Radiophile Keeps His Dream Alive by Switching to Cable : Shutdown of Early Bootleg Station ‘Blessing in Disguise’

Bob Russell didn’t sleep well the other night. And he knows the 3 a.m. disturbance that awoke him could happen again, at any time.

Russell, 33, says it is just part of his 24-hour-a-day job as general manager and owner of KCME-FM (99.9), a Simi Valley cable radio station that he operates from his home-turned-studio in a residential neighborhood.

The early-morning alarm that jolted Russell awake was a 100-decibel siren that is triggered by more than 30 seconds of dead air. The album-oriented, classic-rock station broadcasts automated programming (from the American Radio Network) from midnight to 8 a.m.

“I guess the tone on one of the automation tapes didn’t signal the next machine to start,” the bearded Russell said, relaxing the next day in his office (formerly his garage). “It’s just something I have to cope with.”

KCME, one of the first stations to play the Los Angeles-based Motley Crue, has been operating from its Simi Valley location for more than eight years, the first of which was as an on-air bootleg station.

Though Russell, who lives there with his 8-year-old son, Robbie, knew he was doing something wrong (operating without the appropriate license and frequency), he said he and his small staff (a girlfriend and a couple of volunteers) were able to bluff their way through KCME’s hard-rock early days.

“When we went on the air in 1978 (at 90.3 FM),” he recalled, “we called ourselves a public-service radio station. We welcomed all public-service announcements and worked with the Police Department and city officials. We didn’t hide the fact that we were there. We figured if you’re going to do something wrong, the last thing one would expect you to do is go public with it.”

‘Bitten With Bug’

But Russell, who calls himself a “radio nut,” did.

“I was bitten with the bug from KPPC in Pasadena in the early ‘70s,” Russell said. “There was a deejay there, Bobby Applegate, who took the time to show me the ropes. He really went out of his way.” The station should not be confused with the religious ethnic station with the same call letters.

“I was just a kid from New York. I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I walked into this station and it hit me, and all I thought of and dreamed of after that was radio, radio, radio. . . .”

Russell’s reverse psychology--to go public with KCME--appeared to work for a time.

Then the calls--at first, from a competitor, whom Russell declined to name, and finally from the Federal Communications Commission--started coming into the office. Most of the inquiries consisted of technical questions about the station’s operation, but Russell, who said he knew something was about to happen, remained calm.

Referring to the FCC, he said: “I figured that all they would do, if I cooperated, would be to say, ‘Mellow out.’ ” Russell, who was also a truck driver during his early radio days, continued: “Back then, the FCC seemed pretty lenient about the whole thing. They knew we weren’t trying to overthrow the government or make money fraudulently.”

When representatives from the FCC finally did pay KCME a visit, they confiscated the station’s maintenance and operating logs, but commended Russell and his staff for their well-kept records, Russell said as he leafed through a weathered photo album of KCME memorabilia.

Because he and his co-workers voluntarily cooperated with the FCC, Russell said, the agency did not confiscate the station’s equipment. “They just asked us to cease broadcasting.” The station was on the air for about a year until it went dark in 1979. It was not long after, in 1980, that KCME re-emerged with a new lifeline: cable.

‘It Was a Bummer’

“It was a bummer when we got shut down,” said Russell, “but it also was a blessing in disguise because it led the way for support from the community. People really came out of the woodwork.”

One who came forward was a local television engineer who introduced Russell to cable radio.

Only available through Simi Valley’s cable company at first, KCME now can be received through four cable systems, reaching about 130,000 homes in the San Fernando Valley, Malibu, Calabasas, Topanga, Hidden Hills and Simi Valley areas. Russell said KCME establishes “contractual agreements” with the various cable companies, which are licensed by the FCC. (In some cases, the cable companies require KCME to pay a monthly fee.) For consumers, the idea of cable radio is akin to that of cable TV: Only subscribers can receive the signal.

“When we approach a cable system, we tell them the main benefit of having a radio station is the relief it offers the cable company’s promotion department,” said Russell, who also has a radio show on KCME and is looking to enlist KCME with other cable companies. His latest agreement is with Falcon Cable in Malibu.

“The bottom line is that when we’re out doing promotions for KCME, people are going to ask, ‘How can we get the station?’ and we’re going to tell them they have to subscribe to their local cable company,” Russell continued. “So the cable company gets its money from the subscribers and KCME, supported strictly by advertising, makes its money from the advertisers.” These include local merchants and general accounts such as the U.S. Army.

Promotes Other Services

Arthur Maulsby, program manager for Simi Valley’s Comcast Cable, said the radio station also helps promote other cable services offered to the community, from HBO specials to Disney Channel programs.

“The only thing that differentiates KCME from other radio stations is the way it’s delivered,” said Maulsby, adding that some of Comcast’s calls specifically ask about KCME. “I’m sure there will eventually be more cable radio stations.”

According to a 1986 study by the National Assn. of Broadcasters, a 20% increase in the number of radio stations is expected over the next 10 years, including radio “superstations” in which programming is broadcast via satellite to subscriber stations, such as cable companies and network affiliates, across the United States.

Home Studio

“Cable radio definitely seems to be the way to go now,” Russell said, referring to the lack of on-air frequencies available. “There is unlimited growth there. You may not get the car audience or people at work that on-air radio gets, but, then again, neither does TV, and look at the foothold it has on the market.

“We run this station as if it was like any on-air station,” Russell said.

One would hardly guess the station’s locale was once a three-bedroom home, since the dining room is now KCME’s lobby and production room, and one of the bedrooms has been converted into a studio. Russell and his son live in the other bedrooms, away from the front office.

Over the years, Russell’s staff has grown to about 20, most of them volunteers. Mike Golden, 19, a student at Pierce College who is called Mike Tyde on the air, said he sees this as a step toward a broadcasting career.

“There aren’t many places where, as an intern, I’d be able to get on the air,” Golden said.

Operations manager Jenny Elizabeth, who also works as deejay Stray Cat, has been with KCME since its early cable days.

“The station has improved greatly over the years,” Elizabeth said. “I’ve had the opportunity to branch out and possibly relocate, but I believe in Bob’s dream. If we’re here 20 years from now, we can be just as big, if not bigger, than any on-air station.”

Russell said it is conceivable that KCME could be relocated to the dial, but he would prefer to retain his cable position with such a relocation because cable allows growth, “with no limit.”

“We are the largest full-time commercial cable radio station in Southern California,” Russell added. “A local paper did a survey a couple of years ago, polling 400 people in Simi Valley, and we tied with KLOS-FM (95.5) as the most listened-to station.

“Now that made me feel good,” he said.