WCUW

WCUW
City of license Worcester, Massachusetts
Broadcast area Worcester area
Slogan Your Radio Alternative
Frequency 91.3 MHz
Format Educational
ERP 630 watts, Stereo
HAAT 44.0 meters
Class A
Facility ID 74162
Transmitter coordinates 42°15′46.00″N 71°47′59.00″W / 42.2627778°N 71.7997222°W
Callsign meaning Clark University Worcester
Owner Wuw, Inc.
Webcast Listen Live
Website wcuw.org

WCUW (91.3 FM) is a community radio station licensed to Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. The station, which broadcasts at 91.3 FM, is owned by WCUW, Inc., a nonprofit organization. WCUW is managed by a professional staff, while all of its programs are hosted by community volunteers.[1]

Station history

WCUW began as a carrier-current AM station in one of the upper rooms of Atwood Hall on Clark University campus. The station was started by Robert Goddard in 1920. Goddard was at that time a part-time Clark University physics instructor and researcher. He later went on to launch the first rocket and become known as 'the founder of modern rocketry'. While Goddard started the station in Atwood Hall, it later moved into a new office in the basement of Sanford Hall. This AM station could only be heard on campus and operated on 10 Watts. In May 1972 the AM station ceased broadcasting. In the fall of 1972, an effort was begun to establish an FM station under the same WCUW call letters.

WCUW, as an FM station, was started in a Clark University dorm room in 1973, sanctioned by the university but under a local organization, WUW, Inc., the predecessor to WCUW, Inc. In 1976 there was a radio watt leap for stations. A sanction was put in place where radio stations either needed to increase their wattage or get kicked off the air. In 1976 the WCUW increased to 100W covering all of the Worcester area as well as a good number of the surrounding communities. The station quickly gained a national reputation for its eclectic programming, and by 1977, WCUW had a staff of nine employees and a budget of $130,000.[2]

In 1979, the station received a power increase and through federal funding, purchased a new transmitter, as well as studio and remote broadcasting equipment. Relations with the university began to deteriorate, and in 1980, the station left the campus for new facilities on Worcester's Main Street. In 1985 the WCUW signed a rebroadcast agreement with Bay Path WBPV. The agreement allowed WCUW to broadcast in 1,000W gaining the territory of Southern Massachusetts, to parts of 495, to Warwick RI, to Nashua NH. Unfortunately, the WCUW community station programmers, known to play controversial music, were not well received and so in 1991 the rebroadcast agreement with Bay Path was not renewed and was officially disbanded. The WCUW went back to its original 630W and as more stations gained wattage, the community of listeners has decreased to solely the Worcester area. The station struggled over the next few decades and was forced to lay off staff, but still managed to buy its building and maintain operations with volunteer committees.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Official website". WCUW-FM. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lombardi, Kristen (January 9–16, 1998). "Making Waves: Is Worcester community broadcaster WCUW sending out the wrong signals?". Worcester Phoenix. Retrieved 2009-02-12.

External links