WXOU
Encyclopedia
WXOU is the on-campus radio station
located at Oakland University
in Rochester, Michigan
, USA. The station can be heard at 88.3 FM and streaming on the station's website www.wxou.org. The broadcast studio and administrative offices are located in the Oakland Center building on the lower level. WXOU is a non-profit student-run organization. WXOU is run by students and faculty of Oakland University, providing unique opportunities for students and alumni to gain experience in the broadcasting world as well as provide an alternative to commercial radio stations. WJR
News Anchor Gene Fogel is an Oakland University broadcasting instructor and an assists volunteer DJs. To become a volunteer at WXOU, applications are available at the station and in PDF form at http://www.wxou.org
WXOU serves the Oakland University community with music, talk, movie reviews, campus and world news, and sports coverage. The station provides underwriting opportunities. Those who are interested in underwriting may reach the office line at (248) 370-4273. WXOU also provides Public Service Announcements that can be used to promote charities, non-profit organizations and events, as well as important messages.
WXOU provides coverage of all Oakland University men's and women's home basketball games, as well as coverage of Oakland's post-season basketball play. Matt Pocket is the lead play-by-play voice of Oakland Basketball, joined frequently (in-studio and at the Athletics Center O'Rena) by Bryan Everson, Phil Berard, Montezz Allen, and Sean Varicalli. The station has also recently expanded coverage of Oakland athletics by broadcasting Oakland volleyball and baseball (since 2010).
The Sports Department swept the 2011 Michigan Association of Broadcasters Awards, making WXOU the #1 College Sports radio station in Michigan. Matt Pocket, the Sports Director, claimed his fourth career first-place finish in the competition's Sports Play-by-Play category with his submission of Oakland University women's basketball. Kyle Bauer, the Assistant Program Director, took second place, his first placement at the MAB Awards. Camron Smith, Ryan Carroll, along with Pocket, gained an honorable mention in the category, beating out competing broadcasters from other major Michigan universities.
Request line - (248) 370-4274
, from a room in Van Wagoner House (on-campus housing). Later, the students were provided a storage room which they equipped, and called the station WVW. The station could only be heard in Hill House and Van Wagoner house.
During the summer of 1968 much of the equipment was stolen but the students were given space in Vandenberg Hall and $700 from an account established by the now defunct Radio Oakland student organization. The students began broadcasting
with 27 watt
s of power from 7 pm to 1 am In 1969, the power was increased and WVW became available campus wide via carrier current from 4 pm to 1 am.
The call letters were changed in 1974 to WOU, and again in 1975, to WOUX. In the following years WOUX was moved from Vandenberg Hall to the Oakland Center permanently. WOUX was heard through a public address system in the Oakland Center and some common areas of on-campus housing -- the cafeterias of East and West Vanderberg Halls in particular. The 1979 academic year brought concerns from student congress that the station needed to meet the needs of the entire student body and requested that an Advisory Board be formed. This action came with additional and ongoing funding from the student activities fee.
Since the early 1970s, there had been a number of attempts to move to FM
and in May 1991 the Board of Trustees approved the application to the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) for an FM broadcast license. This was the culmination of a joint effort involving the Campus Information, Programs and Organizations (CIPO) office, Student Life, the Communications Department and the WOUX student organization. The FCC accepted the University's application and issued a permit to construct the station. Due to the engineering constraints, the FCC extended the original permit in 1993 and again in 1994. The official call letters for the station were established as WXOU and the final deadline for construction was set for August 1995. The station's frequency
was set to be 88.3 megahertz. Due to engineering and construction setbacks, WXOU was forced to postpone broadcasting on the FM airwaves until September 1996.
WXOU has been an FM station ever since. In September 1999 the station moved to another area in the lower level of Oakland Center following an extensive building renovation. In October 2000, WXOU broadcasts became available on the University website. Due to the costs and legal issues associated with royalties
, the webcasting ended in 2001. With the legalities now clearly defined, and costs for college radio broadcasters affordable, as of March 2005, WXOU has returned to broadcasting on the internet.
In 2006 WXOU began running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can tune in anytime to hear the sound of Oakland University on 88.3FM and www.wxou.org from anywhere in the world.
When the devastating earthquake hit Haiti
WXOU set up a benefit concert inside the Oakland Center raising over $6,000 after the initial donation was matched from President Dr. Gary Russi, and Oakland University students and surrounding citizens.
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...
located at Oakland University
Oakland University
Oakland University is a public university co-founded by Matilda Dodge Wilson and John A. Hannah whose campus is located in central Oakland County, Michigan, United States in the cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills. It is the only major research university in Oakland County, from which OU...
in Rochester, Michigan
Rochester, Michigan
Rochester is an affluent city in north Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan on the northern outskirts of metro Detroit. The population was 12,711 at the 2010 census...
