Kazi

What Kazi does

KAZI 88.7 FM is a listener-supported, non-commercial community radio station operating under the legal entity Austin Community Radio, Inc. Founded on August 29, 1982, by the late Dr. John Warfield (then a professor of African-American Studies at the University of Texas), it is the oldest community radio station in Austin, Texas, and the first African-American community radio station in the market. The station broadcasts on 88.7 FM in the Austin metropolitan area and extends its reach globally via online streaming through StreamDB4Web and TuneIn, with additional on-demand content distributed as four original podcasts on Podomatic, Podbean, Anchor, and Spotify.

The station's core product is a 24/7 broadcast mix spanning R&B, Soul, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Gospel, Blues, Reggae, Zydeco, Talk, Community Information, and Independent News, with dedicated programming including Sermon of the Week, gospel announcements, veterans programming, and broadcast of the Austin City Council meeting. Technology is conventional community-radio infrastructure: an FCC non-commercial educational broadcast license, on-air transmission, and third-party streaming and podcast hosting — there is no proprietary platform, no app, and no API. Sub-products include the four podcasts (Diverse Voices Book Review, The Grapevine, Inspire Change Everywhere, The Voice of Texas Veterans) and the Sermon of the Week feature.

The business model is a nonprofit listener-supported funding structure with three revenue streams: tax-deductible listener donations (primary), tax-deductible business underwriting/sponsorships, and a City of Austin municipal contract for broadcasting the weekly City Council meeting. The station is staffed almost entirely by volunteers and governed by a Board of Directors representing Austin civic, educational, and legal community leaders. Initial launch was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting with loaned tower space from LBJ-S Broadcasting, but the station currently operates independently on donations, underwriting, and the municipal contract.

Name

Kazi

Legal name

Austin Community Radio, Inc.

Website

https://kazifm.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

KAZI 88.7 FM is Austin's oldest community radio station, a volunteer-staffed, listener-supported nonprofit broadcasting African-American-focused music, gospel, talk, and community programming on 88.7 FM, online, and via podcasts since 1982.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Radio Broadcasting

NAICS

Radio Broadcasting Stations (51611), Radio Broadcasting Stations (516110)

SIC

Radio Broadcasting Stations (4832)

akta.pro primary industry

Public/Community Local Stations (PBS Member Stations, Community Radio, LPFM) (MPABACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Local Multicultural/Language Broadcasters (Spanish/Asian/Other Local Markets) (MPABACAI), News Talk Radio & Current Affairs Stations (MPABAIAI)

Keywords

• Community radio broadcasting
• FM radio station
• Nonprofit media
• Podcast production
• Listener-supported radio

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Listener Donations: Tax-deductible donations from listeners, the primary source of operational funding for the nonprofit community radio station.
2. Underwriting/Sponsorships: Business sponsors pay for on-air recognition and promotional messaging. Sponsorship dollars cover operational expenses and are 100% tax-deductible for sponsors. Diverse listener base marketed to advertisers as a community-conscious audience.
3. Government Contracts: The station receives funding from the City of Austin for the broadcast of the weekly City Council meeting.
4. Initial Public Funding (Historical): KAZI launched with generous funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and loaned tower space from LBJ-S Broadcasting. This was initial seed funding; the station currently survives on donations and sponsorships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

KAZI 88.7 FM is Austin Community Radio's nonprofit community radio station broadcasting music, talk, gospel, and community-focused programming over 88.7 FM and via online streaming to Austin-area listeners. The station also produces and distributes several community-oriented podcasts and offers on-hold community announcement messaging services for local businesses and organizations.

