WSMR (FM)

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

WSMR
Broadcast areaSarasota-Bradenton, Florida, Tampa Bay Area
Frequency 89.1 MHz
BrandingClassical WSMR
Programming
Format Classical music
Ownership
Owner
WUSF
History
First air date
May 1991 (initial license)
Former call signs
WAYG (1991–1996)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 64255
Class C1
ERP 54,000 watts
HAAT 135 meters (443 feet)
Transmitter coordinates
 27°6′1.00″N82°22′18.00″W / 27.1002778°N 82.3716667°W / 27.1002778; -82.3716667
Translator(s) 103.9 W280DW (Tampa, relays WUSF-HD2)
Repeater(s) 89.7  WUSF-HD2 (Tampa)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen Live
Website wsmr.org

WSMR (89.1 MHz) is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Sarasota, Florida, United States. It is owned by the University of South Florida and programs a classical music format. WSMR broadcasts from a transmitter located near the intersection of US 41 and SR 681 in Laurel. Its programming is repeated on translator W280DW 103.9 FM in Tampa, from a 250 watt transmitter on the USF main campus. [2] WSMR's programming can also be heard around the Tampa Bay Area on the HD2 signal of 89.7 WUSF.

Contents

History

The station was initially licensed in 1991 by Northwestern College of Roseville, Minnesota as WAYG, In 1996, it adopted its current call letters, WSMR. During most of its existence under Northwestern College, the station carried a Christian Adult Contemporary format, with the moniker "Life 89.1".

On July 30, 2010, Northwestern College announced that the station would cease broadcasting on August 4 at 5 pm. [3] Northwestern College held a STA to dismantle its current tower and broadcast on another station's auxiliary tower at a lesser power. [4] A loss of donations from listeners and businesses during the recession has led Northwestern College to close WSMR, even though the special temporary authority (STA) filed with the FCC said that the station would continue broadcasting.

On the day of WSMR's closure, the University of South Florida announced its intention to acquire WSMR, with plans to change the station's format to classical music, while reimaging Tampa's WUSF FM as a station carrying National Public Radio-based talk programming by day and jazz at night. USF has moved the station slightly closer to the Tampa Bay area; WSMR's coverage is primarily the Sarasota-Bradenton area. However, the station's programming is also heard on WUSF-HD2. WUSF's main frequency began broadcasting an NPR News and talk schedule on September 15, 2010; [5] however, WSMR failed to launch on that date as previously announced. Various explanations were offered by WUSF, including delays due to FCC approval, and an undefined technical issue relating to another frequency assigned to "first responders" at the same tower site. [6]

The station's sale to USF also included W280DW, to carry WSMR's new classical signal in Tampa. [7]

Two weeks after the failed launch of classical replacement WSMR, station management came under public scrutiny [8] for neglecting to perform due diligence regarding the purchase of the WSMR transmitter. According to a Bradenton Herald article:

Arthur Doak, an engineer for the FCC, said there was no record of WUSF or Northwestern College conducting an inspection on the tower but said stations are entitled to a review of tower sites.

"If the buyer wanted it done to protect themselves, certainly they could," Doak said. "That's between the buyer and the seller."

On October 25, 2010, WSMR resumed broadcasting, but temporarily at 5,000 watts on a Sarasota-area tower rented from Clear Channel Communications. After several weeks, full-power service resumed. [9] [10]

WSMR's main studios in Sarasota were completed in early 2011. The studio is used for broadcasting, as well as live and recorded local performances. [11] The station is dedicated to presenting classical music in recorded and live performances and markets itself as Florida's Classical Station. It is available on-line as well around the world.

Related Research Articles

WEDU is a PBS member television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area. It is owned by Florida West Coast Public Broadcasting alongside WEDQ. The two stations share studios on North Boulevard in Tampa and transmitter facilities in Riverview, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WUSF (FM)</span> Radio station in Florida, United States

WUSF is a National Public Radio (NPR) member station in the Tampa Bay area. It is licensed to Tampa and owned by the University of South Florida. WUSF is non-commercial and listener-supported. The station's format features news and talk programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, provided by NPR and other public radio networks. The studios and offices are on East Fowler Avenue in Tampa, on the USF campus.

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.

WGCU is a PBS member television station in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. Owned by Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), it is a sister station to NPR member WGCU-FM (90.1). The two stations share studios on the FGCU campus in Fort Myers and transmitter facilities in unincorporated southern Charlotte County.

WLRN-FM and WKWM (91.5 MHz) are non-commercial, listener-supported, public radio stations for South Florida and the Florida Keys. WLRN-FM is licensed to Miami and WKWM is licensed to Marathon. They are owned by Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The offices and studios are on NE 15th Street in Miami.

