WSMC-FM

Last updated
WSMC-FM
Broadcast area Chattanooga metropolitan area
Frequency 90.5 MHz
BrandingClassical 90.5 WSMC
Programming
Format Classical music/Public radio
Affiliations National Public Radio
Public Radio International
American Public Media
Ownership
Owner Southern Adventist University
History
First air date
November 1961;62 years ago (1961-11)
Call sign meaning
Southern Missionary College (former name of SAU)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 61269
Class C Non-commercial
ERP 100,000 watts
HAAT 314 meters (1,030 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
 35°15′20″N85°13′34″W / 35.25556°N 85.22611°W / 35.25556; -85.22611
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen Live
Website wsmc.org

WSMC-FM (90.5 MHz) is a public FM radio station featuring a classical music radio format. It is licensed to Collegedale, Tennessee, and serves the Chattanooga metropolitan area, as well as parts of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina. WSMC-FM is owned by Southern Adventist University (SAU). [2] Saturday evening through Friday afternoon, it airs classical music including opera and similar genres. Christian radio programming is heard from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon. WSMC has only three full-time employees: the general manager, corporate sales manager, and operations manager. The announcers and production staff consist entirely of SAU students.

Contents

WSMC-FM has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, currently the maximum power for American FM stations. Programming can also be heard on FM translator W217AW at 91.3 MHz in Dalton, Georgia.

History

Early years

In November 1961;62 years ago, WSMC-FM first signed on the air. Originally on 88.1 FM, it moved to 90.7 in 1967 and to 90.3 in 1990. For years, its signal was spotty at best in downtown Chattanooga. However, in 1990, it moved from its original tower on White Oak Mountain to a new tower on Mowbray Mountain in Soddy-Daisy, allowing it better coverage of the Chattanooga radio market.

The call sign stands for Southern Missionary College, SAU's name at the time the station began operations.

Religious programming controversies

In 1971, WSMC became one of the charter members of NPR. However, because of the religious doctrine of the licensee's church body, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, WSMC cannot air live news programming from sunset on Friday evening until sunset on Saturday evening. This frequently resulted in NPR's afternoon drive time program, All Things Considered, being interrupted in progress. This situation did not sit well with NPR during the 1990s. [3]

Coinciding with this dispute, a citizens' group called "Chattanoogans for Better Public Radio" took exception to what group organizer Bob Steverson described as the "awkward marriage of convenience" between WSMC and NPR. Most of NPR's funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, itself subsidized by Federal appropriations. From sunset on Friday evening to sunset on Saturday evening, WSMC aired a variety of local and national religious programs. The groups complained that it was inappropriate for WSMC to receive federal funding, since it aired more religious programming each week than could be considered a public service. Some individuals also alleged that the religious programming, mandated by the administration of what was then Southern College of Seventh-day Adventists, amounted to catering to a religious minority at the expense of the larger public in the Tennessee Valley. [4]

In March 1995, WSMC formed a community advisory board to address these concerns. However, as Steverson's group saw it, Southern College had three options: stop preempting NPR programming, move NPR programming to the area's other NPR member station, WUTC, or give up its license to another owner. In June 1995, NPR officials began the process of terminating WSMC's membership on the grounds that the station preempted NPR programming too often and aired too much religious programming. In response, college officials and station management decided to take action themselves, discontinuing most NPR programming, news included, taking effect on September 30, 1995. Replacing ATC were Public Radio International's The World and American Public Media's Marketplace, which could air on a delayed basis or be preempted on Fridays. A few NPR programs remained on the schedule (purchased separately without a network discount). Most of the other programs moved to WUTC, which replaced WSMC as the Chattanooga market's primary NPR station. [3] WSMC has since dropped most NPR programming from its schedule, though it does still air some NPR news updates.

Programming

Except for the religious shows on Friday evenings and in the daytime on Saturdays (the 24-hour period of observance for Seventh-day Adventists), WSMC's programming consists entirely of classical music and derived genres. WSMC is less diverse than a typical public radio station, targeting an older, more conservative listenership. By contrast, 88.1 WUTC carries mostly news and talk programs furnished by NPR and other public radio suppliers.

Some national classical shows from NPR and other programming sources includes Performance Today , From the Top , Pipedreams and Sunday Baroque

.


See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Public Radio</span> US state radio network

Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is a network of 34 public radio stations in the state of Wisconsin. WPR's network is divided into two distinct analog services, the Ideas Network and the NPR News & Music Network, as well as the All Classical Network, a digital-only, full-time classical music service.

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

WBEZ – branded WBEZ 91.5 – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. It is owned by Chicago Public Media and is financed by listener contributions, corporate underwriting and some government funding. WBEZ is affiliated with both National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Radio Exchange (PRX). It also broadcasts content from American Public Media and the BBC World Service. It produces several nationally syndicated shows for public radio stations, including This American Life and has a co-production credit for Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, which is produced by NPR.

WUTC is a public radio station in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the United States - serving Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley.

KUSC is a listener-supported classical music radio station broadcasting from downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. KUSC is owned and operated by the University of Southern California, which also operates student-run Internet station KXSC (AM) and San Francisco's classical station KDFC. It is the largest non-profit classical music station in the country and one of the two classical music stations in the Greater Los Angeles Area, KUSC and KMZT-AM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWTN</span> Talk radio station in Hendersonville–Nashville, Tennessee

WWTN is a commercial radio station serving the Nashville, Tennessee media market. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and is marketed as SuperTalk 99.7 WTN. WWTN operates at 100,000 watts, the maximum for non-grandfathered FM stations and is a Class C0 station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WETA (FM)</span> Radio station in Washington, D.C.

WETA is a non-commercial, public FM radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C., broadcasting a classical music format. Its studios are located in Arlington, Virginia and its broadcast tower is located near Arlington at.

