Did you know that Camas has its own radio station? You’ll be forgiven if you answered, “No.” Many people have never heard of KIEV-LP FM. And, if they have, they’re likely part of the area’s Ukrainian community.
Had you tuned into KIEV before the start of this year, you would have been listening to Slavic music and Christian programming — passion projects for the station’s evangelical Ukrainian-American founders. You also would have been listening to KIEV at 102.7 on the FM dial.
Post Jan. 1? KIEV switched over to 102.5 FM and you may have noticed that, instead of Slavic music, you were more likely to hear the sweet sounds of Dolly, Willie, Merle, Reba and Johnny. Now known as Outlaw Country radio, KIEV is now a classic and “outlaw” country music station.
David Stepanyuk, a 2004 Camas High graduate and the station’s manager, controls the station’s technical side from his parents’ Camas home. He also has a more traditional radio studio in Vancouver, where longtime radio professional Gerald Gaule, the station’s public affairs manager, broadcasts his “Country Connections” show on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.
Like the majority of low-power FM (LPFM) stations, KIEV’s roots are religious.
The elder Stepanyuks, through their “Way to Salvation” church, applied for an LPFM station license a few years ago, during one of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s rare LPFM application windows. The station operated as KCVD-LP from 2014 to 2015, and then became KIEV-LP, a Christian station serving the area’s Slavic community.