Ozcat Radio is an all-volunteer nonprofit, non-commercial internet radio station dedicated to promoting Vallejo local and independent artists as well as highlighting community events and non-profit information. Read more…
It’s Official! On March 28, 2011, we received the letter from the FCC authorizing Ozcat Radio for full-time on-air operation as 89.5 FM, KZCT, Vallejo. What began two months short of six full years ago as a dream, is now a reality. Ozcat Radio is officially Vallejo’s public radio station, a Non-Commercial Educational (NCE) station serving our slice of Solano County in all those ways a public station can serve a community.
- We are Vallejo’s official EAS emergency station, so you’ll hear the familiar tests, but you’ll also hear emergency alert notifications for our community and region.
- We will be building a news organization to cover Vallejo issues so we can all have a better idea of what is going on in our community. Since part of our mission is educational, we’ll be training local news hounds to bring those stories to you.
- If your non-profit organization has had problems getting the word out about your activities or fundraisers, send us your information, and we’ll put it on the air. That’s one of the major missions of any credible public radio station. Our email address and phone numbers are all over our web site.
- Our mission from the beginning has been to support the artists and musicians of our area. We want to cover local artists playing elsewhere around the region, and independent artists from elsewhere in the region when they play here, so if you are a band or venue, add us to your resource list. We are nothing if not accessible.
- Our facilities have the potential to be a hub for Vallejo connections to the larger musical community. As we fill in our plans, we intend to offer Vallejo artists in all media an outlet to the world.
Since we started in June of 2006, this station has grown organically, by absorbing volunteers who wanted to put their particular musical love on the air. Some drifted away, many stuck. All were, however, just people who heard what we were doing and came in and told us they wanted to be part of it. Just because we are on the air now, doesn’t mean that has changed. If anything, we’re ready to kick it into high gear now.
We’ll be actively seeking volunteers for a wide variety of things. We can’t promise you the big bucks, in fact, not even the big cents, but you can be a part of a group committed to making Vallejo a better place to live, and this place is an incubator of collaborative learning in the popular arts.
This blog is still being phased in. We’ll be opening it up for comment, but when we do, we’re first opening it up to legitimate Vallejoans who are not afraid to have their names attached to what they say. We’ll require real email addresses, with real names, not those squirrelly throwaways. That way flaming and spamming can be dealt with very simply: by banning. We’re all about free speech, and belittling others for their free speech stifles rather than encourages free speech.
For now, feel free to look around and to email suggestions to us at our station address.
Just in case you didn’t see this article in the Vallejo Times-Herald, check it out.
David and Katie Martin want to shout it from the roof tops — Vallejo’s Ozcat Radio will soon be broadcast over the FM dial.
The Martins, who launched Ozcat Radio on the Internet 3-1/2 years ago, got word this week the Federal Communications Commission approved their application to broadcast on the FM dial to southern Solano County and American Canyon.
KZCT at 89.5 FM goes live on Jan. 1 when the station launches a mandatory three-month testing period, Katie Martin said. Listeners in Vallejo, American Canyon and parts of Benicia and Suisun City will be able to tune in and receive the station.Those searching for an eclectic mix of music and interviews, with a special spotlight on local talent, will soon be able to tune into KZCT. Future broadcasting will also include talk shows, interviews with local politicians, live bands performing, and exploration of local issues.
We’re still caught between celebratory cheers and shell-shock here. Nearly half of our DJs have been with us since the summer of 2006, so we’ve all been helping each other push this boulder up the mountain for 3 1/2 years. (Without David and Katie’s hard work and commitment this quite simply would not have happened.)
So, now it’s your turn. We’ve been fighting for years to bring Vallejo its own radio voice. We finally got it. We obviously hope you appreciate it enough to support it. We’re still looking at various ways to make that happen, because we’re not too hot on the idea of endless pledge drives. Stay tuned for more information about how you can help. We promise we’ll make it as pleasant as possible. 
