Jet Ainsworth set to boost KOPN 89.5 FM signal as new executive director

In his first radio gig, Jet Ainsworth played country songs across an AM frequency for the good people of Sedalia.

Clocking in at the "very last gasp" of a bygone industry model, he worked from a studio outfitted with two turntables, CDs, cart machines and an ashtray, he said.

Ainsworth's relationship with radio started long before. He grew up listening to a range of on-air personalities: national treasure Paul Harvey revealing "The Rest of the Story"; Tex Little offering sports commentary on KTGR; morning-show hosts waking up mid-Missouri with cold-water splashes of music, banter and radio stunts.

Whatever creative muses Ainsworth chases — and he's worked in a variety of media, often as a musician and filmmaker — radio remains the constant. His most recent feature film as a writer and director, "The Soul Graffiti," even revolved around a ragtag group banding together to save its small-town radio station.

KOPN doesn't need a savior. Coming over the air via 89.5 FM, the community radio station is a Columbia institution, broadcasting music, interviews and ideas for nearly 50 years.

But Ainsworth is happy to play his part, opening a new chapter both in his radio career and KOPN's history as its new executive director, a role he assumed last month.

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A radio 'sanctuary'

Ainsworth's radio experiences stretch across several station groups and formats, sometimes sending him to the microphone on multiple occasions a day, adapting for listeners' sakes.

"In the morning, I’d be on a news talk show giving sports reports. In the mid-day, I’d be introducing (songs by) Ludacris and Usher. And then in the afternoon, I’m talking about Mizzou’s football recruiting class," he said. "I was able to develop this ability to understand audience. ... I couldn’t just be the same guy on every single show."

From Sedalia to sports broadcasts reaching major college football fan bases via the Learfield network, each stop showed him a different piece of the greater radio puzzle.

Working in commercial radio, Ainsworth watched policies create a consistent, company-wide voice but also discourage innovation; "creative sandboxes ... become smaller and smaller," he said.

KOPN has always followed the beat of different drums, and Ainsworth feels suited to the environment, a creator able to lift up other creators.

"What I loved about KOPN from the get-go was that, not only has it been here for so long, but it’s kind of a sanctuary for those who are creative — and to also be able to do it over public air," he said.

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In his first weeks on the job, he's listening close — to the full slate of KOPN shows, and to their creators in one-on-one meetings. Should on-air personalities wonder if anyone's on the other side of the airwaves, Ainsworth wants them to know they have an audience in him.

He also wants to learn what each host loves about their show and what they'd like to change. Change born of patience and listening is key to honoring the decades of history and community service that predate his arrival, Ainsworth said.

"This belongs to the community. It doesn’t belong to me," he said.

KOPN's new home

KOPN's history dates back at least as far as November 1971, when around a dozen people gathered in the offices of a local alternative newspaper, The Issue, "to discuss the need for a community radio station," the station's website notes.

"Motivated by a mixture of '60s idealism and the conviction that conventional media outlets were ignoring news, viewpoints, music and people vital to the Columbia community, these radio pioneers chose to call the station KOPN to commemorate its openness to all," the online history states.

After putting themselves through the various paces of fundraising, permit applications and more, KOPN organizers began broadcasting via a slightly different signal — 89.7 FM — in spring 1973.

"The first sound that listeners hear is musical satirist Biff Rose’s 'Evolutions,'" the KOPN website states. "The station’s relatively low signal, beamed from a transmitter located atop Paquin Towers apartments, covers only a five-mile radius, and the station prints monthly Program Guides instructing listeners to make their own FM antennae for receiving KOPN."

Today, the station airs a diverse lineup of syndicated and locally created programs, from "Fresh Air" and "Democracy Now" to talk shows highlighting women's issues, the arts, farming, food and more. KOPN's array of music programming prizes soul and specificity, traveling a spectrum that features local and international artists and sounds from reggae and rockabilly to jazz, hip-hop and all manner of rock 'n' roll.

Local music guru and raconteur Kevin Walsh's program "The 'So-Called' Good Life" has long been a staple for listeners like Ainsworth. And in the last year, Ainsworth realized firsthand how the station's Saturday music shows can become a daylong soundtrack.

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KOPN quite literally moved into a new chapter this summer, leaving its longtime downtown location for digs less than three miles west at 401 Bernadette Drive. While its former Broadway home was iconic for many reasons — not least of which, its dizzying music library — the building wasn't designed with a radio station in mind, Ainsworth said of a move decided upon before he came on staff.

The station's new headquarters came with more suitable wiring and stable connections, which unlocks new possibilities, operations manager Dylan Martin said. One of Martin's "near-term goals" is improving the station's FM audio quality, sending an uncompressed signal from the station to its tower, resulting in "more dynamic range, more information in the audio."

While the new building has less square footage than its predecessor, it houses more usable space, Martin and Ainsworth said. The station now has three studios; its middle room can be used as a guest studio, Martin said, for podcasting or bringing in a live band to play over the air.

KOPN's studios belong to the community, Ainsworth emphasized. The station has a screening process for potential users; but once those steps are completed, its studios are available for recording podcasts or even working on show ideas, he said.

Going where the listeners are

KOPN is a radio station by and for the people of mid-Missouri; Ainsworth wants to ensure the station takes its programs to the people.

Radio stations, especially commercial ones, still cling to a "if we play it, they will come" mindset, Ainsworth said, when that hasn't been true for a couple decades. Continuing to distinguish KOPN as a community radio station will involve both modern methods and timeless appeals.

To grow and deepen its audience, he wants to make "full use" of social media and fold even more under-represented groups into the station's rhythms.

Natural alliances with progressive-thinking students and twenty-somethings are just waiting to be seized, Ainsworth said, if the station makes clear that like-minded, localized programming is as close as their phones.

A radio station will flourish when it emphasizes what sets the medium apart — its people and personalities, Ainsworth said.

From his vantage point, the long music blocks many commercial radio stations rely on don't make sense in an age where we can create hours-long playlists via streaming services and pay to listen ad-free.

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That you can still call into a local radio station and reach one of your neighbors makes radio a unique means of connection, he said.

"That’s actually the magic. That’s what separates radio from any other medium, even today," Ainsworth said.

For as long as he's at KOPN, Ainsworth wants to "maintain the weirdness" of radio, he said, and perhaps amplify that weirdness — a little louder and a little farther.

Listeners can tune into KOPN via 89.5 FM or online at https://www.kopn.org/.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. Find him on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: New director hopes to further KOPN 89.5 FM's community reach