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WSOU (89.5 FM) is a
non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that does not, in some sense, involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis. For example, advertising-free community ...
, college radio station. The station broadcasts from the campus of
Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest dioces ...
in
South Orange, New Jersey South Orange, officially the Township of South Orange Village, is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village's population was 16,198, reflecting a decline of 766 (4.5%) fr ...
. It is a
student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementa ...
-run station with university administrator Mark Maben serving as its current
General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all ...
. The station also streams
online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" o ...
.


Programming

The station currently broadcasts a modern active rock format, featuring heavy metal, punk, emo, hardcore and
post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has bee ...
as well as other types of rock-based music. Student
disc jockeys A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...
play music from this regular rotation during the vast majority of the week – with the exception of specialty shows and community programming (see below).


Managers

The station's general manager is Mark Maben, who has worked there since 2004. The elected student management board for 2022-2023 is as follows: Station Manager Kayla Fonseca, Program Director Joey Nardone, Music Director Patrick Ritter, News Director John Makuch, Promotions Director Kristin Acheson, Sports Director Joe Matthews, Technical Operations Director Joe Walls, and Social Media Director Mary Ortel


Specialty shows

WSOU broadcasts nightly "specialty shows", most of which are devoted entirely to a specific genre of music. WSOU also offers a diverse lineup of syndicated shows, including several programs from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The list includes '' Christopher Closeup'' and '' Voices of Our World''.


Sports programming

WSOU is also the leader in coverage of Seton Hall athletics. The sports department at WSOU broadcasts all home and away games for both men's and women's basketball, the school's flagship sports. Also aired throughout the year are select games for men's and women's soccer and baseball. Online listening at WSOU.net increases significantly when men's basketball games are broadcast. Following each men's basketball game is ''Hall Line'', a post game call-in show that allows Pirate fans the chance to share their thoughts about the game and/or the team. The show, which is hosted by student on-air talent, either in-studio or at the site of the game, has been on the air since the 1960s. It currently is the longest-running sports program at WSOU. Along with ''Hall Line'', WSOU also offers two Sunday evening sports talk shows hosted by students, ''From the Stands'' ( pro sports talk) and ''Pirate Primetime'' (Seton Hall athletics talk). ''Sports alumni'' In its 60th year of broadcasting, WSOU has had many notable alumni start their sports broadcasting careers while students at Seton Hall University and members of the radio station. Several of these alumni are well known throughout sports, including
Bob Ley Robert A. Ley ( ; born March 16, 1955) is an American sports anchor and reporter, best known for his work at ESPN. A multiple Emmy Award-winner, he was the longest-tenured on-air employee of the network, having joined ESPN just three days after ...
(ESPN), Bob Picozzi (ESPN), Jim Hunter (Baltimore Orioles broadcaster), Matt Loughlin (New Jersey Devils radio play-by-play announcer) and
Ed Lucas Edward Joseph Lucas Jr. (January 3, 1939 – November 10, 2021) was an American blind sportswriter who primarily covered the New York Yankees. Biography Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Lucas grew up in Weehawken, New Jersey and attended St. J ...
(Emmy Winning blind Yankee Broadcaster, YES Network.)


