WETS-FM

Last updated

WETS-FM
Broadcast area Tri-Cities, Tennessee-Virginia
Frequency 89.5 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingWETS FM 89.5
Programming
Format Public radio and talk
Subchannels
Affiliations National Public Radio
Public Radio Exchange
American Public Media
Pacifica Radio
BBC World Service
Ownership
Owner East Tennessee State University
History
First air date
February 24, 1974 (1974-02-24)
Call sign meaning
East Tennessee State
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 18253
Class C
ERP 66,000 watts
HAAT 692 meters (2,270 ft)
Links
Public license information
Webcast
Website wets.org

WETS-FM (89.5 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Johnson City, Tennessee, United States, and serving the Tri-Cities region of northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. Owned by East Tennessee State University, WETS is an NPR member station with studios on the ETSU campus. [2] WETS receives a little over half of its funding from listener contributions; it also receives public funding from federal and government-funded university sources. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

WETS-FM is a Class C station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 66,000 watts. The transmitter is on Panhandle Road in Hunter, Tennessee, amid the towers for other Tri-Cities FM and TV stations.

History

WETS signed on the air on February 24, 1974. [6] The station has transmitted from a tower on Holston Mountain since 1981. It broadcasts from studios in Richard F. Ellis Hall. The hall was opened in 1988, dedicated to the station's first director in 1993. The studios are on the south side of ETSU's campus. Before 1988, it operated from a two-story frame house. [7]

When WETS-FM began broadcasting, it mostly played music. But as with other public radio stations affiliated with NPR, it has gradually reduced music and increased news and informational programming. On February 1, 2010, WETS changed its weekday format to all news and talk shows. [8] [9] In its first decade, the station aired classical music on weekday mornings and evenings, with Americana music in the afternoons, and a weekly blues program known as Blue Monday. Most weekend programming, which still includes music, was not affected by this change. [9]

In the fall of 2011, WETS began broadcasting using HD Radio technology. In addition to the main analog transmission, it has several HD digital subchannels. The first is a simulcast of the analog signal, the second is an all-Americana music channel, the third is an all-classical music channel. [10] WETS was the first station in the Tri-Cities radio market to offer HD broadcasts. A fourth subchannel was added later, airing album adult alternative music. Most programming streams are also available on the website.

As an annual fundraiser, the station presents the Little Chicago Blues Festival at the Down Home Festival each spring. [11] [12] WETS had been the home station of Your Weekly Constitutional, a constitutional law show distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and produced in collaboration with Montpelier. [13]

Programming

On weekdays, WETS has a news, talk and information format, and is one of a few NPR members to air Democracy Now! , which has proven to be controversial since the Tri-Cities is largely a politically and culturally conservative region. As such, the station lost a number of members who objected to the program. However, the show has attracted a base of local supporters, who have formed a "Democracy Now Tri-Cities" group dedicated to keeping the program on the air. [14]

On weekends, the station carries entertainment programming, including Americana music, featuring local bands from southern Appalachia.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WETS-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "About WETS-FM 89.5" . Retrieved January 14, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Public radio finances". NPR . Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  4. ↑ "A Brief Overview of Public Broadcasting" . Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  5. ↑ Guinn Legg, Sue (April 11, 2007). "Listeners coming through for WETS fund raising drive". Johnson City Press. Archived from the original on April 23, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  6. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-195. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  7. ↑ "About WETS-FM 89.5". WETS.org. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  8. ↑ "WETS to switch weekday programming to news format". Kingsport Times-News. January 25, 2010. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
  9. 1 2 "WETS Home Page". WETS-FM. January 25, 2010. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
  10. ↑ "WETS-FM To Begin HD Broadcasting This Summer". WETS-FM. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
  11. ↑ DeBerry, Jon (May 1, 2006). "Annual Little Chicago Blues Festival comes to Down Home, hosts 16 bands". East Tennessean. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  12. ↑ Janz, Doug (April 27, 2007). "BLUE FRIDAY (SATURDAY, TOO) - Little Chicago festival continues as a variety of acts perform in support of WETS". Johnson City Press. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  13. ↑ "PRX » Series » Your Weekly Constitutional (Subscribable)". PRX - Public Radio Exchange. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Democracy Now! a rare liberal voice in conservative NET - Kingsport Times-News Online". Timesnews.net. April 14, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2010.

36°26′02″N82°08′06″W / 36.434°N 82.135°W / 36.434; -82.135

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