KSQM 91.5 FM is a service of Sequim Community Broadcasting, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. The station started broadcasting on Dec. 7, 2008, and has been heard in more than 5,100 cities and towns in more than 120 nations around the globe since.
Broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week, KSQM recently started airing special musical requests and Kabul weather reports for U.S. military men and women stationed in Afghanistan.
As an Emergency Alert Service participant, KSQM remains on the air even when the power is out.
“Listeners can expect to be entertained and charmed by our format, which specializes in delivering the American music of the 1930s-1960s, swing, jazz, big band, pop, folk, rock and roll, etc., along with local news, local weather, NWS weather, road reports, ferry reports — also known as ‘Boat Notes’ — school reports, Sports Break with Coach Mac, seismic reports and much more,” said station manager Jeff Bankston.
KSQM is run by more than 90 volunteers, making it one of the largest voluntary organizations in the county. The Sequim location, 577 W. Washington St., also houses a state-of-the-art recording studio.
The Federal Communications Commission recently approved KSQM’s application for a construction permit allowing the station to raise a new tower and transmission site, increasing power almost fourfold to 2,400 watts.
Although “Adrian Cross, For Hire” has been produced at KSQM Studios by Rainshadow Ventures, LLC, and is the first hourlong radio drama to be broadcast on air, it’s by no means the station’s first production, Bankston said.
• The KSQM Garden Show, sponsored by Co-Op Farm and Garden of Sequim, features Washington State University certified Clallam County Master Gardeners and is heard Fridays at 6:40 p.m. and Tuesdays at 11:40 a.m.
• Pat Neal’s Wildlife can be heard Tuesdays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 9 a.m. Neal is a local historian/author/guide whose musings are reminiscent of the humor of Mark Twain, combined with the common-sense political bite of Will Rogers, delivered in a dead-pan tone and perspective.
• Musical Matinee, hosted by radio veteran Kent Welborn and sponsored by Laminate Countertops by Design of Sequim, features the musicals of Broadway and Hollywood and can be heard Sundays from 3-4 p.m.
• Dorothy’s Doo-Wop Drive Inn, Saturdays from 7-8 p.m., is a study in popular music of the 1950-1960s and a little beyond hosted by Dorothy Zapata.
KSQM Studios also produces hundreds of public and community service announcements for city, county, state and federal agencies.
