What's your favorite college radio station?

I have been working on a project to find the best college radio stations in the USA: http://collegeradiomap.com/

I'm looking for more suggestions and trying to expand internationally, so any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Do college students still listen to college radio?

i have satellite radio, but find consistently myself tuning into the university-of-miami's station (wvum).

(maybe it's because i'm the only one listening and they'll play whatever i request?

which means it's all kajagoogoo, all the time).

Are you a student? I'm not, but the best stations in the Boston area are WZBC and WMBR by a mile.

i'm so far from being a student it's depressing me to even think about it.

(i'll be 43 in 12 days).

Radio K/KUOM - University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

http://www.radiok.org/

great station, we're lucky to have it

WMBR, if only for Backwoods.

i will second that xpost

madison WI used to have a kickass station back in the day too but i dont even know if it still exists/is awesome

I used to listen to WSOU (Seton Hall in New Jersey) when I lived in NYC, WKNC (NC State) when I live din Raleigh, NC and now I listen to WKDU in Philadelphia.

I never was able to get it on the radio with its signal strength limitations and the huge buildings of Manhattan but I used to stream WNYU.

http://www.wsum.org/

didnt listen to it but gets bonus points for "the snake on the lake!" slogan and the fact that i think you could prononce its call letters like a drunken slurred AWESOME

Well, if you like your "college" radio staffed by forty-something hipsters, please check out wmbr. Some of those guys are great djs, which they should be by now. I'd put in two cents for something a little younger and harder--WHRB, also in Cambridge. So maybe the larger point is that Boston's got the best college radio. KXLU, and that UChicago station are pretty good too. And of course FMU...if the djs could ever stop talking.

Not that the fmu-ers are college students either.

A couple of my favorites that haven't been mentioned yet:
WLUW (Loyola Chicago)
KALX (Cal)
KFJC (Foothill College)
KBGA (Missoula)
WRCT (Carnegie Mellon)

To me these are outstanding, but really all 90 stations on the map are solid.

Hey, I'm a forty-something former-hipster! Ok, no, never even close to hip...

yeah, somewhere along the way, the word "hip" lost its uncool veneer.

when i was growing up, that word seemed way too close to sixties-hippie-ish folks to be used to describe cutting-edge music fans.

kids today!

WXPN c. 1978-1991 (at the latest)

I'm forty also. And not so hip. I just think college radio should be done by students. The semi-pro status of too many college djs is not a good thing...

@Michael Train: do you know more examples of "college stations" that are dominated by non-student DJs?

25-years after i graduated, i'd kind of like to do a rotation as a college dj. seems like it would be fun. but i'm sure they'd never let me near the building, i suppose (since i'm so far removed from being a student there).

wait, 20 years only!

kxlu (loyola marymount) pretty much owns and the university of chicago station is great

does anyone know of good stations outside the US?

omar little OTM!

well, the first part anyways.

Daniel - depending on what colleges you're near, you may find they're quite welcoming of community volunteer involvement. I know many around the Boston area that can't get enough students to DJ!

gotta put in a plug for wxyc (unc-chapel hill), where the number of 40-something semi-professional DJs is minimal and the freeform is solid. one of the more rewarding aspects of my short college experience.

and to answer gerald's question: no, nobody ever listened to us except other DJs, weirdos, and really bored inmates

oh nvm I see that xyc is on yr map already, guess this was probably not super-helpful

I don't know the staffing policies of most college stations. Just Boston/Cambridge, where I did college radio as a student (and then, I must admit, as a hanger-on for another year before I went cold turkey), and also here in NYC, where I've known a bunch of WFMU staffers (none of whom had anything to do with Uppsala...).. WMBR, my memory is (though things could have changed), didn't have undergrads in prime spots. And don't get me started on stations like Boston University's that are essentially pre-professional training grounds for communication students. The Brown station is that way, I think, at least the big FM station--which serves as Providence's big alternative station--while a much lower-powered, student-run station serves the university.

But most college air is done by students, I think, even though more prominent things are sometimes done by older folk. And back when I was a radio promoter at an indie label, most of my dealings around the country were with undergrads.

And at Harvard, none of the students ever listened to WHRB. Too obscure and difficult for people who weren't seriously into music.

WMUC at the University of MD, outside DC.

