WIUX
Encyclopedia
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
.
. There are no paid employees or faculty supervisors.
]
was granting the 100.3 mHz frequency to a Class A FM radio station in Edinburgh, Indiana
, taking over the frequency WIUX had been granted only the previous year. Because the Indiana University student-based station operates as a Low Power station, the FCC maintains that it has the right to move the station or remove it from the air. Indiana University filed a petition against the move. The Dean of Students and Vice President of Student Affairs at Indiana University, Richard McKaig, states in the official petition (available through the WIUX website): "The Indiana frequency did not appear on the Commission’s internet site or on a public notice until after the comment reply date of June 13, 2006 deadline. As a result, we did not have a fair chance to file public comments." On November 6, both Indiana senators, Evan Bayh (Dem) and Richard Lugar (Rep), wrote petitions of support for WIUX to the FCC.
On June 4, 2007 WIUX moved from 100.3 FM to 99.1 FM.
radio format
college radio station. It features music of different genres, news, sports, and talk programming.
Woodie Award for best college radio station in America.
The festival also tends feature a number of Bloomington local bands such as The Delicious, Rodeo Ruby Love, and Found Objects.
Girl Talk
- October 22, 2009
Ben Kweller
- November 13, 2010
Chad Urmston
- April 9, 2011
- The originator of the Batman
movies and the first individual to teach a comic book folklore class at an accredited university.
Low-power broadcasting
Low-power broadcasting is electronic broadcasting at very low power and low cost, to a small community area.The terms "low-power broadcasting" and "micropower broadcasting" should not be used interchangeably, because the markets are not the same...
college radio station in Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
, in southern Indiana
Southern Indiana
Southern Indiana, in the United States, consists of the 33 counties located in the southernmost part of the state. The region's history and geography has led to a blend of Northern and Southern culture distinct from the remainder of Indiana. It is often considered to be part of the Upland South...
. The station licensee, Indiana University Student Broadcasting 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...
.
Operation
WIUX is competely operated by student volunteers currently enrolled at Indiana UniversityIndiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
. There are no paid employees or faculty supervisors.
History
- 1962 - WQAD, a 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...
AM radio station was founded in Wright QuadrangleWright QuadrangleWright Quadrangle is one of the eleven undergraduate dormitories of the Bloomington campus of Indiana University. It is located at the intersection of North Jordan Avenue and Tenth Street. Its campus address is 501 North Jordan Avenue, Bloomington, Indiana, 47406.The dormitory is named after Joseph...
at Indiana University, with a frequency of 730 kHz. The studios were originally in Todd House (through the odd entryway on the south side of Todd) and later in Elliott House (in the basement storage area, off the lounge area). WQAD beamed its programming to Wright QuadrangleWright QuadrangleWright Quadrangle is one of the eleven undergraduate dormitories of the Bloomington campus of Indiana University. It is located at the intersection of North Jordan Avenue and Tenth Street. Its campus address is 501 North Jordan Avenue, Bloomington, Indiana, 47406.The dormitory is named after Joseph...
, Teter Quadrangle, Read Center, Forest Quadrangle and what was then known as the Graduate Residence Center or GRC. As a note, at the time of WQAD, WrightWright QuadrangleWright Quadrangle is one of the eleven undergraduate dormitories of the Bloomington campus of Indiana University. It is located at the intersection of North Jordan Avenue and Tenth Street. Its campus address is 501 North Jordan Avenue, Bloomington, Indiana, 47406.The dormitory is named after Joseph...
housed only men.
- 1964 - WFQR Radio, also a carrier current AM radio station, was founded in Foster Quadrangle; the call letters stood for "Foster Quadrangle Radio." Its programming was beamed to the dormitories along Fee Lane, including Foster, McNutt and Briscoe Quadrangles.
- 1965 - WFQR Radio changed its call letters to WIN, and continued to operate from Foster Quadrangle.
- 1966 - Phil Murphy formed the Indiana University Radio Network (IURN) to combine sales for both student stations. At times during the 1966-67 school year, each station originated a "network feed" which was sent to the carrier current transmitters of all wired student housing. At other times for this final school year, WIN and WQAD maintained separate programming.