WWNO is a public, non-commercial radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is owned by the University of New Orleans, offering a news and information radio format with some jazz programs on weekends. Studios and offices are located on the fourth floor of the UNO library. The transmitter is off Behrman Highway in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WOSU-FM</span> Public radio station in Columbus, Ohio

WOSU-FM is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Columbus, Ohio, featuring a public radio news and information format known as "89.7fm NPR News". Owned by The Ohio State University, the station serves the Columbus metro area and has multiple repeaters throughout Ohio, making the station a multiple transmitter station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCMU-FM</span> Public radio station at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan

WCMU-FM is a public radio station in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The station, owned by Central Michigan University, is a National Public Radio member station, airing a news/talk format along with a variety of other programming. It is the flagship station of a network called WCMU Public Radio made up of six other affiliate stations in Northern Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHAD</span> Radio station in Delafield, Wisconsin

WHAD is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Delafield, Wisconsin and serving the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), it airs WPR's "Ideas Network", consisting of news and talk programming. Like the Milwaukee area's other NPR station, WUWM, the station airs BBC World Service in the overnight hours. WHAD maintains a local news staff and cut-ins outside the main WPR network, and the station's facilities, located on the seventh floor of 310 W. Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee with the ability to originate its own programming for the network, formerly including Kathleen Dunn's afternoon program until her retirement in the summer of 2017. WHAD has its own 414 studio line for Milwaukee callers to call into locally originated programs, though currently all programing is currently produced at WPR's Madison studios. Because of the lack of a sister station providing WPR's News and Classical Network to Milwaukee, WHAD provides the HD2 Classical Network via HD Radio to the market via their HD2 subchannel, which only differs from the News and Classical Network in having a full-classical format overlaying NPR and APM news programming exclusive to WUWM in the market; it became the market's only classical music station over the air in 2007 after WFMR abandoned the format commercially.

WUFT-FM is an NPR member radio station owned by the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, broadcasting news and public media programming from NPR along with other distributors including APM, PRX, WNYC Studios and the BBC. The station also operates a full-time satellite, WJUF in Inverness at 90.1 FM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WKNO-FM</span> Public radio station in Memphis, Tennessee

The WKNO FM Stations is a pair of public radio stations based in Memphis, Tennessee, that serve the "Mid-South" region with local fine arts and classical music programs, as well as news and information programs from the National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and American Public Media networks.

WUOT is the NPR member station in Knoxville, Tennessee. Owned by the University of Tennessee, it airs a mix of news, classical music and jazz, along with programming from NPR, American Public Media and Public Radio International. It primarily features classical music programming, but carries NPR news programs daily, as well as jazz music for ninety minutes every weeknight and all evening on Fridays and folk music Saturday evenings. Its studios are located in the Communications Building on the UT campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGPB</span> Radio station in Rome, Georgia

WGPB FM 97.7 is a public radio station in Rome, Georgia. It is part of the Georgia Public Broadcasting radio network, a state network which in turn is a member of National Public Radio, Public Radio Exchange, and American Public Media. Unlike most stations on the GPB network, WGPB does not completely simulcast with the network. WGPB also produces its own programs. The studios are located at Georgia Highlands College's Heritage Hall campus in downtown Rome, from which locally produced programming originates. The station began broadcasting as WGPB at 5 AM on June 30, 2006.

WHIL is an NPR-affiliated radio station in Mobile, Alabama. It primarily features classical music and news and talk programming. WHIL's signal travels in about a 45-mile radius from Mobile—serving the extreme southern tip of Alabama along the state's portion of the Gulf Coast, as well as the Gulf Coast counties of southeastern Mississippi and extreme northwestern Florida.

WKAR-FM is a non-commercial public radio station in East Lansing, Michigan. It is owned by Michigan State University, along with sister stations WKAR 870 AM and WKAR-TV channel 23. They are owned by Michigan State University, with studios are in the Communication Arts and Sciences Building, at Wilson and Red Cedar Roads on the MSU campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGBH (FM)</span> Public radio station in Boston

WGBH is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member station of National Public Radio (NPR) and affiliate of Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and American Public Media (APM). The license-holder is WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns company flagship WGBH-TV and WGBX-TV, along with WGBY-TV in Springfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WERN</span> Public radio station in Madison, Wisconsin

WERN is a non-commercial public radio station in Madison, Wisconsin. It is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), and is the flagship of WPR's "News and Classical Network." In morning and afternoon drive time, WERN carries NPR news shows with local news inserts. Middays feature classical music with Wisconsin hosts. Classical 24 is heard overnight, with Jazz on Friday and Saturday evenings. The studios are at 821 University Avenue in Madison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXXO (FM)</span> Radio station in Rochester, New York

WXXO is a public, listener-supported radio station in Rochester, New York, airing a classical music radio format. Its programs can also be heard in Houghton on WXXY and on the seventh digital subchannel of WXXI-TV. They are owned by the WXXI Public Broadcasting Council, which also owns WXXI-TV and a two-station news and information service, WXXI and WXXI-FM (105.9). WXXO holds periodic fundraisers on the air to support the station.

KUAF is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Fayetteville, Arkansas, serving Northwest Arkansas. The station is owned by the University of Arkansas, with studios and offices near the school's campus in Downtown Fayetteville.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WSMC-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ University, Southern Adventist. "Classical 90.5 WSMC". www.southern.edu. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
  3. 1 2 Bhatti, Jabeen. Religious program dispute drives Chattanooga station out of NPR. Current, 1995-07-31.
  4. ↑ Bhatti, Jabeen. After sundown Friday in Chattanooga, is WSMC still a public radio station? Current, 1995-04-03.

Notes

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.