WSOU HD2

On July 1, 2009, WSOU launched WSOU HD2, a 24/7
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
programming channel. Seton Hall University first made the decision to invest in
HD radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
technology for WSOU, as to keep it on the cutting edge of broadcast technology. As HD radio technology allows broadcasting on multiple channels, the university chose to reflect its commitment to the Catholic mission through this additional channel. WSOU
Chief Engineer A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "ChEng" or "Chief", is the most senior engine officer of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that department..Chief engineer ...
Frank Scafidi and Jim Malespina, chair of the WSOU Advisory Board, program the channel on a weekly basis. It operates out of the WSOU studios. Programming highlights include: * Daily
Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different element ...
at 8 a.m. from Seton Hall's Chapel of the Immaculate Conception * Mornings with Mother, an
EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network, more commonly known by its initials EWTN, is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic-themed programming. It is not only the largest Catholic television network in ...
program with
Mother Angelica Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation (born Rita Antoinette Rizzo; April 20, 1923 – March 27, 2016), also known as Mother Angelica, was an American Roman Catholic nun of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. She was best known for the t ...
*
Women of Grace A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
* EWTN Spanish programming during the overnight hours *
Catholic Answers Live Catholic Answers is a Catholic advocacy group based in El Cajon, California. It describes itself as the largest lay-run apostolate of Catholic apologetics and evangelization in the United States. It publishes ''Catholic Answers Magazine'', ...
* Blocks of Christian rock and classical music in primetime The station also broadcasts some of the WSOU-FM weekend community programs, including the ''Celtic Heritage Hour'' and the ''Kinship of Catholics and Jews''.Information provided by the WSOU General Manager


History

WSOU began broadcasting on 89.5 FM on April 14, 1948, under the direction of Monsignor Thomas J. Gillhooly, the station's first faculty director. It was the first college-owned FM station in New Jersey and one of the first FM stations in the United States. Given the assignment by then-Seton Hall University president Monsignor James Kelly to create a radio station, Monsignor Gillhooly got WSOU up and running in just three months and provided a steady hand during the station's early days. Assisting Monsignor Gillhooly in building WSOU was the station's longtime chief engineer Tom Parnham, who helped construct the station and then remained with WSOU. Parnham worked at WSOU from 1948 until his death in 1994. WSOU began taking the shape of its current format in 1969, the first year it began to air rock and roll music. It embraced a hard rock and metal format starting on September 4, 1986. Other station milestones include the move to stereo technology in the 1970s, the start of online streaming in the mid-1990s (among the first NJ stations to do so), and the move to digital HD radio technology in 2008. In the 2000s, WSOU underwent amendments to its music format. At the request of university officials citing the Catholic mission of Seton Hall, certain bands were eliminated from regular rotation, while others were relegated to overnight airplay only. The most notable band that was eliminated from rotation was heavy metal act Slayer. It is estimated that over 120,000 people listen to the station each week. Its 2,400-watt signal from the Seton Hall campus reaches all five boroughs of New York City and much of northern and central New Jersey. WSOU's studios were originally located first floor of the university's recreation center, part of its South Orange campus. In 1998, the station was moved to a state-of-the-art facility inside a new addition to the recreation center. It operates there to this day, complete with three recording studios, a newsroom, the main on-air studio, the James Malespina Master Control Room, offices for student and station management, a classroom and the Dino and Diane Tortu Student Lounge. Due to a sponsorship arrangement, WSOU has renamed their studios the
Meadowlands Racetrack The Meadowlands Racetrack (currently referred to as Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment) is a horse racing track at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The track hosts both thoroughbred racing and harnes ...
Studio, as heard during their
Station Identification Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, ...
messages. The studio has not relocated to the Meadowlands. In 2021 DJ Valentino Petrarca made history by being the first staff member to interview 100 artists. When he left WSOU in 2022 he had ended with 136 under his belt. WSOU has earned many honors and numerous awards over the years, including: *
Marconi Award :''"Marconi Award" links here. Note that in the Netherlands, the radio academy awards are also called Marconi Awards.'' The Marconi Radio Awards are presented annually by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to the top radio stations and ...
for Best Non-Commercial Radio, 2016 *
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
* '' CMJ'' College Station of the Year (multiple times) * Friday Morning Quarterback Metal Station of the Year (three consecutive times) * Recipient of over 30
gold and platinum records Gold is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a Brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, s ...
, ranging from Iron Maiden to Linkin Park * ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
'' rock magazine distinction as a “Top 5 radio stations in the country”


