THE BROADCASTER NEXT DOOR A medium for local discussion and talent, low-watt WRFR in Rockland bucks a national trend and keeps the airwaves in its community’s hands

WRFR-LP, 93.3 FM, broadcasts out of Rockland, from a converted garage crammed full of cobbled-together broadcasting equipment and computers. The 100-watt transmitter sits perched on the roof, sending out a signal that usually fuzzes out somewhere in Camden. On a clear day, if you’re on a hill with a powerful antenna, you can pick it up in Northport.

“It’s definitely local. Some people right in Rockland can’t even get it,” said Joe Steinberger, who founded the station in 2002. “But my brother lives 20 miles away and has a special antenna, and he can get it. It depends on how good your radio is, and geography.”

But broadcasting power isn’t really the point, nor does WRFR have any interest in becoming some midcoast Maine media juggernaut: It’s Maine’s only low-power radio station, and its whole raison d’etre is to serve the communities of Rockland, Camden, Rockport and Thomaston with local news, discussion and culture.

“Five years ago it was impossible to have a radio station like this one,” said Steinberger, president of the Penobscot School for Language Learning, the nonprofit organization to which WRFR is licensed. “Big stations don’t want anyone near their frequency on the dial, interfering with their signal … the lower end is for public and community radio, and the 100s are for big commercial stations.”

In 2001, the Federal Communications Commission created a new category for stations not limited to any part of the dial, that is restricted to 100 watts or smaller. At that time Steinberger was helping to broadcast city council meetings on public access television in Rockland, when he read about the FCC debating the issue of creating the low power category.

“I heard from a lot of people who were watching the meetings, so I knew there was an interest in something local, with more programming with debates and discussions on local issues,” he said. “I saw that the FCC was going to go through with [creating the low power category], and that they were dividing up the 50 states into five groups that they’d give licenses to. Maine was in the first group. Of course, by the time I found out about it I only had two weeks to get the application in. But we got it.”

WRFR went live on Valentine’s Day in 2002, after Steinberger and some of the other early volunteers raised $10,000 in startup money and put together a studio at its current location on Gay Street. One of those volunteers was Barry Pretzel, a Rockland attorney who before practicing law had a successful career in broadcast journalism. He worked at AM stations in Maine and Massachusetts before coming to Rockland in 1999.

“After doing what I consider a complete career in commercial radio, I decided that I didn’t really want to continue doing what I had been doing all those years, which was covering serious news and playing the songs my boss told me I had to play,” said Pretzel. “[Community radio] gives me an opportunity to share what I personally like with my audience. I can also be more creative.”

Since 2002, the station has expanded in several ways, including the addition of a repeater transmitter in Camden and the hiring of a full-time general manager, Emily Sapienza, who came on in 2006 after time spent working at the National Public Radio office in Rome.

“The point is giving access to the community. It’s not mass media,” said Sapienza. “One of the nice things about the station is that some people that have been marginalized get involved … some people that are sort of outside society for whatever reason have had shows. It’s an outlet. It’s a real mix of backgrounds and lifestyles.”

“I wanted it to be something that could be embraced by the whole community, and not have it be a very left- or right-oriented thing,” said Steinberger. “Not an elite thing. It is to be a medium for local discussion and talent. It’s not about being an alternative. It’s about being local.”

Since deregulation of radio occurred in the mid-1980s and entities such as Clear Channel subsequently bought up hundreds of stations across the country, local content on the radio has become a rare commodity. Despite it being difficult to obtain a low power license – the FCC has not granted new licenses since 2005 – the low power movements offers a unique opportunity for people to disperse information within their own communities.

“When we have this tiny little radio station we can kind of ‘microcast’ rather than broadcast,” said Pretzel. “We can focus on the Rockland area, and not really worry about the economics of these satellite delivered programs and talk show hosts. If someone wants to do a talk show and talk about what the school board is doing or what the city council is doing, it provides an opportunity to do that.”

Pretzel’s radio show is a testament to the eclecticism of the programming schedule at WRFR. “Pretzels and Beer” is on from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays, and is dedicated to two things: beer and disco.

“I thought that having a show about beer would be a lot of fun. I have news items about beer and the brewing industry, and I review new beers that come on the market,” said Pretzel. “And I like disco, and that’s something that’s pretty much disappeared from the airwaves.”

Shows span the gamut from straight local talk like Chris Fyfe’s “The Pipeline” to Paul Cole’s “Beam Me Up,” a show devoted to current science news and science fiction. Just this month WRFR started broadcasting taped recordings of classical music concerts in the Bay Chamber Concert Series, hosted by Chuck Marecic.

Jesse McFadden hosts “Live From the Pit” from 8 to 11 p.m. Thursday, where he plays metal and hip-hop. Until recently, he was the volunteer music director for the station.

“I basically tried to get balls rolling in the right court, as far as getting newer music instead of the older stuff,” said McFadden. “A lot of younger folks don’t really tune in and listen. I’m 27, and I’ve been down the road of being younger and liking different stuff, so I’m trying to draw them in. We get a lot of new, interesting music that other stations don’t play. We’re also trying to get more local music in the studio.”

Zoe Armstrong plays hip-hop, electronic music and folk on “Patterns of Chaos” from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday. She also helps promote the station to the community, and works on fundraising events such as selling WRFR’s Local Stars CD, a compilation featuring a wide variety of midcoast area bands and musicians.

“I love community and low-power radio because it maintains exposure to rare music and commentary, raises cultural awareness, facilitates community dialogue, and hey – it’s pretty cool that high school students sometimes come to learn about radio production,” she said. “[It’s] one of the last frontiers of free speech in this nation.”

For more information, visit www.wrfr.org. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.

A makeshift “on air” light glows during WRFR’s show “Pipeline with Chris Fyfe.”

WRFR general manager Emily Sapienza (far right) takes an off-air phone call as radio host Chris Fyfe and guest state Rep. Scott Lansley, R-Sabattus, broadcast with guest co-host Kevin Crocker (not pictured) in a separate studio during WRFR’s show “Pipeline with Chris Fyfe.”

Chris Fyfe hosts WRFR’s show “Pipeline with Chris Fyfe.” Featuring eclectic programming, this low-power radio station in Rockland, has been on the air for five years.