California State University, East Bay’s radio station, East Bay Live, makes its return from a semester-long hiatus as the radio operations course under the Department of Communication which will be available in the spring semester.
The course listed as “Topics in Media Production” gives students the opportunity to learn about development, production and other radio station responsibilities. These responsibilities include how to be a host live radio programs and how to record and mix professional audio for independent artists.
East Bay Live made its debut at the start of 2018 when a group of students created a new internet radio station from scratch with the leadership of Communication Department Lecturer, Kevin Pina.
“The course is an exciting opportunity for students looking to learn about every aspect of radio,” said Pina. “From promoting, to programming, to securing funding, to mixing audio professionally—the class teaches students critical skills that will serve them well in the industry.”
A radio operations course had not been offered at CSUEB since 1998. Pina and the students revamped the course to fit modern-day technology and current trends after an update to the out-of-date course syllabus and FCC licensing.
The station produced several topical shows led by CSUEB students, Janice Domingo, Mitchell Scorza, Eduardo Gonzalez and Christian Martinez.
Programs such as “Pioneer Pulse” invited special guest speakers to discuss in-depth Bay Area news with hosts Mr. Miatchi (Scorza) and DJ Nice (Domingo).
Hosts La Buena y La Mala were the stars of their eponymously named Spanish speaking segment whose content covered everything from hard Spanish news to entertainment. “Pioneer Arts Connection” covered by Throck Morton and DJ Flip was a creative arts segment for the station.
East Bay Live expanded its presence in the East Bay in a variety of ways. Domingo’s tenacious social media tactics aided collaborations with several Bay Area independent artists.
“The time I spent on air and behind-the scenes, with hands down the best team, will resound in my collegiate tenure for the rest of my life,” said Scorza. “We all started out with one goal; build something from scratch and make it excellent. Even if the audience was extremely small while piloting the station, it was worth it and makes me proud.”
The station has continued to loop previous programming on its third party streaming platform app Mixlr despite its hiatus. New students will have the opportunity to create brand new programming and build upon their predecessors’ hard work when the station makes its comeback next semester.