WMUA
City | Amherst, Massachusetts |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Pioneer Valley |
Slogan | The Radio Voice of UMass Amherst |
Frequency | 91.1 MHz |
First air date |
1949 (carrier current AM) 1952 (FM) |
Format | College radio |
ERP | 450 watts, stereo |
HAAT | 39.0 meters |
Class | A |
Facility ID | 69184 |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°23′37.97″N 72°31′17.90″W / 42.3938806°N 72.5216389°W |
Callsign meaning | Massachusetts University - Amherst[1] |
Affiliations | None |
Owner |
University of Massachusetts Amherst (University of Massachusetts) |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | wmua.org |
WMUA (91.1 FM) is a student-run college radio station. Licensed to serve Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, the station is based on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The station's broadcast license is held by the University of Massachusetts.
WMUA was established in 1949 originally as an AM station. Though it is run by undergraduates, other faculty, staff, assorted members of the community, and graduate students contribute to the station.
WMUA is broadcast to the Connecticut River Valley, including western Massachusetts, northern Connecticut, and southern Vermont. The station is federally licensed (authorized by the FCC) and non-commercial, and is under the supervision of the UMass Board of Trustees.
WMUA's studio is located in the basement of the Lincoln Campus Center building. The actual transmitter and antenna are located on Observatory Way, between the Orchard Hill and Sylvan Residential living areas. This facility, activated at midnight on January 1, 2004, is WMUA's third transmission site; it originally transmitted from atop Marston Hall, and then on Emily Dickinson Dormitory. The Dickinson Dormitory tower in Orchard Hill served as a backup until a re-roofing project took it down in 2011; it is licensed as a backup facility, and rebuilding the backup was completed on June 30, 2014. The station is a licensed "class A" broadcast facility.
Programming
WMUA's programming philosophy outlines the intent of the station to depart from programming that is typically found anywhere else on the dial. In addition to music programming, there are talk shows, sports updates, and student-produced newscasts every weekday at 5:30 p.m. WMUA broadcasts 24/7/365, and is available as a stream online from the home page of the WMUA website.
WMUA provides an outlet for multiple opinions to be expressed through music, political and advocacy talk, and public service announcements.
Sports
WMUA is the flagship radio station of the UMass women's basketball team and the UMass men's lacrosse team. They also broadcast other UMass Minutemen sports including ice hockey, men's basketball, baseball and football throughout the year.
Notable alumni
- Marc Bertrand - radio talk show host on WBZ-FM, 98.5 "The Sports Hub" in Boston
- Audie Cornish - NPR correspondent[2]
- Bennett Karoll - Associate Producer for Sirius XM Fantasy in Washington, D.C.
- Charlie Pellett - Bloomberg radio personality and "stand clear of the closing doors" voice on New York City Subway[3]
- Bridgette Proulx - radio host for Boston College IMG Radio Network
- Kevin Chambers
- Dave Strader - NHL play-by-play announcer for NHL on NBC and NHL on NBC Sports Network[4]
References
- ↑ "Call Letter Origins". Radio History on the Web.
- ↑ Parnass, Larry. UMass grad Audie Cornish, NPR veteran, lands Sunday anchor slot. GazetteNet.com, 2011. http://www.gazettenet.com/blog/gazetteer/umass-grad-audie-cornish-npr-veteran-lands-sunday-anchor-slot-0
- ↑ "http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=102896.15;wap2"
- ↑ http://umasshoops.com/news/alumni/dave_strader01252000.htm
External links
- Official website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WMUA
- Radio-Locator information on WMUA
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WMUA
- Unofficial WMUA blog