KNSU (91.5 FM) is a

campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produce ...

station licensed to

Nicholls State University Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nicholl ...

Thibodaux, Louisiana Thibodaux ( ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 15,948 at the 2020 census. Thibodaux is a principal city ...

. The station mainly programs

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

aimed at a college aged crowd, however the station also plays hip hop music on shows aired on the station. The station also broadcasts

Nicholls Colonels The Nicholls Colonels are the 15 teams representing Nicholls State University, a university in Louisiana, in intercollegiate athletics. The Colonels compete in the NCAA Division I and the Colonels football team competes in the NCAA Division I ...

athletic events. It is part of the Colonel Media Group, the overarching organization for NSU student media.

History

KNSU was originally licensed as KVFG-FM, going on air February 19, 1972. Previously, the station could only be heard via speakers in the Nicholls student union. It was the third college radio station to launch in Louisiana after

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

WTUL WTUL is a progressive/alternative FM radio outlet in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, operating at 91.5 MHz with an ERP of 1,500 watts. The transmitter is located on the campus of Tulane University. The station, which is owned ...

and WLDC(AM) at

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name o ...

, narrowly beating

WWNO WWNO (89.9 MHz) is a public, non-commercial FM radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is owned by the University of New Orleans, offering a news and information radio format with some jazz programs on weekends. Studios and offices are loca ...

at Louisiana State University in New Orleans to the airwaves by one day. The "VFG" in KVFG stood for President Vernon F. Galliano, and the station broadcast with those call letters until January 1985, when the FCC reassigned the call letters KNSU from the Coast Guard to KVFG. The station began as a 10 watt station broadcasting on 91.5 FM which allowed for only on-campus and surrounding neighborhood area coverage. In 1992, the station was granted a construction permit to increase its

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

; this change increased coverage to the surrounding regional area and the station was licensed in 1996 as a higher-powered 250 watt ERP and 45 meters of tower height station. In the summer of 1973, KVFG aired the

Watergate hearings The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inve ...

with simultaneous French-language interpretation. NSU chemistry professor Pierre Rathle handled most of the live interpretation. In 2019, Nicholls State announced plans for a new student media center, which would house studios for KNSU alongside the university's other student-run print and television media operations. The Media Convergence Center opened in 2021.

References

External links

College radio stations in Louisiana Lafourche Parish, Louisiana Nicholls State University Radio stations in Louisiana Thibodaux, Louisiana {{Louisiana-radio-station-stub