WIUX-LP (99.1
FM) is a student-operated
low power FM
Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonly " ...
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 ...
station in
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...
, United States. The station is owned by
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universit ...
Student Broadcasting with the slogan 'Pure Student Radio'.
Operation
WIUX is completely operated by student volunteers currently enrolled at
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universit ...
. There are no paid employees or faculty supervisors. It has two broadcast streams, one traditional stream that is duel broadcast on their LP-FM 99.1 as well as online, and the other steam called 'B-Side' is online only.
WIUX is run by a student board of directors who facilitate the different committees and programs of the station. Elections for the board of directors occur yearly in the spring for the following school year. Committees include music, PR, marketing, programming, news, special events, sports and engineering.
History
* 1963 - WQAD, a
carrier current AM radio station was founded in Wright Quadrangle at Indiana University,
with a frequency of 730 kHz. WQAD beamed its programming to Wright Quadrangle, Teter Quadrangle, Read Center, Forest Quadrangle and what was then known as the Graduate Residence Center or GRC for the first time on 730 AM via carrier current throughout Wright Quad on January 5, 1963. The station was started by physics major Bill Weaverling, chemistry major Steve Peterson, and education major Jerry Pugh.
* 1964 - WFQR Radio, also a carrier current AM radio station, was founded in Foster Quadrangle; the call letters stood for "Foster Quadrangle Radio." Its programming was beamed to the dormitories along Fee Lane, including Foster, McNutt and Briscoe Quadrangles.
* 1965 - WFQR Radio changed its call letters to WIN, and continued to operate from Foster Quadrangle.
* 1966 - At times during the 1966-67 school year, each station originated a "network feed" which was sent to the carrier current transmitters of all wired student housing. At other times for this final school year, WIN and WQAD maintained separate programming.
* September 1967 - The two stations merge to form WIUS Radio, still strictly a carrier current operation. It was supposed to be at 620 kHz in all student housing, but until the end of carrier current operations, some transmitters continued to operate at 730 kHz. The original WIUS studios were located at 617 E. 8th St., today the site of the
Mathers Museum of World Cultures
Mathers Museum of World Cultures was a museum of ethnography and cultural history that features exhibitions of traditional and folk arts at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. It also offered practicum studies at the university for gradua ...
. The building, a two-story brick house, once belonged to a Bloomington mayor and to legendary Indiana University swimming coach James "Doc" Counsilman. All IU undergraduate dormitories are wired, and an ambitious plan to wire graduate housing and IU fraternities and sororities is unveiled; little of this plan is ever accomplished.
* October 10, 1972 - On the first day of National Fire Prevention Week, a pre-dawn fire destroyed the original WIUS studios. The fire was arson, set in at least two locations, the sales office at the front of the building and the administrative offices in the rear; the person or persons responsible have never been arrested. For one week, WIUS programming aired from a spare studio of the Indiana University Radio and Television Service. WIUS then relocated until Spring Break of 1973 to the old Elliott House WQAD studios, using salvaged and borrowed equipment, records that survived the fire and records from student DJ collections.
* March 1973 - WIUS moves over spring break from Elliott House into a house at 815 E. 8th St., two blocks from the previous WIUS house.
* September 1973 - The IU Student Broadcast Corporation, a not-for-profit student corporation, creates a new radio station, WQAX, partly out of frustrated efforts to get WIUS onto the off-campus cable TV system; the attitude of one IU administrator towards the idea was quoted at the time as "Students shouldn't be talking to townspeople." Many of the first WQAX programmers were former WIUS members, and the two stations maintained a friendly rivalry as WIUS finally gained access to its own cable FM frequency. The former WQAD call letters could not be assigned as they were used as the FCC-licensed
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...
affiliate on TV channel 8 in
Moline, Illinois
Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline, Illinois, East M ...
.
* Spring 1974 - In addition to carrier current, WIUS begins to air its programming on the local Bloomington, Ind., cable TV system, then owned by Monroe Cablevision, at 95.1 mHz. Broadcasts to IU dormitories and a select number of fraternities and sororities (notably
Alpha Epsilon Pi
Alpha Epsilon Pi (), commonly known as AEPi, is a college fraternity founded at New York University in 1913 by Charles C. Moskowitz and ten other men. The fraternity has more than 150 active chapters across the United States, Canada, United Kingdo ...
,
Evans Scholars and the houses surrounding them) remained carrier current, although after 1977 the carrier current system was allowed to deteriorate and reception was often spotty or absent in certain dormitories.
* 1973 to 1993 - WQAX, identified on-air as "Quacks," was a college/community access radio station at 100.3 MHz (non-broadcast) on the local cable TV system in Bloomington, Ind. Originally operating from an office in the Indiana Memorial Union, supplied by the IU Student Association, which assisted in its founding as an alternative to the then-tightly formatted contemporary hit rock WIUS programming, WQAX studios moved several times during its 20-year life.
