In the near future, Sonoma County will have a new non-commercial radio station at 88.1 FM. The station, called KWTF, is already in full swing with its community outreach efforts and online broadcasting.

KWTF will hit the airwaves in early 2013, and the station’s staff and volunteers have been raising awareness and funds across the county. By handing out flyers at local market nights, searching for new shows, and even holding a music festival, they are trying to give the station an early strong foothold in the North Bay.

With a high-power transmitter in the Bodega Bay area, the station will cover a large swath of Sonoma County, including most of the Rohnert Park, Cotati, and Penngrove area. Having received clearance from the Federal Communications Commission and obtained the land for the transmitter, staff members are now in the process of raising funds to make the station fully operational. For now, people can tune into KWTF online at www.kwtf.net.

A fusion of news, public affairs, and music, KWTF offers a wide, inclusive look at Sonoma County culture. The station’s goal is to “cover topics that are important to the local community but are not currently being discussed on other radio stations.”
KWTF certainly delivers a variety of unique content. “Barbary Roads,” hosted by Bryan Rhodes, is a new North Bay travel and culture show.

Another show, “Giant Fire Breathing Robot,” describes itself as “your source for geeks, games, and gamma rays.” Program director and long time radio host Don Campau hosts a music show that “explores the multi genre world of home recording.” That show is appropriately named “No Pigeonholes.”

The station’s program roster is growing quickly, and KWTF’s board has recently enacted major changes to the station’s online schedule in order to include more local shows.

As the station approaches its radio debut and reaches an increasingly wider audience, it will be no surprise to see the station’s programming become even more diverse and exciting.