WUKY

Last updated
WUKY
WUKYRadioLogo.png
Broadcast area Lexington Metro Area
Central Kentucky
Frequency 91.3 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingNPR Rocks @ 91.3
Programming
Format Adult Album Alternative
Public Radio
Affiliations National Public Radio (NPR)
Public Radio International (PRI)
American Public Media (APM)
BBC World Service
Ownership
Owner University of Kentucky
History
First air date
October 17, 1940;81 years ago (1940-10-17) (in Beattyville, moved to Lexington in 1944)
Former call signs
WBKY (1940-1989)
Call sign meaning
W University of KentuckY
Technical information
Class C1
ERP 100,000 watts
HAAT 237.4 meters (779 ft)
Links
Website WUKY.org

WUKY (91.3 MHz) is a listener-supported, public FM radio station in Lexington, Kentucky. Owned by the University of Kentucky (UK), it has an Adult Album Alternative radio format, airing more than 100 hours of music per week. Some news and informational programming is supplied by National Public Radio (NPR), Public Radio International (PRI), American Public Media (APM) and the BBC. The station broadcasts from state of the art radio studios in northwestern Lexington at the intersection of Greendale Road and Spurr Road.

Contents

WUKY is supported by its listeners, with periodic fundraisers airing during the year. It also receives funding from the university, as well as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and its underwriters. WUKY has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for most FM stations in the U.S.

History

The station's original home office, the former Beattyville Grade School Beattyville Grade School.jpg
The station's original home office, the former Beattyville Grade School

Establishment as AM Apex station WBKY

Organized radio broadcasting was introduced in the United States in the early 1920s, [1] and by the mid-1930s the standard AM broadcast band was considered to be too full to allow any meaningful increase in the number of stations. Looking to expand the number of available frequencies, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began to issue licenses to parties interested in testing the suitability of using higher transmitting frequencies between roughly 25 and 44 MHz. These stations were informally known as "Apex" stations, due to the tall height of their transmitter antennas, which were needed because coverage was primarily limited to local line-of-sight distances. These original Apex stations operated under experimental licenses, and like standard broadcasting stations used amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. [2]

In October 1937, the FCC announced a sweeping allocation of frequency assignments that included a band for Apex stations, consisting of 75 channels with 40 kHz separations, and spanning from 41.02 to 43.98 MHz. [3] In addition, in January 1938 the band's first 25 channels, from 41.02 to 41.98 MHz, were reserved for non-commercial educational stations. [4] (Although there had been stations operated by educational institutions on the standard AM band since the early 1920s, [5] there had not been a separate license classification for them.) [6]

WUKY began broadcasting on October 17, 1940 as WBKY, a 100-watt station on 42.90 MHz in Beattyville. [7] The original program director was Ruth Foxx Newborg, and from the beginning the station was owned by University of Kentucky. Its primary mission was to serve rural schools, and at its start the schedule was limited to noon to 2:00 p.m. on weekdays. [8] The station soon ran into technical and financial problems, and suspended operations after June 27, 1941. [9]

WBKY was the last of three educational station assignments granted on the Apex band. [10] At the time the Apex band was established the FCC noted that "The Commission at an early date will consider carefully the needs and requirements for high-frequency broadcast stations using both conventional [AM] modulation and frequency modulation". [3] The commission's studies soon found significant advantages to FM transmissions over the Apex AM signals, with sound quality, and especially resistance to interference from static, including from lightning, found to be far superior for FM. In May 1940, the FCC announced the creation of an FM broadcast band, effective January 1, 1941, operating on 40 channels spanning 42–50 MHz, with the first five channels reserved for educational stations. [11] This new assignment also resulted in the elimination of the Apex band, and the Apex stations were informed that they needed to either go silent or convert to FM. [12] The deadline for the switch to FM transmissions was extended for WBKY, and it continued to be authorized for amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions on 42.9 MHz until May 1, 1944. [13]

Transfer to FM

In June 1944 WBKY was issued permission to move from Beattyville to the Lexington campus of the University of Kentucky. [14] In early 1945 the station was reactivated as an FM station, [15] still transmitting at 42.9 MHz, from its current home at McVey Hall on the university campus. [16]

In July 1945 the FCC announced that, due to interference concerns, it was reallocating the current FM "low band" frequencies to other services, and existing FM band stations would be relocated to 88-106 MHz (later expanded to 108 MHz). [17] [18] WBKY began testing the transmitter for its new assignment of 91.3 MHz in June 1947, [19] although for a time it continued to also broadcast on its original 42.9 MHz frequency in order to ease the transition. In 1948 the station reported that due to the lack of listeners with FM radios, it was on the air for only 6 hours per week, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. [20]