- September 1967 - The two stations merge to form WIUS Radio, still strictly a carrier current operation. It was supposed to be at 620 kHz in all student housing, but until the end of carrier current operations, some transmitters continued to operate at 730 kHz. The original WIUS studios were located at 617 E. 8th St., today the site of Mathers Museum. The building, a two-story brick house, once belonged to a Bloomington mayor and to legendary Indiana University swimming coach James "Doc" Counsilman. All IU undergraduate dormitories are wired, and an ambitious plan to wire graduate housing and IU fraternities and sororities is unveiled; little of this plan is ever accomplished.
- October 10, 1972 - On the first day of National Fire Prevention Week, a pre-dawn fire destroyed the original WIUS studios. The fire was arson, set in at least two locations, the sales office at the front of the building and the administrative offices in the rear; the person or persons responsible have never been arrested. For one week, WIUS programming aired from a spare studio of the Indiana University Radio and Television Service. WIUS then relocated until Spring Break of 1973 to the old Elliott House WQAD studios, using salvaged and borrowed equipment, records that survived the fire and records from student DJ collections.
- March 1973 - WIUS moves over spring break from Elliott House into the current student radio house at 815 E. 8th St., two blocks from the previous WIUS house.
- September 1973 - The IU Student Broadcast Corporation, a not-for-profit student corporation, creates a new radio station, WQAX, partly out of frustrated efforts to get WIUS onto the off-campus cable TV system; the attitude of one IU administrator towards the idea was quoted at the time as "Students shouldn't be talking to townspeople." Many of the first WQAX programmers were former WIUS members, and the two stations maintained a friendly rivalry as WIUS finally gained access to its own cable FM frequency.
- Spring 1974 - In addition to carrier current, WIUS begins to air its programming on the local Blooomington, Ind., cable TV system, then owned by Monroe Cablevision, at 95.1 mHz. Broadcasts to IU dormitories and a select number of fraternities and sororities (notably Alpha Epsilon PiAlpha Epsilon PiAlpha Epsilon Pi , the Global Jewish college fraternity, has 155 active chapters in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Israel with a membership of over 9,000 undergraduates...
, Evans Scholars and the houses surrounding them) remained carrier current, although after 1977 the carrier current system was allowed to deteriorate and reception was often spotty or absent in certain dormitories. It wasn't until the late 1980s that the IU dormitories would be wired for cable; as soon as they were, WIUS became exclusively cable-accessible.
- 1973 to 1993 - WQAX, identified on-air as "Quacks," was a college/community access radio station at 100.3 MHz (non-broadcast) on the local cable TV system in Bloomington, Ind. The station was free-form and volunteer-driven. It offered Indiana University students, wanna-be DJs, music maniacs, and local eccentrics a way to learn about radio. And it added, for a defined period of time, a yet-to-be duplicated brand of insanity to the local landscape. Originally operating from an office in the Indiana Memorial Union, supplied by the IU Student Association, which assisted in its founding as an alternative to the then-tightly formatted contemporary hit rock WIUS programming, WQAX studios moved several times during its 20-year life.
- 1985 - After several years of sometimes sproadic broadcasts and funding so bad that portions of the WIUS House were rented out as student apartments, a group of students dedicated to IU radio formed a committee to search out money for WIUS—and with the university's help they provided funding to help improve the station. This funding lasted until the end of the decade.
- 1993 - WQAX was forced to close for want of money (or, some have maintained, taken an extended hiatus). Most of its music library and equipment were dispersed. Its members, who over the years numbered in the hundreds, likewise scattered.
- 1994 - WIUS was allowed a portion of the student activity fee for each of the following two school years. This funding allowed WIUS to further its evolution, and it added open-air AM broadcasts beginning October 3, from a low-power transmitter, identical to those used for roadside traffic reports in any cities, atop the Indiana University Library, broadcasting to an approximately three-mile radius at 1570 kHz, while maintaining its cable FM presence. This transmitter will remain in place until January 2006.
- 1998 - WIUS stayed with the information technology boom by adding a Real Audio server to their existing website. This served as a new way for alumni and parents, as well as other people outside of the Bloomington area to listen to WIUS. The amount of increased interest allowed WIUS to make a partnership with Nibblebox.com to help broaden the server and increase the amount of users to the Real Audio link.
- 2004 – An application for a student-operated FM radio license is submitted to the FCC. The FCC delays granting a low-power FM license to WIUS because of another application in the Bloomington area.
- March 2005 - After settling the debate in court, the FCC grants the permit to WIUS and assigns the operating frequency of 100.3 MHz, identical to the former WQAX cable access station. The move to an FCC licensed broadcast FM station, however means that the station will need to change its call letters. Since 1981, WIUSWIUSWIUS 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....
