KCAW-FM is a non-commercial community radio station owned and operated by Raven Radio Foundation, Inc. of Sitka, Alaska. Since signing on the air in 1982, KCAW has broadcast a diverse and vibrant program schedule to the rural Southeast Alaskan communities of Sitka, Angoon, Elfin Cove, Kake, Pelican, Port Alexander, Tenakee Springs and Yakutat, as well as a wide expanse of the coastal fishing grounds. KCAW provides essential information services such as Emergency Alert System and AMBER announcements and severe weather warnings, as well as local, regional, state, national and international news and entertainment programming to a combined listening population of more than eleven thousand people. These coastal residents are particularly reliant on KCAW for tsunami warnings.
Volunteer programming and community involvement have always been key components of Raven Radio’s mission. The station currently has more than 1200 members and 100 active volunteers. In the past 27 years, KCAW has trained more than 750 on-air volunteers, and, in the past week, more than 75 Sitkans have been on the air. Raven Radio has built a solid reputation for training producers, and several former staff and volunteers are now award-winning national producers. KCAW is a committed member of CoastAlaska Inc., a consortium of five Southeast community radio organizations cooperating to improve service to Alaskans while decreasing costs. Efficiencies created through this partnership include centralized accounting, support for administrative, development and engineering services, and cooperation and shared content among news departments.
KCAW is located in the historic Cable House, built in 1908 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the receiving station of the first telegraph cable connecting Alaska directly to the lower 48.
