Underwriting Guidelines

Underwriting is a form of non-commercial advertising that KPSU requires all community members to raise. KPSU needs these funds in order to fulfill our budget requirements with the university.

Student DJs - Since PSU student fees help fund KPSU, student DJs are not required to obtain underwriting for their particular shows. With that being said, student DJs may still obtain underwriting in order to help support KPSU monetarily.

Community DJs - All community (i.e. non-PSU students) DJs are required to help secure a minimum amount of underwriting on a on-going, monthly basis. As of November 2007, this minimum amount will be equal to $60 per month. This amount may be paid directly by the DJ themselves or through a business entity or any combination thereof.

For example, a community DJ may pay the entire $60 monthly out of their own pocket. Or this DJ may have a business underwrite their show for $30 monthly and the DJ pays the other $30. Or the DJ may have 4 businesses pay $15 per month to underwrite their show, with the mentions running on alternating weeks.

Starting with November 2007 (due to rate increases and the implementation of this new policy, October '07 will be a "freebie") one strike will be issued monthly to each community DJ who fails to meet the minimum underwriting standards as mentioned above. As with our new strike policy, these strikes may be appealed at the DJs discretion. Failure to consistently meet the underwriting guidelines may result in multiple (i.e. 3) strikes issued, suspension of radio show, or termination from KPSU.

We do underwriting for both cash and trade-out agreements. All of our underwriting is on contract which is scheduled by the development coordinator under the approval of the Station Manager and must be approved by both BEFORE hitting the airwaves.
Any DJ found announcing unofficial (i.e. not approved) underwriting will be terminated immediately.

It is the DJs responsibility to follow the program logs for their specific show and play each underwriting spot and mark it on the log as need be.
Failure to do so will result in at least one strike.

Since underwriting mentions are non-commercial, they may not contain:

• Superlatives, such as "the best" or "Oregon's largest"
• Calls to action, such as "stop in" or "call now"
• Price/value information
• Comparative language of any kind

These guidelines maintain the necessary distinction between underwriting and advertising, and at the same time, allow KPSU to give maximum on-air recognition to our underwriters.

All underwriting contracts must be signed by the Station Manager before airing. If KBPS requests any changes to our underwriting mentions, the changes must be made immediately.