KSUA (91.5 FM) is a student-run college radio station licensed to Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. Broadcasting from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) campus with 3,000 watts effective radiated power (ERP,) it serves the Alaska Interior area. When first on the air in 1984, it was one of a few commercially licensed college stations. Reorganized in 1993, KSUA now operates under the FCC non-commercial educational license public radio rules. KSUA has won statewide and national broadcasting awards. Prehistory of KSUA KSUA-FM did not go on the air until the mid-1980s, but the station's roots stretch back for two decades before that, to the first UAF radio station, KUAC-FM. KUAC, the Fairbanks North Star Borough's public radio station, went on the air October 1, 1962, operating out of the Constitution Hall studios KSUA now occupies. KUAC was the first public radio station in Alaska, and also the first FM station serving the Interior. It would blaze the trail for other stations to come. In 1971, KUAC moved its radio and new TV broadcasting facilities into the lower level of the UAF Fine Arts Building. KUAC was joined a decade later by carrier current outlet KMPS, the precursor to KSUA. Established by the UAF student government, KMPS went on air March 24, 1971. It was a "Progressive rock" campus radio station. The existing AC electoral wiring in the dorms and other campus buildings were used as a broadcast antenna; only AM radios near the buildings could receive its signal. KMPS quickly tired of its limited listener base. In the mid-1970s, the push to become a licensed on-air broadcaster began. For that, a new call sign would be needed. Unlicensed carrier current stations have no claim on or requirement for a call sign, and in 1978, the FCC assigned the KMPS-FM call sign to a station based in Seattle, Washington. Commercial years On September 6, 1984, KSUA-FM came on the air at the frequency of 103.9 MHz, operating under a commercial broadcast license from the FCC. Both KMPS and KSUA took in advertising revenue. The licensee was called Student Media, Inc. (SMI). That nonprofit corporation had been formed to operate the station. Playing what is referred to in the radio industry as the "album-oriented rock" or AOR format (focusing on 'deep albums tracks' in addition to more popular singles), KSUA-FM began as one of the few commercial college stations in the country, as