WEDQ is a secondary PBS member television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area. Owned by Florida West Coast Public Broadcasting, it is a sister station to primary PBS member WEDU. The two stations share studios on North Boulevard in Tampa and transmitter facilities in Riverview, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WFUS</span> Radio station in Gulfport, Florida

WFUS is a commercial radio station licensed to Gulfport, Florida. It airs a country music format and is one of the eight stations in the Tampa Bay radio market owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. It carries The Bobby Bones Show syndicated from Nashville in morning drive time. The studios are on Feather Sound Drive in Clearwater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHPT</span> Radio station in Sarasota, Florida

WHPT is a commercial radio station licensed to Sarasota, Florida, and serving the Tampa Bay area. Owned by Cox Media Group, it broadcasts a hot talk format. It is also the flagship station for Tampa Bay Lightning hockey and carries South Florida Bulls football. WHPT's studios and offices are on 4th Street North in St. Petersburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTZB</span> Radio station in Englewood, Florida

WTZB is a commercial radio station licensed to Englewood, Florida, and serving the Sarasota - Bradenton area of Central Florida. It airs a hard-edged mainstream rock format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on Fruitville Road in Sarasota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of South Florida Sarasota–Manatee</span> Public university in Sarasota, Florida, U.S.

The University of South Florida Sarasota–Manatee is a branch campus of the University of South Florida in Sarasota, Florida. USF Sarasota-Manatee was established in 1975 as a regional campus of the University of South Florida and gained separate accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate and master's degrees in June 2011. It was consolidated with the other two USF campuses as of July 1, 2020. Day, evening, weekend and online classes serve more than 14,000 students annually.

WGCU-FM is an National Public Radio-member station on Florida's Gulf Coast. Licensed to Fort Myers, it is owned by Florida Gulf Coast University with studios along FGCU Boulevard, on campus. WGCU also operates WMKO 91.7, a full-time simulcast station licensed to Marco Island to serve the Naples area.

The Tampa Bay media market is Florida's second-largest metropolitan area with a variety of print, online and broadcast media outlets serving the region. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population for the Tampa-St. Petersburg Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) at 3,194,831 according to the 2019 est. The Tampa Bay media market also includes Citrus, Manatee, Sarasota and Polk counties which is over 5,000,000 when combined with the Tampa Bay (MSA). Polk County is also served by media from Orlando.

WBTP is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting a classic hip hop format. Licensed to Sarasota, Florida, it serves the Sarasota / Bradenton / Tampa Bay Areas. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., with studios on West Gandy Boulevard in Tampa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSDV</span> Radio station in Sarasota, Florida

WSDV is a commercial radio station licensed to Sarasota, Florida, and broadcasting to the Sarasota - Bradenton radio market. The station airs a hot adult contemporary format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.

WCTQ is a radio station broadcasting with a classic country format. Licensed to Venice, Florida, the station serves the Sarasota - Bradenton area. It is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSRZ-FM</span> Radio station in Coral Cove, Florida

WSRZ-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to Coral Cove, Florida, and serving the Sarasota - Bradenton area. It has a classic hits radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios are on Fruitville Road in Sarasota.

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.

Bulls Media, formerly Bulls Radio, is the University of South Florida's student-run internet radio station. Previously Bulls radio was broadcast on 1620 kHz on the USF campus and was the first college station to be carried on an HD Radio sub-channel, when it occupied WMNF's HD-2 channel from July 2009-July 2014.

WDIZ is a commercial radio station broadcasting an oldies format. Licensed to Venice, Florida, United States, the station serves the Sarasota metropolitan area. WDIZ is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and calls itself "Oldies 1320", Venice's Real Oldies. The station uses iHeartMedia's Real Oldies network that mainly focuses on hits from the 1960s and 1970s.

Northwestern Media is the Christian radio ministry of the University of Northwestern – St. Paul, an evangelical university in Roseville, Minnesota. Northwestern Media operates three radio networks serving listeners primarily in the Midwestern United States: the Life Network, a Christian adult contemporary music station; the Faith Network, with Christian talk and teaching programs; and Spirit FM, also playing Christian adult contemporary music.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WSMR". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "W280DW-FM 103.9 MHz - Tampa, FL". Radio Locator.
  3. ↑ "WSMR: "Life 89.1 Going Off Air August 4th.", July 30, 2010".
  4. ↑ "CDBS Print". FCC.
  5. ↑ "Tampa public radio station WUSF-FM to go all NPR and jazz Sept. 15, shifting classical music to Sarasota station". St. Petersburg Times. August 4, 2010. Archived from the original on August 18, 2010.
  6. ↑ "WUSF Public Media". WUSF Public Media.
  7. ↑ "WUSF Public Media". WUSF Public Media.
  8. ↑ "WUSF works to figure out problems, broadcasting tower causing interference issues". Bradenton Herald. September 30, 2010.
  9. ↑ "WUSF Public Media". WUSF Public Media.
  10. ↑ "WUSF debuts new classical music station five weeks late, at low power". St. Petersburg Times. October 25, 2010. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012.
  11. ↑ "WUSF Public Media". WUSF Public Media. November 23, 2010.
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.