WETS-FM
Encyclopedia
WETS-FM is the National Public Radio member station for the Tri-Cities
region of northeast Tennessee
and southwest Virginia
. The station is operated by East Tennessee State University
as a partnership between ETSU and the station’s listeners. WETS receives a little over half of its funding from listener contributions. It also receives public funding from federal (Corporation for Public Broadcasting
) and government-funded university sources. Its studios are located on the ETSU campus in Johnson City, Tennessee
. Operating 24-hours a day, the station also has a SHOUTcast
webcast
available on its web site. The station also operates a translator in Lenoir, North Carolina
.
In addition to news and discussion programming, the station carries entertainment and music programming on the weekends, including Americana
music, featuring local music from southern Appalachia
. The programming on the news and discussion front ranges from the BBC World Service
to NPR programs such as Morning Edition
, All Things Considered
, Fresh Air
, and The Diane Rehm Show
to the Pacifica Radio
produced Democracy Now!
program. The airing of the liberal Democracy Now! program has proven to be controversial (given that northeastern Tennessee is a conservative region), resulting in a segment of listeners discontinuing their donations to WETS. However, the program has also attracted a base of local supporters, who have formed a "Democracy Now Tri-Cities" group dedicated to keeping the program on the air.
As of February 1, 2010, WETS changed its weekday format to news and information programming. Previously the station had aired classical music in the weekday mornings and evenings and Americana music in the afternoons, with a blues program ("Blue Monday") on Monday afternoons. Most weekend programming is not affected by this change. In the summer of 2011, WETS plans to begin broadcasting three HD channels with separate talk, classical, and Americana channels. WETS will be the first station in the Tricities TN/VA radio market to offer HD broadcasts.
WETS first signed on the air on February 24, 1974. The station has transmitted from a tower on Holston Mountain
since 1981, from studios located in Richard F. Ellis Hall (opened in 1988, dedicated to the station's first director in 1993) on the south side of ETSU's campus; it originally operated from a two-story frame house.
As an annual fund raiser the station presents the Little Chicago Blues Festival at the Down Home each spring.
Tri-Cities, Tennessee
In Tennessee and Virginia the name "Tri-Cities" refers to the region comprising the cities of Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol and the surrounding smaller towns and communities in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia...
region of northeast Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and southwest Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The station is operated by East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University is an accredited American university located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system of colleges and universities, the nation's sixth largest system of public education, and is the fourth largest university in the state...
as a partnership between ETSU and the station’s listeners. WETS receives a little over half of its funding from listener contributions. It also receives public funding from federal (Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress, funded by the United States’ federal government to promote public broadcasting...
) and government-funded university sources. Its studios are located on the ETSU campus in Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City is a city in Carter, Sullivan, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with most of the city being in Washington County...
. Operating 24-hours a day, the station also has a SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast is cross-platform proprietary software for streaming media over the Internet. The software, developed by Nullsoft , allows digital audio content, primarily in MP3 or HE-AAC format, to be broadcast to and from media player software, enabling the creation of Internet radio "stations"...
webcast
Webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
available on its web site. The station also operates a translator in Lenoir, North Carolina
Lenoir, North Carolina
Lenoir is a city in Caldwell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 18,228 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Caldwell County. Lenoir is located in the Blue Ridge foothills. The city also contains the Brushy Mountains, a spur of the Blue Ridge Mountains...
.
In addition to news and discussion programming, the station carries entertainment and music programming on the weekends, including Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
music, featuring local music from southern Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
. The programming on the news and discussion front ranges from the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
to NPR programs such as Morning Edition
Morning Edition
Morning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...
, All Things Considered
All Things Considered
All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
, Fresh Air
Fresh Air
Fresh Air is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States. The show is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its longtime host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 450 stations and claimed 4.5 million listeners. The show...
, and The Diane Rehm Show
The Diane Rehm Show
The Diane Rehm Show is a National Public Radio call-in show based in the United States. In October, 2007, The Diane Rehm Show was named to Audience Research Analysis’ list of the top ten most powerful national programs in public radio – the only talk show on the list...
to the Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
produced Democracy Now!
Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
program. The airing of the liberal Democracy Now! program has proven to be controversial (given that northeastern Tennessee is a conservative region), resulting in a segment of listeners discontinuing their donations to WETS. However, the program has also attracted a base of local supporters, who have formed a "Democracy Now Tri-Cities" group dedicated to keeping the program on the air.
As of February 1, 2010, WETS changed its weekday format to news and information programming. Previously the station had aired classical music in the weekday mornings and evenings and Americana music in the afternoons, with a blues program ("Blue Monday") on Monday afternoons. Most weekend programming is not affected by this change. In the summer of 2011, WETS plans to begin broadcasting three HD channels with separate talk, classical, and Americana channels. WETS will be the first station in the Tricities TN/VA radio market to offer HD broadcasts.
WETS first signed on the air on February 24, 1974. The station has transmitted from a tower on Holston Mountain
Holston Mountain
Holston Mountain is a mountain ridge in Upper East Tennessee and southwest Virginia, in the United States. It is in the Blue Ridge Mountains part of the Appalachian Mountains...
since 1981, from studios located in Richard F. Ellis Hall (opened in 1988, dedicated to the station's first director in 1993) on the south side of ETSU's campus; it originally operated from a two-story frame house.
As an annual fund raiser the station presents the Little Chicago Blues Festival at the Down Home each spring.