Sxv, you do know that if you put "radio" or "college radio" into the "search" engine here you will find numerous previous threads

Daniel - depending on what colleges you're near, you may find they're quite welcoming of community volunteer involvement. I know many around the Boston area that can't get enough students to DJ!

really? i'd have to use a pseudoynm to avoid ruining my day-job.

@Michael Train: good info, thanks. I'm looking at WTBU's website and it looks 100% student run and the schedule looks diverse. Can you elaborate on your criticism? They unfortunately don't give show details, just titles, so it's hard to gather much from that.

There seem to be a number of schools with two radio stations, one student operated and one not:
BSR / WBRU (Brown)
WQHS / WXPN (Penn)
RainyDawgRadio / KEXP (U Wash)

bah.

You must be a full-time student at UM and be in good academic standing.

apparently, alumni hold no sway on-campus.

i will have to start a pirate radio station instead.

(edgy playlist: all air supply, all the time).

That might be the student-run radio at BU (I'm not familiar with it, perhaps it's come along since I left Boston?); the big BU station I'm thinking of is WBUR.

See this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBUR

especially the first line of the History section. Very common. Either big schools started using those stations to train students who wanted to be radio pros (WBUR), or they sold out for big advertising dollars (WBRU), or they just sold the prime frequency and moved down the dial. Probably very tempting to do these days with internet distribution so easy. Almost like going back to the days of cc (closed circuit--through a school's pipes...) broadcasting.

In a big city like Boston, a frequency like the ones enjoyed by MIT, BC, or Harvard students is worth a lot.

I'll always remember BU's shift away from student air since I picked up an unplayed copy of the Dead Boy's first LP from them when it happened. Still with me.

WRFL, 88.1 FM at the University of Kentucky

http://wrfl.fm

tryna keep a list (the categories are kind of arbitrary) here; will probably update with suggestions from this thread when i get a chance

fond of wxdu and wxyc myself

Over the Christmas holidays, returning alunmi went and did guest shows at WKDU in Philly. As far as I know, this is not unheard of elsewhere either. I enjoyed listening to the old timers - some of whom were older than me (42) - playing music they played, formats they played (breaking out vinyl), reminiscing about their salad days.

I thought it was cool.

Seconding KFJC. Seriously deep cuts.

the university of chicago station is great

Never listened to it when I went there! :(

I am selecting music for(college)Radio Scorpio (Leuven, Belgium) (some of you might know). You can check out the stream by clicking the speakericon or here.

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashvillecream/archives/2011/06/07/breaking-wrvu-purchased-by-wpln-will-become-classical-station

Breaking: WRVU Purchased by WPLN, Will Become Classical Station
Posted by Jim Ridley on Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 2:35 PM

The Scene has received word that after months of speculation, the Vanderbilt college radio station WRVU 91.1 FM has apparently been purchased by WPLN 90.3 FM, the city's National Public Radio affiliate. The new 91 Rock will be WFCL — Classical 91 One. It will offer classical music 24 hours a day, seven days a week, freeing WPLN to pursue all-NPR news programming.

A press release is expected later today. More details as they arrive.

UPDATE, 3:09 p.m.: Official press release below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Vanderbilt Student Communications and Nashville Public Radio Announce Launch of Classical 91.1

Nashville, Tenn.- June 7, 2011 - The Board of Directors of Vanderbilt Student Communications and the Board of Directors of Nashville Public Radio agreed today to the transfer of the license of WRVU 91.1FM to Nashville Public Radio. The new station’s call letters will be WFCL and its mission will be to showcase classical music and the arts and promote local performances and events. The change in format is effective June 8.

WRVU’s eclectic programming format continues without interruption as an online service and will resume over-the-air broadcast service on WPLN’s HD3 channel beginning in the fall of 2011.

The agreement calls for a payment of $3,350,000 from Nashville Public Radio to Vanderbilt Student Communications, gives WRVU the use of WPLN-HD3 and guarantees internship opportunities for Vanderbilt students in Nashville Public Radio’s award-winning news department.

Vanderbilt Student Communications is an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization chartered in 1967 to manage Vanderbilt’s student media. After careful deliberation, which included inviting extensive feedback from the community over the last nine months, its Board concluded the creation of an endowment was critical to ensuring VSC’s ability to service the information and cultural needs of the Vanderbilt student population.

