WPGU
Encyclopedia
WPGU 107.1 is the fully commercial student-run College radio station located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
. It is operational 24-7, broadcasting alternative
music and other programming throughout Champaign
-Urbana
and surrounding communities. It is owned by the Illini Media Company
.
newspaper, Technograph engineering journal, Illio yearbook) moved to a new building at 512 E. Green Street, Champaign.
WPGU began as an experimental radio station by engineering students at the University of Illinois. It was not broadcast, but aired via carrier AM
into the dorms. If you had a radio plugged into an electrical outlet, WPGU showed up on 640 AM. After an initial technical problem, WPGU went "on the air" on December 7, 1953, for three hours. It played an hour of jazz, an hour of classical music and an hour of news. WPGU joined the then Illini Publishing Company in 1964 and procured an FCC license for FM broadcasting. FM broadcasting began on April 17, 1967. WPGU began broadcasting in stereo in 1972 (at 6:00pm on April 16, 1972), and the first song broadcast in stereo was "Volunteers" by Jefferson Airplane
. In 1973 the station began broadcasting 24 hours a day.
Carrier AM broadcasts were continued by WDBS, a training station for budding WPGU on air personalities. When cable came to Champaign-Urbana, the company agreed to broadcast WDBS on FM 101 for dorm radios that had a special cable hookup. FM cablecasts began on October 8, 1982, and continued until 1992.
WPGU has had many slogans through the years. It was "Full Service Radio" in the early 1960s, "Progressive Rock" and "The Sound of the Seventies" in the 1970s and "Champaign-Urbana's Home of Rock and Roll", "The Rock of the '80's" and "The Radio Station" in the 1980s. The on-air personalities prided themselves in playing progressive rock, often left to their own devices to play anything from heavy metal to punk rock in the same day. WPGU-FM was once known, during the heyday of the alternative
/grunge
music genre in the 1990s, as "Champaign-Urbana's Modern Rock, 107.1, The Planet". It has since reverted back to "WPGU". It has had various yearly slogans including: 'Whether You Insist on the Twist or Strings are Your Things, WPGU for You' (1963), 'The Radio Station' (1974), 'No Pinhead Radio' (1988), 'Twenty Five Years and Still Rockin' (1992), 'Either You Rock or You [CENSORED]' (1993), 'No Rules Radio' (2004), 'Your True Alternative' (2007), and 'Champaign's Alternative' (2011).
WPGU's hourly playlists are archived and available in real time, and the radio station is also streamed live online.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. It is operational 24-7, broadcasting alternative
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...
music and other programming throughout Champaign
Champaign, Illinois
Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of...
-Urbana
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
and surrounding communities. It is owned by the Illini Media Company
Illini Media
The Illini Media Company is a non-profit corporation that owns several student-run media outlets associated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: the general newspaper the Daily Illini, entertainment paper Buzz, local entertainment website The217.com, engineering quarterly...
.
History
WPGU is named for the "Parade Ground Units", where the station was originally located. When the Parade Ground Units were demolished in the early 1960s to make room for the "six pack" dorms, WPGU moved into the basement of Weston Hall. It remained there until 1995, when the station moved off-campus to 52 E. Green Street. In 2006, WPGU along with the other Illini Media outlets (Daily IlliniDaily Illini
The Daily Illini, commonly known as the DI, is an independent, student-run newspaper that has been published for the community of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1871...
newspaper, Technograph engineering journal, Illio yearbook) moved to a new building at 512 E. Green Street, Champaign.
WPGU began as an experimental radio station by engineering students at the University of Illinois. It was not broadcast, but aired via carrier AM
Carrier current
Carrier 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...
into the dorms. If you had a radio plugged into an electrical outlet, WPGU showed up on 640 AM. After an initial technical problem, WPGU went "on the air" on December 7, 1953, for three hours. It played an hour of jazz, an hour of classical music and an hour of news. WPGU joined the then Illini Publishing Company in 1964 and procured an FCC license for FM broadcasting. FM broadcasting began on April 17, 1967. WPGU began broadcasting in stereo in 1972 (at 6:00pm on April 16, 1972), and the first song broadcast in stereo was "Volunteers" by Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
. In 1973 the station began broadcasting 24 hours a day.
Carrier AM broadcasts were continued by WDBS, a training station for budding WPGU on air personalities. When cable came to Champaign-Urbana, the company agreed to broadcast WDBS on FM 101 for dorm radios that had a special cable hookup. FM cablecasts began on October 8, 1982, and continued until 1992.
WPGU has had many slogans through the years. It was "Full Service Radio" in the early 1960s, "Progressive Rock" and "The Sound of the Seventies" in the 1970s and "Champaign-Urbana's Home of Rock and Roll", "The Rock of the '80's" and "The Radio Station" in the 1980s. The on-air personalities prided themselves in playing progressive rock, often left to their own devices to play anything from heavy metal to punk rock in the same day. WPGU-FM was once known, during the heyday of the alternative
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...
/grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
music genre in the 1990s, as "Champaign-Urbana's Modern Rock, 107.1, The Planet". It has since reverted back to "WPGU". It has had various yearly slogans including: 'Whether You Insist on the Twist or Strings are Your Things, WPGU for You' (1963), 'The Radio Station' (1974), 'No Pinhead Radio' (1988), 'Twenty Five Years and Still Rockin' (1992), 'Either You Rock or You [CENSORED]' (1993), 'No Rules Radio' (2004), 'Your True Alternative' (2007), and 'Champaign's Alternative' (2011).
Expansion to the Web
In late 2007, WPGU joined with weekly entertainment magazine, the buzz, to create the217.com, a fusion of local and national music and entertainment news targeted at the Champaign-Urbana area. Both entities' websites were merged into one larger site containing articles, a searchable index containing every artist WPGU plays, a local events calendar, and a business directory.WPGU's hourly playlists are archived and available in real time, and the radio station is also streamed live online.