WRPI

WRPI (91.5 FM) is a non-commercial college radio station run by students attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and community members in Troy, New York. WRPI broadcasts 365 days a year with an effective radiated power of 10,000 watts, serving listeners in eastern New York and western Massachusetts and Vermont. The studios are located in the basement of the Darrin Communications Center on the RPI Campus with transmitter and tower three miles away in North Greenbush, New York. WRPI programming includes a wide range of music, cultural and public affairs programs, live local bands, special events, and sports simulcasts, particularly of RPI hockey, football, and baseball.

History

The history of WRPI begins in 1924, when a sub-staff of WHAZ formed Campus Review, a program devoted to college-oriented entertainment and news for the Troy area. The show itself was run by a senior and junior board, as well as a group of apprentices, and programmed a half-hour of WHAZ's then-six-hour-long schedule on Monday nights. A new organization, the Rensselaer Broadcasting Association, began programming WHAZ's whole schedule in the spring of 1947, deploying a staff entirely from RPI's student body and working with the still-existent Campus Review.

An on-campus radio station was formed as an experimental carrier-current AM station in the fall of 1947, affiliated with the call sign W2SZ and broadcasting out of the attic of the Russell Sage Laboratory on campus. Though the listening area was limited only to RPI's freshman dorms, the station soon gained the WRPI moniker locally, and gradually added more equipment from donations and war surplus. Around 1948, W2SZ, the RBA and the Campus Review merged into a single Radio Council to cut down on the proliferation of student broadcasting clubs. In March 1951, the Radio Council was divided into amateur and broadcasting clubs; FCC-licensed broadcasting at 640 kHz began at that time for the latter. By 1954, WRPI's listenership included 85% of all students listening to radio sets.

Later, WRPI became a pioneer in FM stereo radio; it obtained an FM license in 1957 and began broadcasting on its current frequency of 91.5 on November 1, 1957 with 750 watts. In April 1969, WRPI boosted its power to 10,000 watts, while simultaneously moving to a new transmitter site. The format was also changed to Free Form Progressive Rock during this period. Now with a powerful signal, WRPI functioned as the Progressive Rock station of the Albany area throughout the early part of the 1970's. Today, WRPI's "free format" programming includes an eclectic, robust mix of rock, folk, classical, electronic and contemporary music, as well as talk shows all aimed at the diverse tastes of its listening audience. In 2008, the station adopted the on-air slogan "The Upstate Underground".

The amateur radio club still exists, and still uses the call letters W2SZ.

Programming

Important broadcasts

Famous past shows

References

• Schedule
• History of WRPI

External links

• WRPI official website
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WRPI
• Radio-Locator information on WRPI
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WRPI