WBKY helped create NPR, and was one of the 90 stations that carried the inaugural broadcast of All Things Considered when it debuted in 1971. On October 1, 1989 the station changed its call letters to WUKY, to better reflect its affiliation with the University of Kentucky. [21] Longtime All Things Considered host Noah Adams began his career at WBKY. The station celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2015. [22]

Related Research Articles

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FM broadcast band Radio broadcast band

The FM broadcast band is a range of radio frequencies used for FM broadcasting by radio stations. The range of frequencies used differs between different parts of the world. In Europe and Africa and in Australia and New Zealand, it spans from 87.5 to 108 megahertz (MHz) - also known as VHF Band II - while in the Americas it ranges from 88 to 108 MHz. The FM broadcast band in Japan uses 76 to 95 MHz, and in Brazil, 76 to 108 MHz. The International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT) band in Eastern Europe is from 65.9 to 74.0 MHz, although these countries now primarily use the 87.5 to 108 MHz band, as in the case of Russia. Some other countries have already discontinued the OIRT band and have changed to the 87.5 to 108 MHz band.

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WNYE (FM) Public radio station in New York City

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WILL-FM Radio station in Urbana, Illinois

WILL-FM is a public, listener-supported radio 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. Most of WILL-FM's schedule is classical music with NPR news programs heard in weekday morning and afternoon drive times. Weekends feature classical and other genres of music, including jazz and opera.

Apex radio stations was the name commonly given to a short-lived group of United States broadcasting stations, which were used to evaluate transmitting on frequencies that were much higher than the ones used by standard amplitude modulation (AM) and shortwave stations. Their name came from the tall height of their transmitter antennas, which were needed because coverage was primarily limited to local line-of-sight distances. These stations were assigned to what at the time were described as "ultra-high shortwave" frequencies, between roughly 25 and 44 MHz. They employed amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions, although in most cases using a wider bandwidth than standard broadcast band AM stations, in order to provide high fidelity sound with less static and distortion.

WHCN Radio station in Hartford, Connecticut

WHCN is a commercial classic hits radio station licensed to serve Hartford, Connecticut. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves the Greater Hartford area; the brand is a local reference to the Connecticut River. The WHCN studios and offices are located on Columbus Boulevard in Hartford; while the station's transmitter site is at West Peak State Park in nearby Meriden. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WHCN broadcasts over two HD Radio digital subchannels, and is available online via iHeartRadio.

WSM-FM was a commercial radio station that was operated by The National Life and Accident Insurance Company in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, beginning on March 1, 1941. Under its original call sign of W47NV, it was described at the time as the first fully licensed commercial FM station in the nation. However, after ten years of financial losses, the station ceased operations on March 15, 1951.

W8XWJ was a Detroit, Michigan "experimental audio broadcasting station", owned by the Detroit News, which operated from 1936 to 1940. It was classified as an Apex broadcasting station, i.e. it provided programming intended for the general public over what was then known as "ultra-high short-wave" frequencies. W8XWJ primarily broadcast unique programming, although it sometimes simulcast programs originating from co-owned AM station WWJ. In April 1940, W8XWJ was shut down, in order to be converted to a commercial FM station.

W4XA was an "experimental audio broadcasting station" operated by The National Life and Accident Insurance Company in Nashville, Tennessee from 1939 to 1940. It was part of a group of stations informally referred to as "Apex" stations, because it transmitted programming intended for the general public over what was then known as "ultra-high short-wave" frequencies. Although co-owned with AM station WSM, it primarily originated its own programs. W4XA ceased broadcasting in 1940, as station management prepared to inaugurate a new FM station, W47NV.

W2XMN was an experimental FM radio station located in Alpine, New Jersey. It was constructed beginning in 1936 by Edwin Howard Armstrong in order to promote his invention of wide-band FM broadcasting. W2XMN was the first FM station to begin regular operations, and was used to introduce FM broadcasting to the general public in the New York City area. The station, in addition to being a testing site for transmitter and receiver development, was used for propagation studies and as an over-the-air relay station for distributing network programming to other FM stations in the region.

WFMN was a commercial FM radio station located in Alpine, New Jersey. It was licensed from 1941 until around 1953 to inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong, and was co-located with two other Armstrong stations, W2XMN, and W2XEA/KE2XCC (1945-1954). However, for most of its existence WFMN was authorized for significantly lower power than the other two stations, and appears to have rarely been on the air.

