WFUV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WFUV-FM | |
 |
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| Broadcast area | New York, New York |
|---|---|
| Branding | 90.7 WFUV |
| First air date | 1947 |
| Frequency | 90.7 (MHz)  |
| Format | Adult album alternative |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Callsign meaning | W Fordham University's Voice |
| Owner | Fordham University |
| Website | wfuv.org |
WFUV, 90.7 FM in New York City, is Fordham University's 50,000-watt non-commercial radio station. First broadcast in 1947, WFUV has an airstaff which includes such New York radio veterans as Pete Fornatale (who returned to WFUV in 2001 after a 30-year hiatus), Dennis Elsas, and Vin Scelsa. Other full-time air staff members include Rita Houston (music director and host of the program The Whole Wide World), Darren DeVivo, Claudia Marshall and Corny O'Connell.
The station is a National Public Radio affiliate and carries several shows from Public Radio International. It had been a 3,500-watt station until February 21, 1969 and began broadcasting in stereo on March 31, 1973. It serves over 300,000 listeners weekly in the New York area and thousands more worldwide on the Web (wfuv.org). The station is known for its adult album alternative format (a mix of adult rock, singer-songwriters, world and other music), as well as Celtic music. Other programs include genres such as folk music and early pop and jazz. National programs heard on WFUV include World Cafe, American Routes, Mountain Stage and Thistle & Shamrock. In-studio interviews and performances are also a prominent feature of its programming. On-air guests have included Radio Hall of Famer Arthur Godfrey (in 1947), Pete Hamill, Steve Buscemi, Tim Robbins, Graham Nash, Roger McGuinn, Suzanne Vega, Jimmy Webb, Peter, Paul & Mary, Cyndi Lauper, Sting, Bo Diddley, Judy Collins, Lou Reed, Brian Wilson, Robert Klein, Kevin Bacon, Dick Cavett, Glen Campbell, Ringo Starr, Joshua Bell, Paul Simon, Los Lobos, Tony Bennett, The Bad Plus, Buddy Guy, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Ani DiFranco, Jackson Browne, Ben Harper, The Decemberists, Moby, Uncle Tupelo, Josh Ritter, Neil Young, Mavis Staples, and Norah Jones (in her radio debut). WFUV has introduced many other new artists over the years.
WFUV's call letters stand for "Fordham University's Voice." A professional, public radio station, the station's mission also includes a strong training component for Fordham students. Students receive intensive instruction and are heard on the air in news and sports programming. WFUV's alumni, including Charles Osgood of CBS-TV & radio, Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo), film producer Jack Haley Jr., and actor Alan Alda, have had a significant impact on broadcast and entertainment history. News department alumni are heard on many stations and networks nationally. These include Richard Hake of WNYC in New York, Chris Reilly, an anchor on WINS in New York and WNYC, and Kathleen Maloney, a WINS reporter. The sports department has produced several notable alumni, including Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers announcer and Baseball Hall of Famer Vin Scully, two-time Emmy Award-winning sports anchor for WPIX-TV in New York Sal Marchiano, Yankees announcer Michael Kay, New York Times sportswriter Jack Curry, USA Today sportswriter Malcolm Moran, Knicks announcer and "The NBA on ABC" sportscaster Mike Breen, Nets announcer Chris Carrino, Lakers announcer Spero Dedes, New York Giants announcer Bob Papa, and WFAN's "Talking Baseball" host Ed Randall.
WFUV's rock music shows were formerly hosted by Fordham students and some of those famous alumni include Fornatale (whose first show began in November 1964, when he was a sophomore), former WFUV program director Bill Crowley of Air America Radio, Pat Dawson of NBC News, and Gary Stanley, sportscaster on WCBS-AM in New York City. Two went on to win Emmy Awards as directors of "Sesame Street"--Ozzie Alfonso and Edward May. Daily rock music programming was begun in February 1970. Prior to that most of the music heard on WFUV was classical. Many chamber music and piano recitals were broadcast live from now-defunct Studio B in the 1950's.
WFUV was on the verge of going off the air in September 1968, due to budgetary cuts by the university, but the student-staff went on strike and organized rallies and demonstrations to save the station that were attended by thousands of students and faculty.
WFUV has been a professionally-managed public radio station since 1988. The station's broadcast audience expanded throughout the 1990's and 2000's, as local commercial stations gave up free-form and the playing of new artists. The station also offers an online archive of programming and several podcasts.
In 2005 the studios, offices, and transmitter moved from the third floor of Keating Hall on Fordham's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx, where it had been since 1947, to Keating Hall's basement. Its antenna was moved in 2006 from atop Keating Hall (it was temporarily freestanding on the Rose Hill campus) to atop Montefiore Medical Center, the tallest building in the Bronx.
