WESU

Last updated
WESU
WESU logo.jpg
Broadcast areaCentral Connecticut
Frequency 88.1 MHz
Programming
Format FreeForm, News/Talk
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner Wesleyan University
History
First air date
  • 1939 (as a carrier current campus radio station)
  • February 25, 1961 (as an FM station)
Call sign meaning
'WES'leyan 'U'niversity [1]
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID 71537
Class A
ERP 6,000 watts
HAAT 11.0 meters (36.1 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
41°33′12″N72°39′29″W / 41.55333°N 72.65806°W / 41.55333; -72.65806
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live
Website www.wesufm.org

WESU is a college/community non-commercial FM radio station owned by Wesleyan University and licensed to Middletown, Connecticut.

Contents

History

It was founded in 1939 as an unofficial AM carrier current campus radio station in the basement of Clark Hall. Upon gaining recognition, the station operated under the unofficial call sign WES. In the 1950s, the call sign became WESU. Then on February 25, 1961, it began operating an FM station at 88.1 MHz, eventually abandoning the AM station. [3] Between 1967 and 1990, WESU was owned and operated by an independent student group, the now-defunct Wesleyan Broadcast Association, Inc. [4] Today, it is owned by the Trustees of Wesleyan University, and operated by students and community volunteers. In 1999, the station moved offices and studios from the basement of Clark Hall to its current location next the Wesleyan Argus on 45 Broad Street.

Asked in 2020 whether WESU is not the oldest college radio station in the United States, its station manager Benjamin Michael gave an explanation of the complexities of what counts as a "college radio station" and then stated that WESU is "the last of the original student-owned and student-operated stations." [5]

Programming

WESU operates 24 hours a day. Until 2004, WESU's format had been entirely freeform, with DJs and student staff having complete freedom to program what they wanted. The university then announced its intention to seek an affiliation with National Public Radio (NPR), and to change the station's daytime format. [6] Douglas Bennet, then president of Wesleyan University, was a former president of NPR. The station now broadcasts news and information shows during the day. Nights and weekends, WESU continues to operate as a free-form station. [7]

WESU broadcasts with 6,000 watts effective radiated power (ERP), circular polarization, from the top of Wesleyan University's Exley Science Center in Middletown. The programming is a mix of freeform music, National Public Radio, Public Radio International (PRI) and Pacifica Radio Network programs. From NPR and PRI, WESU airs Morning Edition, Diane Rehm, The Takeaway, Weekend Edition, The Best of Car Talk and Science Friday. From Pacifica, it broadcasts Democracy Now!, Free Speech Radio News, The Ralph Nader Hour and Exploration in Science with Dr. Michio Kaku. The station airs Connecticut-made programs like The Jack Sullivan Radio Show, Voice of the City with J.Cherry. Acoustic Blender with Bill Revill [8] and Nutmeg Junction. [9] Most hours during the day, it airs NPR News at the beginning of the hour.

The radio station was featured in a plot on the TV comedy series "How I Met Your Mother." At the end of the episode "The Possimpible", Ted Mosby (played by Josh Radnor) is deleting his work experience at the radio station from his resume.

Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KCRW</span> Public radio station in Santa Monica, California

KCRW is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming from NPR and other affiliates. A network of repeaters and broadcast translators, as well as internet radio, allows the station to serve the Greater Los Angeles area and other communities in Southern California. The station's main transmitter is located in Los Angeles's Laurel Canyon district and broadcasts in the HD radio format. It is one of two full NPR members in the Los Angeles area; Pasadena-based KPCC is the other.

Free-form, or free-form radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given wide or total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no influence over programming structure or playlists. In the United States, freeform DJs are still bound by Federal Communications Commission regulations.

WAMU is a public news–talk station that services the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. It is owned by American University, and its studios are located near the campus in northwest Washington. WAMU has been the primary National Public Radio member station for Washington since 2007.

WFCR is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Amherst, Massachusetts. It serves as the National Public Radio (NPR) member station for Western Massachusetts, including Springfield. The station operates at 13,000 watts ERP from a transmitter on Mount Lincoln in Pelham, Massachusetts, 968 feet above average terrain. The University of Massachusetts Amherst holds the license. The station airs NPR news programs during the morning and afternoon drive times and in the early evening. Middays and overnights are devoted to classical music and jazz is heard during the later evening hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTBU (Boston University)</span> Student radio station at Boston University

WTBU (640 kHz/89.3 MHz) is a "Part 15" student-managed and -operated radio station at Boston University. Under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations it does not require a license, and operates legally under special "low power" rules. The operation does not qualify for official call letters; thus the identification as "WTBU" is a self-assigned branding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXPN</span> Public radio station in Philadelphia

WXPN is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format shows. WXPN produces World Cafe, a music program distributed by NPR to many non-commercial stations in the United States. The station's call sign, which is often abbreviated to XPN, stands for "Experimental Pennsylvania Network". The broadcast tower used by WXPN is located at, in the antenna farm complex in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KTRU-LP</span> Radio station at Rice University in Houston

KTRU-LP is the college radio station of Rice University, a private university in south-central Houston, Texas, United States.