“The media industry is changing dramatically, a fact nowhere more obvious than on a college campus where younger consumers and content producers are gravitating to innovative technologies,” said Mark Wollaeger, Vanderbilt University English professor and chair of the VSC Board of Directors. “This agreement will help ensure for our students the opportunity to shape the future of media for years to come.

“Students and faculty members representing VSC researched various options privately and publicly for two years and ultimately concluded the sale to Nashville Public Radio best addresses the greatest number of needs,” Wollaeger said. “This arrangement will allow 91.1FM to preserve students’ radio experience online and on-air via HD, remain a community asset, develop an internship program at Nashville Public Radio and create financial security through an endowment for VSC.”

Nashville Public Radio is an independent, community-licensed public radio station, originally licensed by the FCC in 1962 as a unit of the Nashville Public Library. Nashville Public Radio, a charter member of National Public Radio, separated from Metro Government in 1996 and has since been governed by a board of private citizens.

Nashville Public Radio operates 90.3FM, WPLN 1430AM, WTML 91.5FM in Tullahoma, WHRS 91.7FM in Cookeville, WPLN-HD2 and WPLN-HD3. All of WPLN’s program services are available as an Internet stream.

Michael Koban, the Chair of the Board of Directors of Nashville Public Radio, said, “The board was excited about the potential for the acquisition of 91.1FM to strengthen our entire organization. We saw clearly how our signature public radio formats, music and news, could reach their full potential for audience service as standalone stations.”

Nashville Public Radio President Rob Gordon said, “This move strengthens our ability to deliver both news and music because it gives us room to enhance and build each service.

“Over the years our listeners and supporters have asked us to establish separate news and music services, which we’ve not been able to do because of the limited number of frequencies available on the FM band. Multiple public radio stations have proven successful in many other cities; now we’re proud to say Nashville can support both an NPR news and a full-time classical music station.”

As part of its mission the new station will partner closely with area arts organizations and present local performances and interviews with artists and musicians.

“This belongs to the community,” Gordon said. “We want Classical 91.1 to reflect our region’s vibrant, energetic arts scene. Over the coming weeks and months we’ll ask area arts organizations for feedback and input on how to make the station a vital resource for the arts in our region.

“We are grateful for the confidence the Vanderbilt Student Communications board has placed in us and applaud the current and earlier VSC boards and staff for their many years of careful custodianship and management of WRVU,” Gordon said. “We are also delighted to offer opportunities for Vanderbilt student interns to experience what it is like to work in a professional newsroom.”

###
Contact:

Rob Gordon
President, Nashville Public Radio
(615) 760-2002

Mark Wollaeger
Chair, Vanderbilt Student Communications Board
(615) 915-4686

Interesting spin they put on it

applaud the current and earlier VSC boards and staff for their many years of careful custodianship and management of WRVU

"Thanks for keeping this frequency warm so we could take it over guys!"

My friend Janet has/had a weekly spot on WRVU until today (her show finished at 1pm EDT) and then the news broke. According to her, it will remain an online entity this summer as an auto-programmed bot station and then launch in HD Radio in September...except none of the djs know if their services will be retained.

Also, she's heard that the deal had been in place since March, but they waited until zero hour to let anyone know a damn thing about it.

The only one I ever listened to was the one that gave me a weekly 5-hour timeslot in 1987-88, CJAM in Windsor.

I had a show a CJAM too. In the mid-90s though. Practically anyone could get on the air there I think. What a mess that place was. I currently live in Vancouver and we have two college stations. CJSF is a typical shoestring operation ala CJAM but CiTR is great - very high quality programming, very diverse, quite a few long-term incumbents doing great genre shows, very involved in the local music scene, puts on a lot of gigs and hosts live broadcasts every week. Pretty much everything you want from a college station. If it wasn't for these guys I would probably have totally abandoned terrestrial radio by now.

One of the good things about CiTR from a listener's perspective is that it is run more as a "community" station rather than a "student" station. There's only about 50% of the programmers who are students or alumni of the university, and only about 15% of the programmers are currently students. So there's less turnover and in general a more passionate, experienced and knowledgeable line-up DJs. eg. the Jazz, Reggae, and Folk DJs are all older people, heavily involved in their scenes and are probably the best people in the city to do the job. I don't think the University is too happy about it though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wcTlNeblZI