WKUF-LP
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| WKUF | |
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| City of license | Flint, Michigan |
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| Broadcast area | [1] |
| Branding | Flint's College Mix |
| Frequency | 94.3 MHz |
| First air date | November 19, 2004 |
| Format | Variety; College student station |
| ERP | 100 watts |
| Class | L1 |
| Callsign meaning | Kettering University Flint |
| Owner | Kettering University |
| Website | http://www.wkuf.com/ |
WKUF-LP (94.3 FM) is a low-powered radio station located in Flint, Michigan. It broadcasts at 100 watts, and has a range of between 6 and 20 miles, depending on terrain, elevation, and building density between the University and the location of the listener. It is operated by Kettering University. It is paid for by student activity fees and a special fund created by the university.
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[edit] History
Kettering University (formerly GMI) has never had a licensed radio station in its 84 year history. In the early 1970s the station started as an unlicensed "carrier current" radio station with the call lettere "KRIB". The station was managed by GMI student Lew Middaugh and Friday evening DJ, the late Johnnie Heiman (Dr. J). This continued until in the early 1980s, when the current student media club formed WKUS. The AM broadcasts were only available in the dorms, and therefore WGMI did not require any licensing. From what we can gather from faculty, the students ran the old AM broadcasts, but as AM radio's popularity died the broadcasts died out with it. By 1997 there were no more AM broadcasts from WGMI AM 530. Despite this, there was still enough interest in radio from the students to keep the media group alive.
When GMI changed its name to Kettering University in 1998, the club went from the name of WGMI to WKUS (Kettering University Station), and interest in a more official radio broadcast grew. Believing that Kettering should have a radio station due to its inevitable positive impacts on the University, WKUS made it one of their main goals to bring such a broadcast to campus. In effort to prepare for a radio station, a small broadcast booth was created in BJ's lounge, and possible licensing was researched.
Low Power FM was introduced to the public for the first time by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in January of 2000. It was created as a way for small organizations to start FM radio stations. Before LPFM the only way to do this was to buy an existing frequency, or illegally pirate radio. LPFM licenses are only available for noncommercial educational entities and public safety and transportation organizations.
In September of 2000, WKUS submitted an application to the FCC for an LPFM building permit at a broadcast frequency of 96.7 MHz. LPFM stations were then allowed to operate as long as they had at least a 400 kHz frequency buffer with stations in the same geographic area, but the required buffer size was increased shortly after our application was submitted. Our application was not processed because of close proximity to 96.3 and 97.1 (the so called "3rd channels").
96.3 96.5 96.7 96.9 97.1
For about two years, this adjacency issue remained unchanged and there was nothing that could be done by the students of WKUS because the FCC did not allow changes to be made to the application. During those two years, WKUS operated as a group comprised of those students interested in music and Disk Jockeying (DJ'ing). Our activities began with DJ'ing student events held in BJ's Lounge and have grown to include Compass Weekend, Homecoming Week, Greek Open Parties, IFC Philanthropy events, and entertainment in the great court during lunch. The club's only outlet for real broadcasts was to set up play lists and do live broadcasts as background music on Kettering's Channel 10.
On November 19, 2004 at 12:30 PM, WKUF-LP officially kicked off its broadcast with the Station Manager, Scott Porter, giving a speech over the airwaves. As the speech was being read over the air, a radio received it in the Great Court, where it was connected to two huge speakers, pumping out Scott's words for everybody to hear loud and clear.
After Scott spoke, Steve Proper, one of the people who originally pushed for the creation of the station, spoke a few words, as did Melverne Mills Jr. a.k.a Shadow One, the Program Director and Steve Schwartz. Finally, Alan Delos Santos jumped on the mic, introducing the first official song broadcasted by the Station...Video Killed the Radio Star.
TV12 was there to record the excitement as the station finally grew its wings and officially went on air. The reporter was surprised at the calm demeanors of the crew, although everybody in the small studio knew it was because we still did not believe it was finally happening. Years in the making, now it finally was here.
In addition to TV12, the Flint Journal and The Uncommon Sense stopped by to cover the official opening of the station. TV5 also stopped by before the official first broadcast to see the station.
[edit] WKUF-LP Shows
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To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (May 2008) |
Cool Country
Da Vinnie Massimino Show
Eccentric Electric
F.O.C.U.S. Radio
Fully Loaded
Gamma Ray
Good Morning Flint
Gozza Strip
Greg & Krunal
Hard Rock Hour
The Hype Show
Island Vibez
Michigan Admirals minor league football, the 2005 North American Football League 2 Regional and Conference champions.
Maximum Destruction Mix
Morbid Influx
Overdose in the Morning
Queen On Da Scene
Real Records
The Retro Mix
Rustic Grill
Strange Radio
The Bottom 40
Three Wise Men
Town Hall Radio
Tugboat & Buoy
World Beat
[edit] Sources
[edit] External links
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WKUF-LP
- Radio Locator information on WKUF-LP
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WKUF
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