* 1994 - WIUS switched to funding as part of a student activity fee. WIUS added open-air AM broadcasts beginning October 3, from a low-power transmitter, identical to those used for roadside traffic reports in any cities, atop the Indiana University Library, broadcasting to an approximately three-mile radius at 1570 kHz, while maintaining its cable FM presence. This transmitter will remain in place until January 2006.
* 2004 – An application for a student-operated FM radio license is submitted to the FCC. The FCC delays granting a low-power FM license to WIUS because of another application in the Bloomington area.
* March 2005 - After settling the debate in court, the FCC grants the permit to WIUS and assigns the operating frequency of 100.3 MHz, identical to the former WQAX cable access station. The move to an FCC licensed broadcast FM station, however means that the station will need to change its call letters. Since 1981,
WIUS
WIUS (88.3 FM) is a radio station licensed to Western Illinois University, the station serves the Macomb, Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolita ...
-FM has operated as the FCC-licensed, student-operated FM station at
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College.
History
Western Illin ...
in
Macomb, Illinois
Macomb is a city in and the county seat of McDonough County, Illinois, United States. It is situated in western Illinois, southwest of Galesburg. The city is about southwest of Peoria and south of the Quad Cities. A special census held in 2 ...
. The selection of WIUX as the new call sign (usage of the "X") is a small tribute to the former WQAX, its Indiana student staff (now alumni), and the Bloomington area that it served.
* January 2006 - WIUX is born and signs on (over the air) at 100.3 FM, operated and programmed by IU students,
* June 2007 - WIUX moves to 99.1 FM after the FCC awarded the 100.3 FM frequency to
WYGB
WYGB (100.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Edinburgh, Indiana, the station serves the areas of Columbus, Indiana; Franklin, Indiana; Greenwood, Indiana; and Shelbyville, Indiana, and is owned by Reising R ...
in Columbus, Ind.
* July 2014 - WIUX relocates to a temporary location at 715-717 E. 8th Street, just a block away from its previous house. The move comes as Indiana University makes plans to build a new fraternity house on 8th Street between Woodlawn Avenue and Park Avenue.
* July 2017 - WIUX moves from its house into Franklin Hall, home of the new IU media school.
FCC/Right to broadcast controversy
On October 31, 2006, WIUX announced on its website that 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 ...
was granting the 100.3 mHz frequency to a Class A FM radio station in
Edinburgh, Indiana :''Alternative meanings at Edinburgh (disambiguation).''
Edinburgh is a town in Bartholomew, Johnson, and Shelby counties in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 4,480 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbus, Indiana metropolita ...
, taking over the frequency WIUX had been granted only the previous year. Because the Indiana University student-based station operates as a low-power station, the FCC maintains that it has the right to move the station or remove it from the air. Indiana University filed a petition against the move. The dean of students and vice president of student affairs at Indiana University,
Richard McKaig
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...
, states in the official petition (available through the WIUX website): "The Indiana frequency did not appear on the Commission’s internet site or on a public notice until after the comment reply date of June 13, 2006 deadline. As a result, we did not have a fair chance to file public comments." On November 6, both Indiana senators,
Evan Bayh
Birch Evans Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011 and the 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997.
Bayh w ...
(Dem) and
Richard Lugar
Richard Green Lugar (April 4, 1932 – April 28, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party.
Born in Indianapolis, Lugar graduated from De ...
(Rep), wrote petitions of support for WIUX to the FCC.
On June 4, 2007 WIUX moved from 100.3 FM to 99.1 FM.
Radio format
WIUX is a
variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
radio format
A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
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 ...
station. It features music of different genres, news, sports, and talk programming. Students broadcast live play-by-play of Indiana Hoosiers football, men's and women's basketball, and men's and women's soccer. The broadcasts have a focus on local music and local news.
Awards
In 2016 and 2020, WIUX won "Best college radio station in America" in 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 office ...
Awards.
In 2009, WIUX was nominated for the
mtvU
MTVU (formerly stylized as MtvU and mtvU) is an American digital cable TV channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group, a unit of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel was first known as VH1 Uno from 2000 to ...
Woodie Award for best college radio station in America.
Culture Shock
Culture Shock is a free yearly festival
traditionally held in Dunn Meadow or 3rd St. Park by WIUX. It typically happens in the beginning of April. Culture Shock was founded in 1986 by Jim Kerns and John Polak. The lineup has included many national, regional, and local acts.
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew ...
(1995), Antenna (1995), Black Moth Super Rainbow, Maps & Atlases, Richard Swift, Xiu Xiu, Husband & Wife, Sunset Rubdown (2007).
