WIUS
Encyclopedia
WIUS is a 120 watt student operated campus radio
station in Macomb, Illinois
, in west-central Illinois
. The station is run by Western Illinois University
and is authorized by the Federal Communications Commission
.
The call letters "WIUS" (not-FCC authorized or granted) were used by student-run carrier current 620 AM and cable 95.1 FM stereo, a radio station at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. In 1994, this station became an over-the-air broadcast station known as WIUS AM 1570, and also continued to broadcast FM on cable. http://www.bloomingpedia.org/wiki/WIUS Then in 2006, WIUS AM switched to an FCC authorized FM station changing its call letters to WIUX
FM, required of course by the FCC, so as not to be confused with WIUS 88.3 FM at WIU in Illinois. Originally broadcasting on 100.3 FM, WIUX
FM now broadcasts on 99.1 FM from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.
]
Campus radio
Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the radio station is based...
station in Macomb, Illinois
Macomb, Illinois
Macomb is a city in and the county seat of McDonough County, Illinois, United States. It is situated in western Illinois southwest of Galesburg. The population was 18,588 at the 2000 census. Macomb is the home of Western Illinois University.- Geography :...
, in west-central Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. The station is run by Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University is a public university founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. Like many similar institutions of the time, Western Illinois State Normal School focused on teacher training for its relatively small body of students. As the normal school grew, it became...
and is authorized by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
.
The call letters "WIUS" (not-FCC authorized or granted) were used by student-run carrier current 620 AM and cable 95.1 FM stereo, a radio station at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. In 1994, this station became an over-the-air broadcast station known as WIUS AM 1570, and also continued to broadcast FM on cable. http://www.bloomingpedia.org/wiki/WIUS Then in 2006, WIUS AM switched to an FCC authorized FM station changing its call letters to WIUX
WIUX
WIUX-LP is a student-operated low power FM college radio station in Bloomington, Indiana, in southern Indiana. The station licensee, Indiana University Student Broadcasting is authorized by the Federal Communications Commission.-Operation:...
FM, required of course by the FCC, so as not to be confused with WIUS 88.3 FM at WIU in Illinois. Originally broadcasting on 100.3 FM, WIUX
WIUX
WIUX-LP is a student-operated low power FM college radio station in Bloomington, Indiana, in southern Indiana. The station licensee, Indiana University Student Broadcasting is authorized by the Federal Communications Commission.-Operation:...
FM now broadcasts on 99.1 FM from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.
History
- 1956 - WWKS (named for William Kimbrough Shake, who installed the equipment), signs on at 3,000 watts. The station broadcasts educational programming aimed primarily at K-12 audiences from Tillman Hall (the "new science building") at Western Illinois University.
- 1962 - WWKS moves to "the new library" - Memorial Hall, which will remain its home for the next 40 years. The station's sole full-time employee throughout the decade is Elmer "Tug" Haddock, who acts as General Manager and provides oversight of volunteer student announcers. The station’s transmitter is installed in Sallee Hall and 250 feet (76.2 m) tower was erected between Memorial and Sallee Halls.
- 1962 to 1992 - For the next thirty years, WWKS / WIUM-FM divides its broadcast schedule between instructional, educational, public affairs and student programming.
- 1970 - WWKS becomes WIUM. WIUM is best known, in the 1970s, for its program Wax Museum, which was broadcast each Sunday night from 9:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.. This show featured popular music prior to 1971.
]
- 1970 to 1982 - WHEN, a non-profit carrier currentCarrier currentCarrier current is a method of low power AM radio transmission that uses the AC electrical system of a building to propagate a medium frequency, AM signal to a relatively small area, such as a building or a group of buildings...
student station on 560 kHz AM, operates from the basement of Henninger Hall. The programming was strictly rock music (e.g. progressive, alternative, album-oriented). The station was occasionally funded through Residence Hall and Student Activities fees during this period. While largely a carrier-current station heard in the residence halls, the station was an early cable radio station in some WIU campus buildings (late 1970s). Gary Wills served as general manager in 1977.
- 1981 - WIUM-FM relocates its transmitter to the new 500 feet (152.4 m) tower at Western Illinois University's Horn Campus, south of Macomb. This tower was constructed for a Public Broadcasting ServicePublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(PBS) Public television station (WMECNetwork KnowledgeNetwork Knowledge is a group of three Public Broadcasting Service stations in central and western Illinois. Until October 13, 2004, it used the brand name Convocom...
, originally WIUM-TV) to serve west-central Illinois, now known as WMECNetwork KnowledgeNetwork Knowledge is a group of three Public Broadcasting Service stations in central and western Illinois. Until October 13, 2004, it used the brand name Convocom...
. This same year, WIU submitted a construction permit to FCC for a full-time student-operated FM broadcast radio station, WIUS. The original 250 feet (76.2 m) tower for WIUM adjacent to Sallee Hall was dismantled in the following years.
- 1982 - WIUMWIUMWIUM is a 50,000-watt radio station in Macomb, Illinois, in west-central Illinois. Western Illinois University is the station licensee, authorized by the Federal Communications Commission.-Mission:...
qualifies for Corporation for Public Broadcasting support and becomes a member station of National Public Radio (NPR).
- 1982 - WIUS-FM is born as a second FM broadcast station and signs on at 88.3 FM, coinciding with the change of WIUM programming to NPR. The station's first Program Director was Mark S. Allen. (WIU '86). Mark suggested the original theme for the station when it went "on-air" in 1982 "The Station With Everything For Everybody".
- August 1999 - Music Director Brandon Luttman changes the station's moniker to "The Dog" (in reference to Rocky, the mascot for the WIU Leathernecks) and creates a split format that features an Alternative Rock format during the week and an Urban Contemporary format on the weekends.
- Fall 2006 - WIUS starts live streaming audio via the Internet
- 2006 - WIUS continues to be operated and programmed by WIU students, now in the Department of Broadcasting at Sallee Hall.
- September 2006 - WIUS celebrates its 25th anniversary "on-the-air" at WIU.
- August 2007 - WIUS launches a brand new automation system, vastly improving the station's on air sound, and streamlining the movement to an all-digital media radio station.