, USA. The station can be heard at 88.3 FM and streaming on the station's website www.wxou.org. The broadcast studio and administrative offices are located in the Oakland Center building on the lower level. WXOU is a non-profit student-run organization. WXOU is run by students and faculty of Oakland University, providing unique opportunities for students and alumni to gain experience in the broadcasting world as well as provide an alternative to commercial radio stations. WJR
WJR
WJR is a radio station in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It broadcasts a news/talk format. It is a class A clear channel station whose broadcasts can be heard throughout most of the Midwest, eastern United States and Canada at night, making it one of the most powerful radio stations in the...
News Anchor Gene Fogel is an Oakland University broadcasting instructor and an assists volunteer DJs. To become a volunteer at WXOU, applications are available at the station and in PDF form at http://www.wxou.org
WXOU serves the Oakland University community with music, talk, movie reviews, campus and world news, and sports coverage. The station provides underwriting opportunities. Those who are interested in underwriting may reach the office line at (248) 370-4273. WXOU also provides Public Service Announcements that can be used to promote charities, non-profit organizations and events, as well as important messages.
WXOU provides coverage of all Oakland University men's and women's home basketball games, as well as coverage of Oakland's post-season basketball play. Matt Pocket is the lead play-by-play voice of Oakland Basketball, joined frequently (in-studio and at the Athletics Center O'Rena) by Bryan Everson, Phil Berard, Montezz Allen, and Sean Varicalli. The station has also recently expanded coverage of Oakland athletics by broadcasting Oakland volleyball and baseball (since 2010).
The Sports Department swept the 2011 Michigan Association of Broadcasters Awards, making WXOU the #1 College Sports radio station in Michigan. Matt Pocket, the Sports Director, claimed his fourth career first-place finish in the competition's Sports Play-by-Play category with his submission of Oakland University women's basketball. Kyle Bauer, the Assistant Program Director, took second place, his first placement at the MAB Awards. Camron Smith, Ryan Carroll, along with Pocket, gained an honorable mention in the category, beating out competing broadcasters from other major Michigan universities.
Request line - (248) 370-4274
Station history
In 1966, students interested in radio broadcasting at Oakland University formed an organization called Radio Oakland. In the winter semester of 1967, two members of the organization began broadcasting via carrier currentCarrier 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...
, from a room in Van Wagoner House (on-campus housing). Later, the students were provided a storage room which they equipped, and called the station WVW. The station could only be heard in Hill House and Van Wagoner house.
During the summer of 1968 much of the equipment was stolen but the students were given space in Vandenberg Hall and $700 from an account established by the now defunct Radio Oakland student organization. The students began broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
with 27 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s of power from 7 pm to 1 am In 1969, the power was increased and WVW became available campus wide via carrier current from 4 pm to 1 am.
The call letters were changed in 1974 to WOU, and again in 1975, to WOUX. In the following years WOUX was moved from Vandenberg Hall to the Oakland Center permanently. WOUX was heard through a public address system in the Oakland Center and some common areas of on-campus housing -- the cafeterias of East and West Vanderberg Halls in particular. The 1979 academic year brought concerns from student congress that the station needed to meet the needs of the entire student body and requested that an Advisory Board be formed. This action came with additional and ongoing funding from the student activities fee.
Since the early 1970s, there had been a number of attempts to move to FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
and in May 1991 the Board of Trustees approved the application to 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) for an FM broadcast license. This was the culmination of a joint effort involving the Campus Information, Programs and Organizations (CIPO) office, Student Life, the Communications Department and the WOUX student organization. The FCC accepted the University's application and issued a permit to construct the station. Due to the engineering constraints, the FCC extended the original permit in 1993 and again in 1994. The official call letters for the station were established as WXOU and the final deadline for construction was set for August 1995. The station's frequency
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
was set to be 88.3 megahertz. Due to engineering and construction setbacks, WXOU was forced to postpone broadcasting on the FM airwaves until September 1996.
WXOU has been an FM station ever since. In September 1999 the station moved to another area in the lower level of Oakland Center following an extensive building renovation. In October 2000, WXOU broadcasts became available on the University website. Due to the costs and legal issues associated with royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
, the webcasting ended in 2001. With the legalities now clearly defined, and costs for college radio broadcasters affordable, as of March 2005, WXOU has returned to broadcasting on the internet.
In 2006 WXOU began running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can tune in anytime to hear the sound of Oakland University on 88.3FM and www.wxou.org from anywhere in the world.
When the devastating earthquake hit Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
WXOU set up a benefit concert inside the Oakland Center raising over $6,000 after the initial donation was matched from President Dr. Gary Russi, and Oakland University students and surrounding citizens.