WAVM

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A WAVM mural at Maynard H.S. in 1994. Station founder Joseph Magno appears as the Superman caricature.

WAVM is a high school radio station broadcasting from Maynard High School in Maynard, Massachusetts, on an FM frequency of 91.7 MHz. Station programming provides the local area with news and church service broadcasts among other types of programming. Founded in 1973, WAVM has aided the careers of several of the school's successful alumni.

[edit] FCC Controversy

The station's studio in 1994. The 10-watt transmitter is the gray box on the counter.

For several years WAVM petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to increase the power of its signal from 10 watts to 250 watts. Per FCC regulations, and a tentative decision, the station's frequency was now available for bidding from other broadcasting companies, one of those companies being Living Proof Inc., a Christian broadcasting network headquartered in California that distributes programming to its affiliates via satellite, with minimal local programming.

Another interested party was WUMB (91.9), the radio station of the University of Massachusetts Boston. WAVM entered into an agreement with WUMB to jointly own the frequency and their partnership has since been appealing the FCC's decision.

Congressional Representative Marty Meehan and Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy have all contributed their support to WAVM in the form of letters to the FCC, and the station's plight has attracted national attention.

Part of WAVM's music library, consisting of a large number of vinyl records

The station was sent deeper into turmoil when station founder and faculty administrator Joseph Magno was arrested and charged with sexual assault of one of his male students in January 2006. [1]

[edit] External links

• WAVM official site

• Living Proof, Inc. - The California-based broadcaster challenging WAVM's license.