LBCC’s radio and television section has two radio stations that the RTV department is proud of while the TV program offers students a variety of options and hands-on training necessary to build a career in the media industry.
The two radio stations KCTY and KLBC of LBCC are among one of the only radio programmings in California Colleges that have FM and AM stations whereas the radio stations in most other colleges only have one.
Professor Robert Hersh has been serving LBCC for 16 years and is currently the only full-time professor at the RTV department.
“LBCC probably takes radio a little more seriously than some other colleges,” Hersh said. “It’s important to cater to both daytime and nighttime students and the only way to do that is to have two distinctly different radio stations.”
KCTY 107.7 FM is the city radio that contains a mixture of music, comedy, and news. KLBC 1610 AM is known as a “truly underground radio” according to their website and also has mixed content.
KCTY DJ Simon Becker said, “It’s a very creative environment and everybody has their own projects and different shows so some people like to play blues and others like to play serious topics like news.”
LBCC’s two radio stations have listeners from other parts of the globe with the farthest the stations have reached so far is France.
DJ Kyle Davis, an RTV student said, “People from France don’t struggle listening to us because we have the website for each radio station, but if they turn on their radio station, then it’ll be difficult for them to reach us so it’s convenient to listen on the internet.”
Radio listeners can always listen to both KCTY and KLBC through the website, kctyfm.org and klbc.org where students also get to do commercials for the LBCC radio stations.
KCTY DJ Jaden Karamanos said, “Radio is a lot of work but I enjoy it. We make our own commercials so I am getting many experiences with that and I think that is highly in demand.”
Viewers can watch the LBCC TV on channel 15 from Long Beach, channel 29 in Lakewood, channel 45, and is available via YouTube by searching LBCC Viking Productions.
Film major Kerry Sanborn is taking a TV activity class for internship credit. “We do many sports broadcasting, film one of the sports events, and do fashion. There is also a newscast,” Sanborn said.
LBCC’s radio and television department offer beneficial opportunities for students to prepare for a career in the media production that guide them in the industry.