The grass-roots station, known as Utah Free Media (UFM), will broadcast only over the Internet.

It's being launched by a group of former staffers and volunteers at KRCL, the community radio station that is switching next month to a new music format. UFM will revive many staples of KRCL's doomed programming, including shows by such longtime KRCL hosts as Bill Boyd, John Florence and Babs De Lay.

"We fully expect to be competitive in the local radio market," says Michael Place, an XMission staffer who founded UFM with former KRCL operations director Troy Mumm.

Mumm and Place expect to launch the nonprofit station in early May - around the same week, ironically, that KRCL's new format debuts. UFM will stream live programming between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. weekdays from a donated basement studio on 200 South. Its programs also will be available for download to computers and MP3 players.

Announced in February, Utah Free Media so far has 50 volunteers, some $5,000 in donations and several prominent Utahns, XMission founder Pete Ashdown and former Salt Lake City councilwoman Deeda Seed, on its board of directors. XMission has donated the bandwidth necessary to stream and download UFM's online programming.

"Launching a traditional FM station . . . is extremely expensive. But you can get online relatively cheaply," Place says. "Your costs grow as your audience grows, so it's easier to get started."

Place insists they're not starting UFM as a slap at KRCL, which angered many volunteers and listeners in January when it announced plans to replace 18 volunteer on-air hosts with three paid deejays. KRCL general manager Donna Land Maldonado believes the Salt Lake market can accommodate both stations.

"More power to them," she says.

Mumm and Place say UFM hopes to eventually air talk shows and public-affairs programming. For starters, though, the station will broadcast music - a broad mix of rock, blues, folk, world beat and other genres - punctuated by community announcements.

"Its going to be exciting," says De Lay, who will host the same women's music program she did at KRCL. "On the Web, there are no rules. So if I happen to play a song with a bad word in it, I won't get kicked off the air."

Launch party

Utah Free Media expects to stream live in early May from its Web site, www.utahfm.org. The fledgling station also is throwing a launch party Friday at 7 p.m. at the Outer Rim, 996 S. Redwood Rd. in Salt Lake City. The event will feature food, drinks, and live music by a variety of Utah artists.