-FM has operated as the FCC-licensed, student-operated FM station at Western Illinois University. The selection of WIUX as the new call sign (usage of the "X") is a small tribute to the former WQAX, its Indiana student staff (now alumni), and the Bloomington area that it served.
- 2006 - WIUX is born and signs on (over the air) at 100.3 FM, operated and programmed by IU students,
- June 2007 - WIUX moves to 99.1 FM after the FCC awarded the 100.3 FM frequency to WYGB in Columbus, Ind.
FCC/Right to Broadcast Controversy
On October 31, 2006, WIUX announced on its website that the Federal Communications CommissionFederal 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...
was granting the 100.3 mHz frequency to a Class A FM radio station in Edinburgh, Indiana
Edinburgh, Indiana
Edinburgh is a town in Bartholomew, Johnson, and Shelby Counties in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 4,480 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbus, Indiana metropolitan statistical area. Edinburgh was named in honor of Edinburgh, Scotland and for many years was pronounced the...
, taking over the frequency WIUX had been granted only the previous year. Because the Indiana University student-based station operates as a Low Power station, the FCC maintains that it has the right to move the station or remove it from the air. Indiana University filed a petition against the move. The Dean of Students and Vice President of Student Affairs at Indiana University, Richard McKaig, states in the official petition (available through the WIUX website): "The Indiana frequency did not appear on the Commission’s internet site or on a public notice until after the comment reply date of June 13, 2006 deadline. As a result, we did not have a fair chance to file public comments." On November 6, both Indiana senators, Evan Bayh (Dem) and Richard Lugar (Rep), wrote petitions of support for WIUX to the FCC.
On June 4, 2007 WIUX moved from 100.3 FM to 99.1 FM.
Radio Format
WIUX is a varietyVariety (radio)
The term variety as a radio format is loosely defined as a format that plays music across numerous genera.Freeform variety is associated with a wide range of programming including talk, sports, and music from a wide spectrum. This format is usually found on smaller, non-commercial...
radio format
Radio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
college radio station. It features music of different genres, news, sports, and talk programming.
Awards
In fall 2009, WIUX was nominated for the mtvUMtvU
mtvU is a division of Viacom's MTV Networks which produces a 24-hour television channel that is available on more than 750 college and university campuses across the United States, as well as several digital cable packages...
Woodie Award for best college radio station in America.
Culture Shock
Culture Shock is a free yearly festival held in Dunn Meadow by WIUX on the campus of Indiana University. It occurs in the spring typically in the month of April. Past headliners have included Best Coast, Destroyer, Four Tet, Beach House, The Dodos, Xiu Xiu, and Sunset Rubdown.The festival also tends feature a number of Bloomington local bands such as The Delicious, Rodeo Ruby Love, and Found Objects.
Notable Studio Guests
Matt & Kim - November 17, 2008Girl Talk
Girl Talk (musician)
Gregg Michael Gillis , better known by his stage name Girl Talk, is an American musician specializing in mashups and digital sampling. Gillis has released five LPs on the record label Illegal Art and EPs on 333 and 12 Apostles....
- October 22, 2009
Ben Kweller
Ben Kweller
Ben Kweller is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.-Early life:Ben Kweller was born in San Francisco, CA in 1981. In 1982, his family relocated to Emory, Texas, where his father, Howard Kweller, became the town's first doctor. In 1986, the Kwellers moved to a much larger city,...
- November 13, 2010
Chad Urmston
Chad Urmston
Chad Stokes Urmston is an American musician. Urmston was a member of the band Hermit Thrush which later gave birth to the band Dispatch. He is the frontman for the Sherborn, Massachusetts-area band State Radio, as well as a constant activist for improved living conditions in Zimbabwe...
- April 9, 2011
Notable Alumni
Michael UslanMichael Uslan
Michael E. Uslan is the originator of the Batman movies and was the first instructor to teach "Comic Book Folklore" at an accredited university...
- The originator of the Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
movies and the first individual to teach a comic book folklore class at an accredited university.
External links
- NewsInfo.UI.edu, Herald-Times story about new station
- WQAXproject.org, History of WQAX
- AngelFire.com, The Walking Ruins WQAX
- IDSnews.com, Indiana Senators Support IU's WIUX