| City of license | Tampa, Florida |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Tampa, Florida |
| Branding | WMNF Listener-Sponsored Community Radio |
| Frequency | 88.5 |
| First air date | 1979 |
| Format | eclectic (program guide) |
| ERP | 6,650 watts |
| HAAT | 469 meters |
| Class | C1 |
| Facility ID | 47459 |
| Callsign meaning | Member-sponsored Non-commercial FM |
| Owner | Nathan B. Stubblefield Foundation |
| Webcast | listen live |
| Website | wmnf.org |
WMNF is a non-commercial, community radio station operating in the city of Tampa in the U.S. state of Florida that broadcasts at the FM frequency of 88.5 MHz and streaming live. The station has been on the air since 1979, and has an Effective Radiated Power of 6,650 watts from 1,539 feet.
The radio station is listener sponsored, relying on some 11,200 (as of June 2007) supporters for a majority of required funding which is raised in two or three semiannual pledge drives. The station has paid operations staff, but the daily programmers and pledge drive workers are volunteers. The station is licensed to the Nathan B. Stubblefield Foundation, a non-profit organization established solely for this purpose. The Board of Directors comprises programmers, volunteers, staff, and community members.
WMNF hosts many concerts, speeches, films, and festivals, most notably the annual Tropical Heatwave festival.
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In 2005, WMNF moved into a new state of the art broadcast facility. The facility is located adjacent to the old studio which was demolished and now serves as a parking lot. The new facility is over 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) with three broadcast studios, two production studios and a live performance studio named in memory of Mike Eisnestadt, long time host of the Sunday Shimcha, a Jewish music and public affairs show that still airs on Sundays at noon. The music library is capable of storing approximately 100,000 CDs. The landscape is made up of native Florida plants.
In 2007, WMNF moved to a higher transmitter tower and started to broadcast a Hybrid Digital signal.
WMNF has from the beginning aired a wide variety of programming, including special interest music shows including bluegrass, polka, gospel, Celtic, Latin and experimental. In 2007 the major music styles on WMNF are rock, folk and blues. WMNF progressive news and public affairs has steadily increased since the nineties and is now some of the most popular programming. While the schedule has constantly changed, the station has a number of long-running programs including the Sixties Show and community affairs programs such as The Women's Show, a show touching on feminist issues that first started running in the 1980s, and Out in the Open, a show dealing with gay and lesbian community issues that has aired since 1993. Many of the programs, including Out in the Open, are available via podcast at the station's web site and most shows are archived there as well. While some of the on-air talent changes on a regular basis the station's personnel has remained fairly constant, including programming director Randy Wynne, news director Rob Lorei and business manager Mercedes Skelton. Other notable personnel and alumni of the station include Pat Chamburs, Dorothy Abbott (co-creator of The Women's Show), John Chambrone, Bob Pomeroy, and Mary Glenney.
WMNF broadcasts four HD Radio channels:
While providing extensive public affairs programming to the greater Tampa Bay area, and perhaps because of it, WMNF has at times become the focus of controversy.
In 1997, Florida state Senator John Grant zeroed out $104,000 in state funding from the annual budget, citing his displeasure at the lyrics of a song he had heard broadcast (Iris DeMent's "Wasteland of the Free"). In response to the shortfall, the station staged an emergency fund-raiser that took in $122,000 in a day and a half.
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