WMCN (FM)

Last updated
WMCN
Frequency 91.7 MHz
BrandingMacalester College Radio
Programming
Format variety
Ownership
Owner Macalester College
History
First air date
 1980
Former call signs
KJAB (1979) [1]
Call sign meaning
Macalester College [2]
Technical information
Facility ID 39535
Class D
ERP 5 watts
HAAT 49 m (161 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 44°56′19.00″N93°10′4.00″W / 44.9386111°N 93.1677778°W / 44.9386111; -93.1677778
Links
Webcast Listen Live
Website wmcn.fm
WMCN Offices.jpg

WMCN (91.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a variety format. Licensed to St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, the station serves an area relatively close to the Macalester College campus. The station is owned by Macalester College and operated by students. [3] The station has held the WMCN call sign since July 30, 1979. [1]

Contents

Located in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota, WMCN is a low-power station with a broadcast radius of roughly 2.5 to 3 miles. [4]

History

This station was granted a final extension to its original construction permit by the Federal Communications Commission on June 20, 1979. [5] The new station was assigned the call sign "KJAB" by the FCC but this was changed to the current WMCN on July 30, 1979. [1] The station received its broadcast license from the FCC on April 1, 1980. [6]

Programming

The freeform programming is hosted by student disc jockeys and the station only operates during the school's terms. Students are required to complete training sessions to familiarize themselves with the station's music library, policies, and broadcast equipment before they are permitted on the air. [7]

WMCN provides Macalester and its surrounding community with music from various genres including rock, Americana, world, jazz, hip-hop, electronic, and classical as well as talk radio programming. [8] Community activist Dan Richmond described WMCN as "one of the first places to look for new music and ideas". [9]

The station began an overhaul of its facilities in 2006, adding enhanced webcast capabilities and working towards the complete digitization of its music library. [10] The digitization of nearly 20,000 songs was completed in late 2007 with the station announcing plans to sell off its vast CD library when the project was complete. [11]

Former on-air staff

While most student presenters at college radio stations do not pursue careers in broadcasting, some use the experience as a springboard to larger venues. Gregory Keltgen, now better known as "DJ Abilities", got his start as a hip hop DJ providing scratches as part of his older brother Derek's show on WMCN. [12] Brian Bull, currently an award-winning business and economics reporter for WCPN 90.3 ideastream and contributing reporter for National Public Radio, got his first job in radio hosting a weekly classical music program on WMCN during his freshman year. [13] Joanna Stein, a 2006 Macalester graduate and WMCN veteran, joined the staff of National Public Radio's Morning Edition program. [14] Jennifer Downham, former host of Groove Garden on Minneapolis/St. Paul community radio station KFAI, says she did not, "Pursue her musical interests until she became a radio DJ," on WMCN. [15] Described as "the Queen Mother of the Twin Cities hip-shagging, funked-up improv music scene", [16] the WMCN show she hosted was her first ever job as an announcer. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macalester College</span> Private college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, US

Macalester College is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution with an enrollment of 2,142 students in the fall of 2023. The college has Scottish roots and emphasizes internationalism and multiculturalism.

The music of Minnesota began with the native rhythms and songs of Indigenous peoples, the first inhabitants of the lands which later became the U.S. state of Minnesota. Métis fur-trading voyageurs introduced the chansons of their French ancestors in the late eighteenth century. As the territory was opened up to white settlement in the 19th century, each group of immigrants brought with them the folk music of their European homelands. Celtic, German, Scandinavian, and Central and Eastern European song and dance remain part of the vernacular music of the state today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KCMP</span> Radio station in Northfield, Minnesota

KCMP is a radio station owned by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) music format including a significant rotation of songs by local artists. Licensed to Northfield, Minnesota, and covering the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, the station's studios are located at the MPR Broadcast Center on Cedar Street in downtown St. Paul, while its transmitter is located atop the Vermillion Highlands near Coates. The Current is also broadcast on stations in Rochester, Duluth-Superior, Pasadena-Los Angeles, translators around Minnesota, and online.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KUOM</span> College radio station of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities

KUOM – branded Radio K - Real College Radio – is a daytime-only, non-commercial, college radio station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Owned by the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, the station is operated by students and faculty. It mainly airs alternative rock with other genres of music. The studios are in Rarig Center on the University of Minnesota campus.

Minneapolis–Saint Paul, also known as the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, in the state of Minnesota, United States of America, has two major general-interest newspapers. The region is currently ranked as the 15th largest television market in the United States. The market officially includes 59 counties of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and extends far to the north and west. The radio market in the Twin Cities is estimated to be slightly smaller, ranked 16th in the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KTCZ-FM</span> Radio station in Minneapolis, Minnesota

KTCZ-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota and serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul radio market and Western Wisconsin. KTCZ airs a hybrid modern adult contemporary radio format. The station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia and has studios and offices on Utica Avenue South in St. Louis Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHPK</span> Radio station in Hyde Park, Chicago

WHPK is an American radio station based in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago, established in 1968. The station is owned by the University of Chicago, and operated by volunteer students and community members. WHPK's station manager and program director are elected by the station's student members and must be students themselves. The station's broadcast engineer is paid by the university.

