WECB (Emerson College)
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| WECB | |
 |
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| Broadcast area | Emerson College & Online |
|---|---|
| Branding | WECB Radio |
| Slogan | "The Underground Sound of Emerson College" |
| Frequency | 99.9 MHz (FM) & 640 kHz (AM) |
| First air date | February, 1947 |
| Format | College/Alternative/Eclectic |
| Callsign meaning | Emerson College Broadcasting |
| Owner | Emerson College/Emerson's Student Government Association |
| Website | wecb.emerson.edu |
Formed over 60 years ago, WECB maintains the status of a free-form, non-commercial radio station at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. It is not a traditional over-the-air station, but rather a campus station, operating intramurally. The legal call letters WECB refer to an FM station in Wisconsin.
WECB is completely student run, with the exception of a faculty advisor who oversees all activities that go on at the station but does not have administrative powers over it. WECB broadcasting is found online at its website, on closed-circuit campus television (channel 65), and at 99.9 FM inside (and immediately adjacent to) a major dormitory building at Boylston and Tremont Streets.
The origins of WECB date back over 60 years to when Emerson College obtained an army surplus AM transmitter. The station broadcast via carrier current from the basement of the 132-134 Beacon Street dormitory, and grew in success that included legitimate commercials, news programming and a station-owned van.
In 1983-84, WECB was scheduled for demolition without reconstruction, as part of the Mass Communications $1.6M renovation project. Carol Kamerschen, Greg Weremey and Russ Weisenbacher were instrumental in fighting the board of trustees and allowing Greg and Russ to design and build new studios at 126 Beacon St. to replace the former facilities at 130 Beacon St., 4th floor. [1] This status ended with the inauguration in 1998 of a new Emerson facility, the Ansin Building, featuring a full studio suite for the Emerson station of wider general public interest, WERS. WECB was left unhoused. After student concerns were raised, WECB was resurrected in a modest studio within the WERS studio suite.
WECB, while small, is a prominent organization on the Emerson Campus, providing live-DJing, Boston-area artists concerts, and quality niche programming.
[edit] Station Awards
- 1999-2000: Organization of the Year
