Nicholls’ student-run radio station, KNSU, opened its doors for the first time to other college stations to compare and contribute creative ideas for their radio shows.
Nick Gremillion, mass communication senior from Covington, is the station manager of KNSU who invited DJs from Southeastern’s KSLU and Louisiana State University’s KLSU.
Randy Malbrough, the afternoon DJ from KSLU, visited Nicholls last Thursday at 4 p.m.
“I brought LSU in to help us do a better job administratively,” Gremillion said. “I want to make sure that the DJs are well in announcing shows, so I invited Randy here to come in for his ideas.”
Malbrough discussed some of his ideas that he used in his shows at KSLU with the staff of KNSU.
“I like to incorporate fun, new stories in my shows,” Malbrough said. “I like news stories that you are not going to see at 6 or 10 o’clock at night. These are stories that are weird and crazy, like one story where some people stole a stuffed bear in Pennsylvania. It is something that is amusing that might bring about a chuckle.”
Some things Gremillion said they realized they needed to work on was having more interesting breaks between music, connecting with people outside the station and getting more interviews with artists and people in the community.
“You have to supply your audience with a quality product,” Gremillion said. “I am trying to insure that KNSU is putting out a quality product which is good music and good announcers.”
KSLU noted that KNSU had a more relaxed atmosphere that was based on students. KSLU is a faculty-run radio with student DJs.
“This is not just about improving KNSU,” Gremillion said. “It is something that every party involved can benefit from.”
KNSU plans to reach out to local artists and musicians in the community and on campus. KNSU wants to work on introducing new music and putting on more events for the Nicholls community.
“We are trying to get promotional items to get more people listening,” Gremillion said. “I get the local musicians that play in local venues to mention the station.”
KNSU arranged for local bands to perform for Homecoming. They also will give away Voodoo Fest tickets.
“This doesn’t just benefit me, but the younger people get information from Southeastern and LSU, so they can get better when I am gone,” Gremillion said.
DJs from KNSU appreciated the ideas and comments from KSLU that they plan to incorporate in their shows.
“I want to bring more news on my show like Randy said,” Corey Bell, freshman from Houma, said. “I want to talk about news that you wouldn’t normally hear about other than by word of mouth. I also want to bring in conversations into my shows.”
DJs feel prepared to continue to improve on their skills and get more people involved in KNSU.
“We love to have feedback,” Ricardo Rosandz, government senior from Houma, said. “We like to talk about topics that deal with politics, and people usually disagree with us because we are liberals in a conservative town.”
KNSU continues to open arms to new suggestions and ideas for the shows.
“One of the greatest things Randy told us is that if you mess up on air, just plow through it,” Bell said. “If you don’t show that you messed up, the audience won’t notice. I still get nervous, and I might mess up here and there, but it is all about getting through it and getting the message out.”
