WVKC (90.7 FM) is a 1,000-watt

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 ...

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

. Knox College is the station licensee, 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 ...

. WVKC is a student-operated

of Knox College. The call letters were originally chosen to stand for "The Voice of Knox College", although that

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

is not in active use. WVKC was known as "Radio-Free Galesburg" until as recently as 2005, when students decided on "No Sale Radio," again emphasizing that WVKC is a non-commercial, not-for-profit organization. In 2006, students opted to change the name to simply "The Voice," a slogan used by the station in the 1970s and 1980s.

Format

According to station lore, WVKC's official

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

is "Zippy the wonder bat." Though appearances are uncommon — usually occurring in the station's library — there are many bats living on the fourth floor of Knox's George Davis Hall, the same space that currently houses WVKC. Any student is welcome to become a DJ, with no experience necessary, and are free to play music of any

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

. Members from the community have also contributed to the on-air schedule, contributing

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

, and

latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

formats. The station also features live web broadcasting for remote listeners.

History

Founded as an experimental AM radio station in the 1920s. WVKC has been operating continuously for more than 50 years, making it one of the oldest college radio stations. * December 1924 - Knox College first operates an experimental AM radio station, WFBZ, until 1928. * 1950s - WKC (WVKC's direct predecessor) operated as a carrier current radio station, broadcasting to selected locations on campus. * 1961 - WVKC (a fourth letter having been added by the call sign) was granted by the FCC for a Low power FM station on 90.5 MHz. This was a Class D station at 10 watts ERP. * 1979 - Due to planned renovation and transfer to a developer of the station's location since 1961 (basement of Whiting Hall on W. Tompkins Street), the college granted the station space on the fourth floor of George Davis Hall (then vacant, and the original location of Knox's radio studio in the 1920s). * 1980 - The station acquired a refurbished Collins transmitter and moved into the fourth floor of George Davis Hall. Along with new studios, the station's power was increased to 1,000 watts ERP. * 1984 - Began broadcasting in stereo using a prototype Harris exciter. * 1990 - In cooperation with the FCC and to accommodate an increase in ERP by Augustana College's

WVIK WVIK (90.3 FM) is the flagship National Public Radio station for the Quad Cities region of eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois. It is based in Rock Island, Illinois, and licensed to and owned by Augustana College. The studios are located on Au ...

at 90.3 MHz in the Quad Cities area, as well as reducing adjacent channel interference with

, WVKC changed its FM frequency to 90.7 MHz. * 2007 - WVKC entered into a partnership with Tri-States Radio to bring regular

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

programming to Galesburg radio market. * 2013 - A 20-year management agreement was reached for Tri States Radio to operate Knox College’s student-run WVKC as a full-time NPR station for the Galesburg market. Knox College will retain its license to WVKC. Student programming will be distributed as an Internet-only stream and HD Radio channel. Tri States Radio is providing equipment and technical support to beef up the school’s capacity to deliver a high-quality audio stream

References

External links

*
WVKC's Early Years
{{coord, 40.946, N, 90.370, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title VKC Knox College (Illinois) NPR member stations VKC Radio stations established in 1961