WRFL
Encyclopedia
WRFL is a 7900-watt college radio station that broadcasts 24 hours from the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...

 campus in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

 at 88.1 MHz on the FM radio band. WRFL has been on constantly (with rare interruptions due to power loss or other technical failures) since 1988 without any automation
Automation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...

.

WRFL is run by an all-volunteer staff of University of Kentucky students (some board shifts worked by Lexington residents) and features an open-ended scope of formats. Music is strictly "alternative", defined as material that would not be heard through other outlets, as mandated by the station's license and ethos.

Broadcasting began in 1988 using a 250-watt tower. In 2007, 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...

 (FCC) approved the station for an upgrade to 7,900 watts, which increased its terrestrial broadcast considerably (former propagation, current propagation). To finance the cost of a new tower and transmitter, the station ran a fund raising campaign titled, "Build the Tower, Boost the Power". In May 2010, the old 250-watt tower was dismantled and the new 7900-watt tower was installed in its place.

The station has ties to the noise music
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...

 community as several of its current and former DJs are members of bands such as Hair Police
Hair Police
Hair Police is an American psychedelic noise band based out of Lexington, Kentucky formed in 2001. They have released records through labels such as Troubleman Unlimited, Hanson Records, Gods of Tundra, Freedom From, and Hospital Productions...

 and Wolf Eyes
Wolf Eyes
Wolf Eyes is a post-industrial/noise band from Detroit, Michigan, United States.-History:Wolf Eyes began as a solo project of former Nautical Almanac member Nate Young, with Aaron Dilloway joining in 1998, and John Olson in 2000...

. The station is thanked in the liner notes of recent Apples in Stereo albums, and has ties to the Elephant Six Collective.

WRFL also features student-produced and syndicated progressive news programs, student-produced sports programs, and highlights local and unheard artists. WRFL also has a commitment to public affairs and the community. The Gavin Report
Gavin Report
The Gavin Report was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs...

listed WRFL in the top 2% of college radio stations in the nation.

WRFL is known as "Radio Free Lexington" and provides a high-quality online stream. One motto of WRFL is "revolutions don't happen between commercial breaks". Another motto of the station is "All the way to the left", referring to the position of its frequency on an analog radio dial as well as a liberal tie-in.

WRFL has many tongue-in-cheek slogans, many of which allude to its broadcast frequency on the leftmost portion of the dial. Examples include:
  • Revolutions don't happen between commercial breaks
  • All the way to the left
  • The only alternative left
  • Our website rarely works

External links

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