication became available to communities world wide. Commercial and public broadcasting stations have always been prohibitively expensive to start and maintain, and by their nature, most programming is produced and purchased outside of the listening area. While commercial and public radio play important roles in news, information and entertainment, they can’t provide access for everyone’s voices. That is the role of community broadband radio.

We provide the platform and the process for any group or individual to produce and broadcast programming directly to their community and to the world-wide internet. But programming and broadband broadcasting is not easy or intuitive. To that end, the Community Broadband Radio Association is a 501 (c) (3) not for profit organization dedicated to encouraging, training, promoting and assisting in the development of community radio. KDWR is our first experiment in digital community radio.

What we are learning from the development and operation of KDWR is being collected into a manual of how to apply digital broadband to community radio. From that knowledge and experience, we will assist other communities in how to develop their own digital voices. If you think that Community Radio is a good idea, and you’d like to participate in that process, contact us and join us in the growing community of broadband radio.

Our current operating stations are: