WNYF-TV is the student-run TV station of the

State University of New York at Fredonia The State University of New York at Fredonia (SUNY Fredonia) is a public university in Fredonia, New York, United States. It is the westernmost member of the State University of New York. Founded in 1826, it is the sixty-sixth-oldest institute o ...

. Sponsored by the Student Association, WNYF was founded in 1979 by two communications students, Robert Raff and Ken Kazubowski. At the time, the TV and Radio majors ( BA) were classified under Special Studies, and students developed a custom degree program. Students were limited in hands-on time in the existing

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

, and the color studio controlled by the

IRC Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat an ...

was often booked for months at a time. WNYF immediately gave students enhanced opportunities to develop the necessary skills to excel in the TV industry. The original student leaders, along with John Malcolm and engineer Bob Kovacs, were able to locate surplus video equipment scattered across the many departments of the college.

Negotiation Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties to reach the desired outcome regarding one or more issues of conflict. It is an interaction between entities who aspire to agree on matters of mutual interest. The agreement c ...

s, trades and some "midnight raids" produced almost enough equipment to get the station running. The only piece missing was a small master control

switcher A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as ''switching'' (US) or ''shunting'' (UK). Switchers are not inten ...

, which was purchased with the very first funding from the Student Association. WNYF's original local programming included a wide variety of student produced programs ranging from entertainment,

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, educational and even a student-written soap opera. In the station's first few months of existence, it began televising the annual dance marathon known as Superdance. The event raised funds for

Muscular Dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

. The around-the-clock coverage of the dance raised the awareness and prestige of this event and substantially increased participation over the next few years. WNYF maintains an archive of every show produced by the students since then. Relocated several times, WNYF settled into its current location in State University of New York at Hendrix Hall in 1997. WNYF broadcasts to the campus on cable Channel 11, and to community on Channels 17 in Fredonia and 19 in Dunkirk. The station also uploads every episode to their YouTube channel.

External links

Official Website

YouTube Channel

Facebook Page

Twitter Page

Instagram Profile

WNYF-TV WNYF-TV is the student-run TV station of the State University of New York at Fredonia. Sponsored by the Student Association, WNYF was founded in 1979 by two communications students, Robert Raff and Ken Kazubowski. At the time, the TV and Radio maj ...