WGTR was a pioneer commercial FM radio station, which was the first of two mountain-top stations established by the Yankee Network. It began regular programming, as experimental station W1XOJ, in 1939. In 1941 it was licensed for commercial operation from studios in Boston, initially with the call sign W43B, which was changed to WGTR in 1943. In 1947, its designated community of license was changed to Worcester, Massachusetts.

WMNE was a pioneer commercial FM radio station, which was the second of two mountain-top broadcasting stations established by the Yankee Network. It began regular programming, as experimental station W1XER, in December 1940. In 1941 it was licensed for commercial operation from studios in Boston, initially with the call sign W39B, which was changed to WMTW in 1943. In late 1946 the station's designated community of license was changed to Portland, Maine, and its call letters became WMNE.

WBCA was a short-lived commercial FM radio station, licensed to Schenectady, New York. The station, originally W47A, debuted on July 17, 1941, as the first "independent" commercial FM station, since it did not have an associated AM station partner. The call sign was changed to WBCA in 1943. Despite initial optimism that FM band stations would soon supplant the AM band, WBCA ceased operations in 1952 due to financial issues, largely the result of a lack of an audience with FM receivers.

WMLL was an Evansville, Indiana FM radio station, that began broadcasting, as W45V, in 1941. It was the first commercial FM station authorized in the state of Indiana. WMLL suspended operations and was deleted in 1956.

WELD was a Columbus, Ohio FM radio station, that began broadcasting, as W45CM, in 1941. It was the first commercial FM station authorized in the state of Ohio. WELD suspended operations and was deleted in 1953.

WNBF-FM was an FM radio station in Binghamton, New York, that began broadcasting, as W49BN, in 1942. It was the first commercial FM station authorized in the Southern Tier region. WNBF-FM suspended operations and was deleted in 1952.

References

  1. ↑ "Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
  2. ↑ "Enter the 'Apex' Broadcasting Station", Broadcasting, February 1, 1936, pages 51, 62.
  3. 1 2 "Upper Bands Set Aside for Television", Broadcasting, November 1, 1937, pages 60-61.
  4. ↑ "Ultra-high Waves Granted Educators", Broadcasting, February 1, 1938, page 17.
  5. ↑ "Early Stations 1920-1929", Radio in Education,1939, pages 1-7.
  6. ↑ "Introduction", Fourth Annual Report Federal Communications Commission (Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1938), page 49.
  7. ↑ "WBKY Goes On Air Waves For First Time" by Gerald Griffin, Louisville Courier-Journal, October 18, 1940, page 24.
  8. ↑ "Radio Education by Short-Wave Makes History in Kentucky", FREC Service Bulletin, February 1941, page 3.
  9. ↑ "Educational Radio's First Rural Radio Station" Public Telecommunication Review, September–October 1979.
  10. ↑ The first two Apex educational stations were WBOE (now WCLV) in Cleveland, Ohio, and WCNY (now WNYE-FM) in Brooklyn, New York.
  11. ↑ "FCC Order No. 67", Federal Register, May 25, 1940, page 2011.
  12. ↑ "FCC Order No. 69" Federal Communications Commission, May 22, 1940.
  13. ↑ "Educational Broadcasting", Independent Offices Appropriation Bill For 1946 (Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Seventy-ninth Congress), page 1080. "A3 emission" is a reference to standard AM transmissions, while "special emission" refers to FM transmissions.
  14. ↑ "University Will Establish Founders'-Day Observance", Lexington (Kentucky) Leader, April 5, 1944, page 12.
  15. ↑ "U.K.'s New FM Station On Air". (Danville) Kentucky Advocate, February 25, 1945, page 5.
  16. ↑ "Kentucky University's FM Station Now in Operation", FREC Service Bulletin, April 1945, page 3.
  17. ↑ "FCC Allocates 88-106 mc Band to FM" by Bill Bailey, Broadcasting, July 2, 1945, pages 13-14.
  18. ↑ "FCC Allocations Order Text", Broadcasting, July 2, 1945, pages 64-68.
  19. ↑ "Radio" by Bill Ladd, Louisville Courier-Journal, June 8, 1947, Section 2, page 16.
  20. ↑ FM for Education by Franklin Dunham, 1948, page 4.
  21. ↑ "History". WUKY. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  22. ↑ "WUKY Turns 75" by Tom Godell, Radio World, October 1, 2015.

Coordinates: 37°52′44″N84°19′34″W / 37.879°N 84.326°W / 37.879; -84.326

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