WRST-FM
Encyclopedia
WRST-FM licensed to Oshkosh, Wisconsin
, is the student managed radio station
located at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh.
"Monday, Monday". Doctor Robert "Doc" Snyder was hired by the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh in 1964 to start a broadcast media program and as part of his duties he established a radio and TV station (Titan TV).
WRST's call letters stand for "Radio Station of the Titans". However, some rumors around campus suggest that the call letters stand for "Robert Snyder's Toy", after the stations creator. Originally the call letters were supposed to be WSUO "Wisconsin State University Oshkosh" to be consistent with other state university radio stations, but those call letters were already taken and WRST was chosen.
The Fuller Goodman Lumber Company served as the station's first studios. An antenna was located on the roof of the Gruenhagen Conference Center. In 1971, production and transmission was moved to the Arts and Communication center and the signal frequency changed from 88.1 FM to 90.3 FM.
In 1992, Director of Radio Services Ben Jarman established an affiliation with the Wisconsin Public Radio Ideas Network. This was done to cover programming during the hours students are in class and over breaks from the academic year when staffing became a problem at WRST. The affiliation continues to this date.
On April 5, 2005, at 2:08pm WRST began streaming
locally produced programming online. The original stream and streaming server were set up by Joshua Werner.
In 2006, WRST celebrated its 40th anniversary with a week of celebration. Also in 2006 WRST completed a studio demolition and remodel to make the studios fully ADA compliant.
Future plans are to bring more studio equipment up to date in the production studios, to add automation software to better train students for work at other stations and to add an IBOC digital radio
transmitter to start broadcasting in high definition.
Programming from Wisconsin Public Radio runs from 5am until 3pm most days of the week with locally produced student programming on the air the rest of the time. Student programming consists of anything alternative such as jazz, blues, reggae, new rock, rap, metal, electronic, punk, etc. WRST also strongly covers UW–Oshkosh Titans sports events and has a strong news department that covers campus and community events.
Since 1989, Sociology professor Dr. Gerry Grzyb has been hosting a yearly Christmas music program on WRST the week after the fall semester concludes in December. The show started in 1989 and is proclaimed the most diverse Christmas music program in America. On air Grzyb goes by the name "Dr. Christmas."
On a yearly basis many students enter statewide and nationwide competitions and win many awards.
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
As of the census of 2000, there were 62,916 people, 24,082 households, and 13,654 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,662.2 people per square mile . There were 25,420 housing units at an average density of 1,075.6 per square mile...
, is the student managed radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
located at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh.
History
WRST started programming on April 20, 1966 at 6pm. Originally located at 88.1FM with 10 watts of power, WRST was only on the air for four hours each week night. The first song played on WRST was The Mamas & the PapasThe Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
"Monday, Monday". Doctor Robert "Doc" Snyder was hired by the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh in 1964 to start a broadcast media program and as part of his duties he established a radio and TV station (Titan TV).
WRST's call letters stand for "Radio Station of the Titans". However, some rumors around campus suggest that the call letters stand for "Robert Snyder's Toy", after the stations creator. Originally the call letters were supposed to be WSUO "Wisconsin State University Oshkosh" to be consistent with other state university radio stations, but those call letters were already taken and WRST was chosen.
The Fuller Goodman Lumber Company served as the station's first studios. An antenna was located on the roof of the Gruenhagen Conference Center. In 1971, production and transmission was moved to the Arts and Communication center and the signal frequency changed from 88.1 FM to 90.3 FM.
In 1992, Director of Radio Services Ben Jarman established an affiliation with the Wisconsin Public Radio Ideas Network. This was done to cover programming during the hours students are in class and over breaks from the academic year when staffing became a problem at WRST. The affiliation continues to this date.
On April 5, 2005, at 2:08pm WRST began streaming
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
locally produced programming online. The original stream and streaming server were set up by Joshua Werner.
In 2006, WRST celebrated its 40th anniversary with a week of celebration. Also in 2006 WRST completed a studio demolition and remodel to make the studios fully ADA compliant.
Future plans are to bring more studio equipment up to date in the production studios, to add automation software to better train students for work at other stations and to add an IBOC digital radio
Digital radio
Digital radio has several meanings:1. Today the most common meaning is digital radio broadcasting technologies, such as the digital audio broadcasting system, also known as Eureka 147. In these systems, the analog audio signal is digitized into zeros and ones, compressed using formats such as...
transmitter to start broadcasting in high definition.
About WRST
Students at WRST are responsible for most management aspects of the station and fully staff it. Professional supervision is provided by the Director of Radio Services and Director of Engineering who provide legal and technical guidance to the students.Programming from Wisconsin Public Radio runs from 5am until 3pm most days of the week with locally produced student programming on the air the rest of the time. Student programming consists of anything alternative such as jazz, blues, reggae, new rock, rap, metal, electronic, punk, etc. WRST also strongly covers UW–Oshkosh Titans sports events and has a strong news department that covers campus and community events.
Since 1989, Sociology professor Dr. Gerry Grzyb has been hosting a yearly Christmas music program on WRST the week after the fall semester concludes in December. The show started in 1989 and is proclaimed the most diverse Christmas music program in America. On air Grzyb goes by the name "Dr. Christmas."
On a yearly basis many students enter statewide and nationwide competitions and win many awards.