Backyard Radio began as a very small, in fact some call it Micro Station under the FCC part 15 rule.   Our intention from the very beginning was to provide the community with information regarding services which were available during emergencies or other critical situations affecting our community.  The catalyst for this endeavor was hurricane Ike in September of 2008.   We found out largely by accident that there were many FEMA services available to the community at large which went unused because of the lack of effective authoritative communications within our community.  We were reminded again in September of 2011 of lack of community information when we were ravaged by wildfires.   It became apparent to us that our community needed a communication channel that could penetrate our geography during times when power and other essential services were unavailable.

In October of 2013 when the FCC opened up a filing window for LPFM we knew with an FM license we could fill the emergency communication gap for our local community with FM radio.  In January of 2014 the FCC granted BYR a license/permit to begin construction of this facility.  As a part of part charter to provide emergency communications Backyard has established a relationship with the City of Magnolia enabling a communication channel between BYR and local law enforcement and first responders which will provide information directly to our community.