Beach House
Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals).
Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 to ...
(2008), the Dodos (2008), White Hinterland, Pattern is Movement, Rodeo Ruby Child (2008).
Four Tet, Destroyer, Daniel Bejar, Extra Golden, Death Vessel (2009).
Best Coast
Best Coast is an American rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 2009. The band consists of songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Bethany Cosentino and guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno. Cosentino, a former child actress, began w ...
, Clovers, Light Pollution (2010).
Ty Segall, Beach Fossils,
The War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 2005. The band consists of Adam Granduciel (vocals, guitar), David Hartley (bass guitar), Robbie Bennett (keyboards), Charlie Hall (drums), Jon Natchez (saxopho ...
, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Sleeping Bag (2011).
Fang Island, the People's Temple, Busman's Holiday, Saintseneca, Triptides (2012).
Mikal Cronin
Michael "Mikal" Patrick Cronin (born 1985) is an American musician and songwriter. He has released four solo albums and several singles. Cronin was a member of the bands Okie Dokie, Epsilons, Party Fowl and Moonhearts, and is a regular and long ...
,
Maps & Atlases
Maps & Atlases is an American indie rock group from Chicago, Illinois, United States, equally influenced by alternative rock, folk and experimental music. In addition, they have been labeled as a math rock band.
The band has released three o ...
, Apache Droupout, Charlie Patton's War (2013).
Mac Demarco (2014), Royal Bangs (2014), Tunde Olarian (2014), Sleeping Bag (2014), Drekka (2014).
Foxygen
Foxygen is an American indie rock duo from Westlake Village, California, formed in 2005. The band consists of multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Rado and vocalist Sam France. They have released six albums and a number of self-released EPs.
History
R ...
, Twin Peaks, TOPS,
Mike Adams at His Honest Weight, Oreo Jones + Sirius Blvck, Thee Tsunamis, Dietrich Jon, and Vista Kid Cruiser (2015).
Neon Indian
Neon Indian is an American electronic music band from Denton, Texas. The music is composed by Mexican-born Alan Palomo (born July 24, 1988), who is also known for his work with the band Ghosthustler, and as the solo artist VEGA. The project has b ...
, Whitney,
White Reaper
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
(2016), Hoops (2016), Brenda's Friend, Spissy, Dasher, The Underhills, and Brownies in Cinema (2016).
Noname, Sales, Flasher, Post Animal, Kevin Krauter, High Fiber, House Olympics, Amy O, Drayco McCoy , F L A C O, and Mathaius Young (2017).
Chicano Batman, Milo, Joy Again, Melkbelly, Major Murphy, Nice Try, brz, Kailachare, Skull Cult, and Heaven Honey (2018).
Saba, SHAED, Lala Lala, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Boa, The Slaps, Chives, Willis & Diop, Allison Victoria, and ktfaithful (2019). Okay Kaya, Nissim Black, Russian Cowboy (2021)
WIUX Culture Shock Music Festival 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
WIUX Culture Shock Music Festival 2022 was replaced with the community event Music Market which featured local performers, artists and vendors.
Notable alumni
*
Michael Uslan
Michael E. Uslan (; born June 2, 1951) is an American lawyer and film producer. Uslan has also dabbled in writing and teaching, he is known for being the first instructor to teach an accredited course on comic book folklore at any university.
Ear ...
- The originator of the
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
movies and the first individual to teach a comic book folklore class at an accredited university.
*
Damon Bruce
Damon Matthew Bruce (born March 25, 1975) is an American sports radio host who currently hosts ''Damon and Ratto'' (with Ray Ratto) on KGMZ-FM "95.7 the Game" in San Francisco, California. An Indiana University Bloomington graduate, Bruce began hi ...
- Sports talk show host at
KGMZ 95.7 The Game in San Francisco.
*
Ben Heisler - Executive producer and host at
KCSP 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City.
*
Timothy Hittle - Academy Award-nominated director, writer and animator.
* Chris Swanson, Ben Swanson and Eric Weddle – Founders of
Secretly Canadian
Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Secretly Canadian is a label included in Secretly Group, which ...
record label
* Gary Schoenwetter, Vice President,
Sirius XM Radio
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...
References
External links
*
Herald-Times story about new stationHistory of WQAXIndiana Senators Support IU's WIUXPitchfork Online Magazine article about Culture ShockIDS reporting on WIUX Culture Shock 2008IDS Reporting on Culture Shock 2019IDS Reporting on the move to Franklin HallWIUX Station history of past Line Ups
{{Indiana college radio
IUX-LP
IUX-LP
IUX-LP
Indiana University
2006 establishments in Indiana
Radio stations established in 2006