WVOF (88.5
FM) is a
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 radi ...
licensed to
Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. The station is owned by
Fairfield University. As of August 2008, the station has been a partner with
Connecticut Public Radio
Connecticut Public Radio is a network of public radio stations in the state of Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and eastern Long Island, affiliated with NPR (National Public Radio). It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, whi ...
and carries Connecticut Public Radio and
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.
History
WVOF commenced operations in the spring of 1970 as a
carrier current radio station heard on 620 AM serving the residence halls located in the quadrangle of Fairfield University. A carrier current system is a method of broadcasting utilizing the electrical wires in a building as an antenna. This type of operating does not require the station to be licensed 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 jurisdicti ...
(FCC).
In the early 1970s, then-station manager Stan Hrniak (who later went on to work for
Connecticut Public Television
Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses ...
) made the first application to the FCC for an FM license. The first antenna was placed on Canisius Hall. The station's broadcasts were piped into the Barone Campus Center. WVOF's record library was kept in the basement of Regis Hall and the early news broadcasts were produced with the aid of a
UPI
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
rip-and-read teletype. By 1976 there were two broadcast studios and one production studio in the cramped quarters.
Some of the early student personalities during that time 1970-76 included Hrniak, a senior when the station "went FM" who hosted music and news events, who is widely credited with being the single most influential person responsible for navigating the station's initiative to move to FM; Mick McCullough, who later became station manager and a music host;Bill O'Neal, a Maine native who worked professionally for a number of stations in Portland after graduating from Fairfield in 1972; Mary Beth Carmody, one of the station's first female hosts; Rich Mcheer, a hockey announcer when the Stags had a club hockey team that played at Bridgeport's Wonderland of Ice; and Doc Hynes, who was a music host and basketball play-by-play announcer who teamed with McCullough blending sports and comedy during game broadcasts, which occasionally got them in hot water with the university administration.
During the mid-1980s, the station was under the leadership of Music Director Sean "The Hag" Hagearty. In 2002, the Fairfield University's radio station opened for business in a new three-studio complex in the John A. Barone Campus Center. WVOF regularly hears from listeners in South America, Europe, the West Coast and Canada.
Connecticut Public Radio
On June 19, 2008, the
Connecticut Public Broadcasting Corporation and Fairfield University announced a partnership between
Connecticut Public Radio
Connecticut Public Radio is a network of public radio stations in the state of Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and eastern Long Island, affiliated with NPR (National Public Radio). It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, whi ...
("WNPR") and WVOF. WVOF broadcasts WNPR's program schedule every weekday morning from 5 to 10 a.m., every weekday afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m., and weekend mornings from 5 a.m. to noon.
Sports Radio
Bridgeport Bluefish
In 2002, WVOF began carrying
Bridgeport Bluefish
The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...
baseball games, and on July 12, 2006, it carried the
Atlantic League All-Star Game.
Fairfield Stags Basketball
WVOF is the home of
Fairfield Stags men's and women's basketball. Men's basketball coverage is led play-by-play analyst
Bob Heussler with color commentary from Stag basketball legend
Joe DeSantis '79. Women's basketball coverage is led by play-by-play analyst John Cummings with color commentary from former UConn guard Maria Conlon. Fairfield University students participate in the production and color commentary for both the men's and women's games.
Fairfield Stags Lacrosse
WVOF is also the home of several
Fairfield Stags men's lacrosse home games each year.
Fairfield alumni in TV, radio, film, and other media
*
Sonia Baghdady - News Anchor
WTNH
WTNH (channel 8) is a television station licensed to New Haven, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WCTX (channel 59), ...
,
Emmy Award winner
*
Burt Kearns
Burt Kearns is an American author, television and film producer, writer and director, and journalist, known for his work in reality television and his controversial 1999 tabloid television memoir, '' Tabloid Baby''.
His latest book, a biography ...
'78 - television and film producer, writer, director, journalist and author
*
Donna Savarese
Donna Savarese is two-time Emmy Award-winning former journalist. Savarese is a graduate of Fairfield University with a bachelor of arts degree in political science.
Career
As a journalist, Savarese anchored the 6 pm newscast at KMOV-TV in St. Lo ...
- News Anchor
KMOV
KMOV (channel 4) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Circle owned-and-operated station KDTL-LD (channel 16). The two stations s ...
,
Emmy Award &
Edward R. Murrow Award winner
See also
*
Connecticut Public Radio
Connecticut Public Radio is a network of public radio stations in the state of Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and eastern Long Island, affiliated with NPR (National Public Radio). It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, whi ...
*
Fairfield University
*
Campus radio
References
*
{{NPR Connecticut
Mass media in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Fairfield University
Fairfield, Connecticut
Mass media in Fairfield County, Connecticut
VOF
Western swing
VOF
NPR member stations
Radio stations established in 1970
1970 establishments in Connecticut