Product overview

KAZI 88.7 FM is a listener-supported, non-commercial community radio station operated by Austin Community Radio, Inc. The station operates as a single unified radio broadcasting service (the core product) that combines FM radio transmission with online live streaming capabilities. Supporting the core broadcast are podcast sub-products (Diverse Voices Book Review, The Grapevine, Inspire Change Everywhere, and The Voice of Texas Veterans) distributed via third-party podcast platforms. Additional offerings include the Sermon of the Week gospel programming feature, community announcements platform, underwriting/sponsorship opportunities for businesses, and a listener donation program. The station began broadcasting on August 29, 1982, and remains Austin's oldest community radio station.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• KAZI 88.7 FM Radio Broadcasting Over-the-air FM community radio broadcasting (88.7 MHz) serving Austin, Texas, providing music, talk, gospel, and community-information programming for individual listeners.
• KAZI Online Streaming Service Live online streaming of the KAZI 88.7 FM broadcast via the station's website for remote listeners.
• Diverse Voices Book Review Podcast Podcast produced by KAZI featuring book reviews focused on diverse authors and topics; distributed via podcast platforms including iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher.
• The Grapevine Podcast KAZI-produced podcast distributed via podcast platforms including iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher.
• Inspire Change Everywhere Podcast KAZI-produced podcast focused on community change topics; distributed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast platforms.
• The Voice of Texas Veterans Podcast Podcast produced by KAZI dedicated to Texas veterans' issues and stories; distributed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast platforms.
• Sermon of the Week Weekly religious/sermon audio content produced by KAZI, intended for listener access to faith-based programming.
• Community Announcements On-Hold Messaging Service Service that records and broadcasts brief on-hold messages and community announcements on the KAZI stream for purchase by local businesses, organizations, and groups needing inexpensive phone-on-hold or community communications.
• KAZI Underwriting / Sponsorship Package Structured on-air and online underwriting/sponsorship packages sold to local businesses, nonprofits, and civic organizations to reach KAZI's Austin-area community-radio audience, subject to station terms and conditions.

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Austin Public HealthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity of Austin health department partnering with KAZI to disseminate COVID-19 information, free testing resources, PPE distribution, and vaccine information to the Austin community.
• Texas Performing Arts CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor performing arts venue in Austin listed as an additional support provider for KAZI 88.7 FM.
• Huston-Tillotson UniversityminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHistorically Black university in Austin and sponsor of KAZI 88.7 FM, supporting the station's community radio mission.
• Austin Regional ClinicminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHealthcare provider and sponsor of KAZI 88.7 FM community radio station.
• St. David's FoundationminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHealthcare foundation and sponsor of KAZI 88.7 FM community radio.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WPFW 89.3 FM (Pacifica): Washington D.C. Pacifica Network community radio station focused on African-American and progressive community programming. Highly comparable in mission, audience focus, and nonprofit listener-supported model.
• WBAI 99.5 FM (Pacifica New York): New York-based Pacifica Network community radio station with a long history of progressive and minority-focused programming. Comparable in nonprofit listener-supported model and community-mission emphasis.
• KEXP 90.3 FM: Seattle-based nonprofit community/independent music radio station known for deep curation and digital streaming leadership. Operates on a listener-supported model with strong podcast/streaming presence, directly comparable in digital extension strategy.
• KPFT 90.1 FM (Pacifica Radio): Houston-based Pacifica Network community radio station operating with a progressive, listener-supported nonprofit model. Comparable in mission (community access, underrepresented voices) and operational structure (volunteers, donations, underwriting).
• KOOP 91.7 FM: Volunteer-driven, listener-supported community radio station also broadcasting in Austin, Texas. Operates as a nonprofit cooperative with similar format diversity and community-mission focus, making it the closest geographic and operational peer to KAZI.

Broad incumbents

• Pacifica Foundation / Pacifica Radio Network: National network of community radio stations (including KPFT, KPFK, WPFW) operating under a nonprofit listener-supported mission. KAZI operates with a similar mission-driven structure but independently rather than as an affiliate.
• WAMU 88.5 (DC Public Radio): Major-market public radio station operated by American University. While much larger and NPR-network affiliated, it shares the nonprofit listener-supported model and is a benchmark for how community-focused public radio scales operations.

Regional players

• KMFA 89.5 (Classical Austin): Austin-based nonprofit public radio station focused on classical music. Shares the same Austin market and nonprofit listener-supported model but serves a different audience niche.
• KUT 90.5 / KUTX 98.9 (Austin PBS/NPR): Austin's primary public radio stations operated by Austin PBS. They share the same Austin geographic market and nonprofit public-radio funding model but serve a much broader audience with NPR news/talk and AAA music formats rather than African-American-focused content.

Others

• KAZN 1360 AM (Chinese-American Radio): Multicultural/ethnic community radio station in a different market. Adjacent in the ethnic-community broadcasting space but not a direct competitor; useful as a thematic reference for niche community radio models.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kazi887
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@KAZI88.7fm
• Facebookfacebook.com/KAZI-887FM-The-Voice-and-Soul-of-Austin-112048858801
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kazi-88.7-radio
• Instagraminstagram.com/kazifm88.7
• TikToktiktok.com/@kazi.the.voice

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kazi