WBGU (88.1 FM) is an American

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college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve

Bowling Green, Ohio Bowling Green is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Ohio, United States, located southwest of Toledo. The population was 30,028 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Toledo Metropolitan Area and a member of the Toledo Metropolitan ...

, United States. The station, established in 1951, is owned and operated by

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

. WBGU broadcasts a

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

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from the campus of Bowling Green State University. WBGU is a student-run radio station that focuses on independent, underground, and under-represented music.

History

WBGU's origins begin with a

public address system A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

built to broadcast a Bowling Green basketball game with audio phoned in from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in December 1947. This led to a carrier current station known as "WRSM" signing on in January 1948 at 600

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

. This station, run by students and volunteers, was authorized by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) and was affiliated with the

Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) is an organization with a membership of over one thousand non-profit, education-affiliated radio stations and webcasters. Founded in 1940, IBS is headquartered in New Windsor, New York, with a legal offic ...

. Repeated expansion led the university in 1951 to apply to the FCC for a

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to build an

FM broadcasting FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

station, licensed as "WBGU" in November 1951, with 10

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s of

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

on a frequency of 88.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

. In the six decades since it launched, the station has upgraded its signal strength, studio facilities, and equipment to meet the needs of the campus and the surrounding area. WBGU is also the flagship home for Bowling Green hockey with play-by-play voice Ryan Vallon.

References

External links

*
WFAL official siteLocal newspaper articleNewspaper article
*Balcerzak, Andrew, Kyle Gebhart, and Stephen Merrill.
WBGU 88.1 FM - Broadcasting from Bowling Green, Ohio.
Ed. Dara Greene and Ryan Glover. BGSU. 9 July 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wbgu (Fm) BGU-FM BGU Bowling Green State University Radio stations established in 1951 Wood County, Ohio 1951 establishments in Ohio