Radio -- Kids! New Radio Station Just For You

Don't turn that dial.

KidStar Radio, a 24-hour AM radio station aimed at 3- to 11-year-olds, makes its debut Saturday at 11:30 a.m. There will be a press conference introducing the on-air personalities at the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre. Celebrities, including Seahawk Andy Heck, will also be present. KidStar members will then officially "plug in" the radio station.

The 5,000-watt station, the brainchild of the Seattle-based Children's Media Network, will be heard from Seattle to Tacoma to Everett. KidStar's call letters are KKDZ and its home is on 1250 AM.

"We've got an incredible group of people involved," said Bill Koenig, president of the Children's Media Network and co-founder of KidStar. "We're very excited."

KidStar joins a growing number of family-oriented radio stations across the country, including the Children's Satellite Network's Radio AHHS, a 2-year-old Minneapolis-based station.

But KidStar is not just a radio station. Its 24-hour family-oriented programming features a variety of music, talk shows and contests. But there's also the quarterly KidStar magazine, which features games, cartoons and feature articles that tie in with the station's programming. The KidStar Computer Net, a computer network service, will be available in 1994.

And there's KidStar PhoneZone, a no-cost interactive telephone system that encourages audience participation through contests, requests, movie opinions, talk shows, personality questions and submissions for airing on the radio. Kids in Seattle can call the PhoneZone at 625-1250. Tacoma kids can call 572-1250 and Everett listeners can phone in at 353-1250.

KidStar Radio encourages its listeners to become members of the station. Membership is free. Once you sign up as a member of KidStar, you will receive your own ID number. Then when you call up the PhoneZone, all you have to do is punch in your ID number on a touch-tone phone to receive information on contests, hear the joke of the day or talk with other kids. For more information on how to become a member, call the PhoneZone at 625-1250 or 382-1250.