WMUC-FM

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

WMUC-FM
Broadcast area	College Park, MD
Frequency	88.1 MHz
First air date	1937
Format	Freeform
ERP	10 watts
HAAT	1 meter
Class	D
Facility ID	69019
Callsign meaning	Maryland University Communications
Owner	University of Maryland, College Park
Website	www.wmucradio.com

WMUC-FM is the student-run non-commercial FM radio station licensed to the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, broadcasting at 10 Watts on 88.1 FM. It is a freeform radio station staffed entirely by UMD students and volunteers.

[edit] Broadcast Coverage

WMUC can be heard in parts of Washington, DC, Silver Spring, Bethesda, College Park, Hyattsville and many of the surrounding communities, as well as on the internet at wmucradio.com.

[edit] Programming

The programming lineup at WMUC changes every semester based on which DJs requested another show and how many new DJs have signed up for shows. Primetime slots are allocated based on seniority and how much volunteer work the DJ has done at the station. Some shows have had the same timeslot for over 5 years. The programming decisions are made by the Program Director, who is one of 5 elected executive staff officers to serve a 1 year term from the beginning of January to the end of December of that year. There is a wide range of programming on WMUC, including music of all genres, news reports.

[edit] Format

WMUC adheres to a freeform format where student and community DJs are allowed to play any song of any musical genre they please, granted that the songs they play don't violate FCC rules. By the license granted to the station (class D educational license), DJs are allowed to play songs with curse words from the times of 10pm to 6am as long as they are preceded by a warning of the obscene nature of the song. The station strives to have continuous programming 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. WMUC has a large music collection, with many out of print records.

[edit] Live music

WMUC has a weekly live music program called Third Rail Radio (named after the electrically charged third rail of the DC Metro system) which airs every Sunday evening from 6-9pm. In addition to broadcasting the live show, the station records the performance and provides the artists a copy of the broadcast. In late 2004 a compilation CD was put together of some of the bands that played on the radio program. Many bands that are now popular played on Third Rail in their early careers such as The Get Up Kids, Braid, Atom and His Package, Crispus Attucks, Blur, Elliott Smith, Jawbox, Frodus, Q and Not U, Kinda Panda, Dianogah, Ned Oldham, Rainer Maria, Windy and Carl, The Microphones, Tullycraft, Rites of Spring, Japan Air, Bishop Allen, The One AM Radio, The Double, Meneguar, An Albatross, We Are Scientists, The Joggers, Adam Arcuragi, Joel R.L. Phelps, Dr. Dog, MONO, Calvin Johnson, Art Alexakis of Everclear, Dan Deacon, and many others.

[edit] WMUC Bands

WMUC staff have been members of such bands as Q And Not U, Velocity Girl, Alcian Blue, A Cricket in Times Square, Georgie James, Crispus Attucks,Dawn Treader, De Nada, The Fake Accents, The Summer We Went West, Bezout's Identity, Monument, Dead Vice Prez, Blackie Knight And The Daylights, Jakuta and Carl, french stewart, Kinda Panda, and others.

[edit] Sports and News

WMUC also has an active sports department and in the past had a flourishing news departament that was integrated with the Radio Television and Film department. Sports hosts do talk radio shows on a dedicated internet server (www.wmucsports.com) as well as provide on-air play-by-play and color analysis of Maryland sporting events. News is now coordinated by the Philip Merril School of Journalism.

[edit] Staff

This section may contain information of unclear or questionable importance or relevance to the article's subject matter. Please help improve this article by clarifying or removing superfluous information. This article has been tagged since June 2008. (talk)

The all-volunteer staff at WMUC is made up of students, alumni, and community members. There are several elected positions in the organization which hold weight with the student government at the University of Maryland, alongside other elected positions which are solely for delegation of authority within the station. Elections are held at the end of every fall semester, with newly-elected officials taking office at the beginning of the spring semester.

[edit] Elected staff

• General Manager - The General Manager (GM) oversees all station operations and is the main point of contact for official business. The GM works with the Operations Manager and Chief Engineer to ensure that the station continues to run smoothly and complies with FCC regulations.
• Operations Manager - The Operations Manager handles the majority of the day-to-day duties at the station. One of the primary responsibilities is to manage station logs and handle violations of station policies. Works closely with the General Manager.
• Chief Engineer - The Chief Engineer (CE) is in charge of station equipment, which includes the DJ booth, broadcast equipment, and recording studio. The CE manages a team of engineers, which work on live shows and recording sessions.
• Business Manager - Responsible for all financial information of the station, such as budgeting and purchasing.
• Program Director - Manages the hiring of new DJs and creates the show schedules for every semester.

[edit] Non-elected staff

• Music Director - Reviews new CDs, creates weekly charts from DJ playlists to submit to CMJ, files and organizes new CDs in the DJ booth.
• Third Rail DJ's - In charge of Third Rail Radio; also handle booking and coordination for bands on the show.
• Promotions Director - Organizes promotional events and promotes ongoing projects at the station. Also usually involved in organizing the semesterly "coffee house"/open mikes at WMUC.
• PSA Director - Receives and maintains public service announcements.
• Zine Editor - Editor-in-chief of the semesterly independent zine, which contains interviews, reviews, lists, photography, and music-related articles written by members of the WMUC community. Responsible for editing, publishing, and promoting the free zine.
• Art Director - Develops flyers and other artwork for the station
• System Admin - Maintains the station website and MP3 streaming servers, as well as the general network throughout the facility
• Record Librarian - Organizes and maintains the extensive record library. Generally chooses a selection of records each week and places them in the DJ booth for DJs to play.
• Sports Director - Manages the sports department, main point of contact between Sports and general station staff

[edit] Alumni

This section does not cite any references or sources. (June 2008) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Famous alumni include comic artist Aaron McGruder, Connie Chung, John Davis of Q And Not U, Eric Speck of Ace Fu, Bonnie Bernstein and many other musicians and newscasters.

[edit] External links

• WMUC website
• WMUC Sports website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WMUC
• Radio Locator information on WMUC
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WMUC