WCBN-FM is the student-run radio station of the University of Michigan. Its format is primarily freeform. It broadcasts at 88.3 MHz FM in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WILL (AM)</span> Radio station in Urbana, Illinois

WILL is a public broadcasting station owned by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and licensed to Urbana, Illinois, United States. It is operated by Illinois Public Media, with studios located at Campbell Hall for Public Telecommunication on the university campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBJB-FM</span> Radio station in Lincroft, New Jersey

WBJB-FM is a non-commercial, listener-supported, public FM radio station. It is licensed to Lincroft, New Jersey, and is owned by Brookdale Community College. It serves Central New Jersey with "The News You Need and the Music You Love."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WRIU</span> Radio station at the University of Rhode Island

WRIU is a non-commercial radio station broadcasting a college radio format. Licensed to Kingston, Rhode Island, United States, the station serves the greater Rhode Island area. The station is owned by University of Rhode Island. The broadcast area reaches almost all of Rhode Island, and portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Long Island. WRIU began broadcasting on February 16, 1964 on 91.1 MHz with a power of 10 watts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPSU (FM)</span> Radio station in State College, Pennsylvania

WPSU is central Pennsylvania's only National Public Radio member radio station licensed to the Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees as a part of WPSU Penn State. The over-the-air and digital signal reaches 13 counties in central and north central Pennsylvania. The station is rebroadcast on WPSX 90.1 FM in Kane. Both the 91.5 and 90.1 signals transmit in HD.

WLIW-FM is a radio station licensed to Southampton, New York and serving eastern Long Island and coastal Connecticut. Owned by The WNET Group, it is a sister station to PBS member television station WLIW, and features programming from American Public Media, NPR and Public Radio Exchange. The station also broadcasts in HD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WEOS</span> Radio station in Geneva, New York

WEOS is a college radio station licensed to Geneva, New York, broadcasting primarily on 89.5 FM across the Finger Lakes region of New York. It also broadcasts on a smaller relay transmitter on 90.3FM in Geneva. The station is owned by The Colleges of the Seneca, Inc., the legal name of Hobart and William Smith Colleges. The board of trustees of the colleges are the owners, with the current President Mark Gearan as its chair.

WVTX is a radio station in Colchester, Vermont, just outside Burlington owned by Vermont Public Radio. The station, established in 1974 by Saint Michael's College as the original FM home of its campus radio station WWPV-FM, currently airs a classical format from the VPR Classical network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WUCF-FM</span> Radio station in Orlando, Florida

WUCF-FM is a listener-supported radio station of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, United States. The station is one of Central Florida's two NPR member stations, along with WMFE-FM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNJR (FM)</span> Noncommercial educational radio station

WNJR is a non-commercial FM radio station broadcasting a freeform radio format. Licensed to Washington, Pennsylvania, it serves Greater Pittsburgh's Southwest suburbs. The station is owned by Washington & Jefferson College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WKNH</span> Radio station in Keene, New Hampshire

WKNH is a student-run radio station licensed to serve Keene, New Hampshire. The station is owned by Keene State College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boise State Public Radio</span> Public radio network in Idaho, United States

Boise State Public Radio is a broadcast service of Boise State University, which operates four programming services on several radio stations throughout central and southern Idaho and northern Nevada.

References

  1. "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
  2. "Facility Technical Data for WESU". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. Broadcasting Yearbook 1977
  4. "WESU History". WESU. Archived from the original on 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  5. Cynthia Rockwell (2020-05-01). "Tuned In". Wesleyan University Magazine. Retrieved 2020-09-19. "There were college stations before the 1930s," he says. "UConn, for example, had one. So, I would never say we're the oldest college radio station. But theirs was part of the agricultural radio network. Student radio—student-owned-and-operated radio—started at Brown in 1936. And Wesleyan's was the second in that model. And now Brown's FM radio is gone; they're an internet-only station. I often say that we are the last of the original student-owned and student-operated stations. That's the point of discernment."
  6. 23 November 2004 WESU press release, originally on the WESU-FM site; archived on the Internet Archive, 30 April 2008, retrieved 21 February 2011.
  7. (Home page), WESU-FM.
  8. "Schedule/Playlists – WESU 88.1 FM". www.wesufm.org. Archived from the original on 2018-07-05.
  9. "New 'old-style' radio show coming to Wesleyan University' WESU-FM". 25 May 2018.