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

WITR is a student-run broadcast radio station in Henrietta, New York. It is a college radio station, owned by the Rochester Institute of Technology. It was assigned the WITR call letters by the Federal Communications Commission.

<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.

KSFM is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Woodland, California and serves the Sacramento metropolitan area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts an urban contemporary format. KSFM's studios and offices are located on Lava Ridge Court in Roseville, and its transmitter is in Woodland.

WMUC-FM is the student-run non-commercial radio station licensed to the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, broadcasting at 30 watts. It is a freeform radio station staffed entirely by volunteer UMD students and community members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KZSU</span> Radio station at Stanford University

KZSU is a freeform FM radio station broadcasting from the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, 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">WKCR-FM</span> Radio station at Columbia University in New York City

WKCR-FM is a radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned by Columbia University and serves the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1941, the station traces its history back to 1908 with the first operations of the Columbia University Radio Club (CURC). In 1956, it became one of the first college radio stations to adopt FM broadcasting, which had been invented two decades earlier by Professor Edwin Howard Armstrong. The station was preceded by student involvement in W2XMN, an experimental FM station founded by Armstrong, for which the CURC provided programming. Originally an education-focused station, since the Columbia University protests of 1968, WKCR-FM has shifted its focus towards alternative musical programming, with an emphasis on jazz, classical, and hip-hop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KPOO</span> Community radio station in San Francisco

KPOO is a community radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States. The station is owned by Poor People's Radio. It broadcasts from a building in the Fillmore district.

WQKE is a college online-streaming radio station in Plattsburgh, New York. From 1981 until 2022, it had broadcast on terrestrial radio on 93.9 FM. The college radio station is supported by the Student Association of SUNY Plattsburgh. The station's studios are located in the Angell College Center on campus. The antenna was located on the Kehoe Administration Building, which is one of the tallest buildings in Plattsburgh. With adjustments made at the station in the fall of 2009, The Quake broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, offering listeners a wide variety of music including: jazz, funk, soul, indie, punk, hip-hop, blues, techno and other genres.

Twin Cities hip hop, also referred to as Minneapolis hip hop, is sub-genre of rap music that originates from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KSWC-LP</span> Radio station at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, United States

KSWC-LP is a radio station operated by students at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, United States. Between 1968 and 2015, the station was a Class D full-power station licensed to broadcast with 9 watts.

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

WICB is a radio station licensed to serve Ithaca, New York, United States. Established in 1941 and receiving its FCC license in 1948, the station is owned by Ithaca College.

KHVU is a non-commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Hope Media Group, which owns Christian AC-formatted KSBJ, and airs a Spanish-language Christian adult contemporary radio format. The studios and offices are on Treble Drive in Humble, Texas, near Bush Intercontinental Airport, and the transmitter is located off Sorters McClellan Road in Porter.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
  3. ↑ "WMCN Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  4. ↑ "coverage map for WMCN". Radio Locator.
  5. ↑ "Application Search Details (BMPED-19790409AL)". FCC Media Bureau. June 20, 1979.
  6. ↑ "Application Search Details (BLED-19791015AA)". FCC Media Bureau. April 1, 1980.
  7. ↑ Wright, Patricia (September 19, 2008). "WMCN prepares for changes, new slate of programming". The Mac Weekly . Archived from the original on September 26, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  8. ↑ Webb, Shasta (April 2, 2010). "Basement Lairs: Radio Station". The Mac Weekly . Retrieved April 8, 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ Richmond, Dan. "Twin Cities Community Radio". Do It Green! Minnesota. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  10. ↑ Banerji, Soham (October 13, 2006). "WMCN: iPod-friendly and graffiti-free; Macalester College radio has new equipment, freshly painted walls and improved web casting". The Mac Weekly . Archived from the original on November 8, 2007. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  11. ↑ Fredrickson, Nathan (September 28, 2007). "WMCN digitization near complete". The Mac Weekly . Archived from the original on October 10, 2007. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  12. ↑ Matos, Michaelangelo (January 6, 2009). "Ready, Willing, and Able: Ego trippin' with the hardest-working hip-hop DJ in town". Citypages. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Leadership". August 22, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Intern Edition: Bios". National Public Radio. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Six Questions with Jennifer Downham". Saint Paul Pioneer Press . January 9, 2004. p. E2. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  16. ↑ Gilmer, Vickie; Bream, Jon (April 3, 1998). "Downham cultivates her 'Groove Garden'". Minneapolis Star-Tribune . Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  17. ↑ Terhark, Chuck (May 26, 1999). "Women break music industry standards as Minneapolis radio DJs". University Wire. Retrieved April 8, 2010.[ dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.