Student radio station moves to Cronkite building

After 30 years on the Tempe campus, Arizona State University’s student-run radio station, The Blaze, has moved to a fully digital radio studio in the Cronkite Building on the Downtown Phoenix campus.

The Blaze, 1330 KASC-AM, moved from the Tower Center building in Tempe to the home of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Nearly 200 students from across ASU host radio programs, produce news and sports segments, and manage business operations.

“This move made perfect sense. We were able to quickly and easily take the station from an antiquated studio setting and place it in a state-of-the-art radio facility,” said Mark Lodato, assistant dean of the Cronkite School. “And our students have quickly taken advantage of the new opportunities.”        

The station features news, music programming and talk shows on news, sports and pop culture. In addition to its AM radio frequency, the station is streamed online to computers, smartphones and tablets. Participation is open to all ASU students and many get involved as freshmen.

“The move has given the station a huge boost,” said Brian Rackham, Blaze faculty adviser. “More students are participating and it’s great. We’re hearing from a lot of students that being at Cronkite has made it easier to participate.”

The station started conducting its broadcast operations from the Tempe campus in 1982. Since the move, The Blaze boasts better sound quality and technical support, Lodato said, as students have access to new soundboards and studio equipment.

“Technologically, we’ve improved drastically,” said Glen Anderson, Cronkite student and Blaze station manager. “Now that we’re here, we’ve got more up-to-date technology and engineering and IT support.”

The Blaze extensively covers ASU news and athletics, and supports the local music scene in the Valley. The radio station has been recognized several times as the “Best Radio Station for Local Music” by Phoenix New Times. It can be heard online at BlazeRadioOnline.com and accessed on the ASU Mobile App for iPhone and Android smartphones.

The Cronkite School offers a variety of classes for students interested in careers in radio. They include an advanced radio reporting course, in which students produce in-depth news stories for Valley NPR member station KJZZ-FM.