Local Man Raising Money to Launch Bentonville Radio Station
by June 22, 2015 12:00 am 109 views
Garrett Brewer is raising money, $20,000 to be exact, to start a 100-watt, low-power FM radio station in Bentonville to support local news, art, music, food and events.
The Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employee and Texas transplant pretty much won the lottery when he applied for, and was awarded, the FCC license for frequency 103.3, which Brewer says was the only remaining frequency in Bentonville’s air space.
Brewer, who was granted the construction permit in April, has until October 2016 to get station KOBV up and running or he loses the permit. That would be a shame. Not only did Brewer beat out other applicants, but he’s been slogging away on the project since before September 2013, when he filed his application.
Brewer has plans for a neat setup. He wants to put the station in the old projector room of the Plaza Theater, now the Meteor Guitar Gallery, at 128 W. Central Ave. Once up and running, KOBV would cover all of Bentonville, a western sliver of Rogers, and the southern tip of Bella Vista.
Brewer has already opened up a Facebook page and is also raising money through GoFundMe, a crowdfunding website.
In the near future, he said the station will appear at Bentonville’s monthly gathering on the square, First Friday, for a fundraiser at Meteor.
In Bentonville’s current environment of booming growth and creativity, it seems almost inevitable that Brewer will succeed. But he’s not taking anything for granted.
“It’s going to be a long, hard sell, but I’m confident,” he said.