WFIT
Encyclopedia
WFIT is a National Public Radio member station serving the Space Coast
. Programming and broadcast originate at Florida Institute of Technology's Roberts Hall in Melbourne, Florida
.
(Florida Tech) launched its noncommercial educational radio station, WFIT, a student-run college radio station. In the 1980s, WFIT was regarded as one of the top alternative music college radio stations in the country. Its programming included Alternative Rock
, Punk Rock
, Hardcore
, Post-punk
, New Wave
, Synthpop
, Classical
, Jazz
, Reggae
, Blues
and Funk
. In the early 1980s the station promoted itself as "The New Music Leader."
In 1985, there were about 65 volunteers involved in running the station, of which approximately 40 percent were FIT students.
In 1986, WFIT applied to the FCC to increase its transmitter power to 20,000 watts, but was denied.The same year, its transmitter was stolen.
In 1990 there were 80 people on staff, including 49 DJs.
In March 1993 WFIT dropped its daytime alternative rock format for in favor of a contemporary jazz sound similar to that heard on WLOQ-FM (103.1) in Winter Park. The change spurred detractors to refer to the new WFIT as "Melbourne's Muzak Leader." It also began programming public radio news shows, as well as a variety of other culturally diverse music and educational programs. This same year, the station was interconnected with the public radio satellite system, and two years later, WFIT became an affiliate of National Public Radio.
In 1998 an FCC approved power increase to 8 kilowatts extended the station’s signal to include more Brevard County listeners, reaching north to Cocoa
and Cocoa Beach, as well as south to Vero Beach in Indian River County. Automated equipment has enabled the station to broadcast twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, maximizing the range of audiences served. The station also broadcasts to a national and international audience through audio-streaming on the web-www.wfit.org. WFIT upgraded its transmitter in 2004 and became the first radio station in Brevard County to broadcast in HD Radio
. WFIT's programming is also streamed worldwide via the web at wfit.org.
WFIT's evening and weekend programming includes a blend of Blues, Folk, Classical, Straight Ahead Jazz, Roots Reggae, Celtic, New Age, World Beat, science and education, and community affairs.
WFIT is funded in part by individual memberships, corporate underwriting, state and local grants, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
and Florida Institute of Technology
.
Space Coast
The Space Coast is a region in the U.S. state of Florida around Kennedy Space Center , where NASA launched space shuttles until the last one on July 8th, 2011 at 11:29am; and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, site of unmanned civilian and military space launches...
. Programming and broadcast originate at Florida Institute of Technology's Roberts Hall in Melbourne, Florida
Melbourne, Florida
Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of 2009, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 78,323. The municipal area is the second largest by size and by population in the county. Melbourne is a principal city of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, Florida...
.
History
In April of 1975, Florida Institute of TechnologyFlorida Institute of Technology
Florida Institute of Technology, also known as Florida Tech, is an independent private technical research university located in Melbourne, Florida, United States. Founded in 1958 as Brevard Engineering College, the institute has been known by its present name since 1966. Florida Tech's curriculum...
(Florida Tech) launched its noncommercial educational radio station, WFIT, a student-run college radio station. In the 1980s, WFIT was regarded as one of the top alternative music college radio stations in the country. Its programming included Alternative Rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, Punk Rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, Hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
, Post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
, New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, Synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
, Classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, Blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and Funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
. In the early 1980s the station promoted itself as "The New Music Leader."
In 1985, there were about 65 volunteers involved in running the station, of which approximately 40 percent were FIT students.
In 1986, WFIT applied to the FCC to increase its transmitter power to 20,000 watts, but was denied.The same year, its transmitter was stolen.
In 1990 there were 80 people on staff, including 49 DJs.
In March 1993 WFIT dropped its daytime alternative rock format for in favor of a contemporary jazz sound similar to that heard on WLOQ-FM (103.1) in Winter Park. The change spurred detractors to refer to the new WFIT as "Melbourne's Muzak Leader." It also began programming public radio news shows, as well as a variety of other culturally diverse music and educational programs. This same year, the station was interconnected with the public radio satellite system, and two years later, WFIT became an affiliate of National Public Radio.
In 1998 an FCC approved power increase to 8 kilowatts extended the station’s signal to include more Brevard County listeners, reaching north to Cocoa
Cocoa
Cocoa bean is the dried and fully fermented fatty seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter are extracted...
and Cocoa Beach, as well as south to Vero Beach in Indian River County. Automated equipment has enabled the station to broadcast twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, maximizing the range of audiences served. The station also broadcasts to a national and international audience through audio-streaming on the web-www.wfit.org. WFIT upgraded its transmitter in 2004 and became the first radio station in Brevard County to broadcast in HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
. WFIT's programming is also streamed worldwide via the web at wfit.org.
Programming
WFIT's current daytime programming is a mix of “Triple A” (Adult Album Alternative) music. WFIT broadcasts a wide mix of programs including Folk and Bluegrass, Celtic Tapestry, Sancocho Latino, Rumba Jazz, The Parent’s Journal, Tech Nation, On Point and American Variety.WFIT's evening and weekend programming includes a blend of Blues, Folk, Classical, Straight Ahead Jazz, Roots Reggae, Celtic, New Age, World Beat, science and education, and community affairs.
Community Involvement
WFIT's D.J.s are community volunteers. WFIT sponsors concerts throughout the community featuring both local musicians and national acts.WFIT is funded in part by individual memberships, corporate underwriting, state and local grants, the 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 Florida Institute of Technology
Florida Institute of Technology
Florida Institute of Technology, also known as Florida Tech, is an independent private technical research university located in Melbourne, Florida, United States. Founded in 1958 as Brevard Engineering College, the institute has been known by its present name since 1966. Florida Tech's curriculum...
.