WSOU and Seton Hall University

WSOU has been a crucial part of the Seton Hall University community since its inception. In its current format, all of the station's DJs, newscasters, sportscasters and engineers are enrolled students at the university (with the exception of weekend community programmers, many of which are Seton Hall alumni). Additionally, students are elected to one-year management terms to head the station – specifically the programming, music, promotions, news and sports departments. Through the students and the community programmers, the station stays live on the air 24/7, 365 days a year. Since its inception, WSOU has always been a student-run radio station and, to this day, Seton Hall University owns the station's FM license. Although a noncommercial station, WSOU's management and staff structure is modeled on commercial radio, which provides students with enriching career-oriented educational experiences. Opportunities for student staff members include on-air hosting (DJing), production, promotions, newscasting, sportscasting, programming, sales and marketing, and engineering. WSOU draws students from all university colleges and programs, including communications, business, biology, education, nursing, sports management and diplomacy. The WSOU student staff also participate with many university events, such as the annual University Day homecoming weekend.


WSOU mission statement

The following Mission Statement concerning the nature of WSOU is taken from the WSOU-FM Task Force (August, 1988): The Mission of WSOU-FM is: To provide students with an educational experience in a co-curricular activity which is both pedagogically sound and professionally realistic; To foster the image of Seton Hall University as a principled institution of higher education committed to teaching in the real world; and To provide the university and the immediate community of northern New Jersey's metropolitan area with public service in broadcasting that meets the public's interests, convenience and needs.


Controversies

Since WSOU's inception, station management has frequently clashed with Seton Hall University's president and board of trustees over its heavy metal programming. Monsignor Robert Sheeran, who was at the time president of Seton Hall, felt it was inappropriate for a Roman Catholic educational and religious institution to air programming counter to the Roman Catholic belief. Sheeran and the university's board of trustees made veiled threats to shut the station down and sell the FCC license if programming was not more aligned to the Catholic faith. The university, realizing the large listener and community support, backed down and let the station's heavy metal programming continue. Catholic programming was later made available on WSOU's HD-2 sub-digital channel. On June 1, 2006, Michael Collazo, a Seton Hall University professor and faculty advisor at WSOU, was arrested and charged with money laundering and embezzlement of over half a million dollars from illegal leasing of the station's subcarrier to EIES of New Jersey, an audio service for the blind and a Haitian radio service starting in 1991 until he was fired by Seton Hall University in 2004 after the university conducted an audit of WSOU's finances. On July 12, 2006, Collazo pleaded guilty to embezzlement, with prosecutors seeking a five-year jail sentence. In 2021, members of a group calling themselves "Shut Down WSOU" began protesting outside Seton Hall University, claiming WSOU to be "Satanic" and demanding that the station be shut down. In response, a Seton Hall University spokesperson stated that "WSOU's advisory board WSOU students and alumni along with Seton Hall University clergy and administrators, meets regularly to review the station's content and operating policies and standards."


Notable alumni

For more than 70 years, WSOU has been mentoring and graduating students who go on successful careers in the news, broadcast, music and entertainment industries. The following is a sampling of the many noteworthy station alumni * Bernie Wagenblast, WINS, WABC traffic reporter, one of the voices of the New York City Subway *
Bob Ley Robert A. Ley ( ; born March 16, 1955) is an American sports anchor and reporter, best known for his work at ESPN. A multiple Emmy Award-winner, he was the longest-tenured on-air employee of the network, having joined ESPN just three days after ...
,
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
Sports Center anchor * Bob Picozzi, ESPN Radio & TV, former sports anchor on ESPN's Mike & Mike National Radio Program * Bob Wussler, former president, CBS Television Network; co-founder of CNN (deceased) * Bryan DeNovellis, weekend sports anchor, News 12 New Jerseyze WWZY 107.1/99.7FM * Donna Fiducia, former Fox News Channel anchor and NYC television personality *
Ed Lucas Edward Joseph Lucas Jr. (January 3, 1939 – November 10, 2021) was an American blind sportswriter who primarily covered the New York Yankees. Biography Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Lucas grew up in Weehawken, New Jersey and attended St. J ...
, Emmy-winning Yankee blind broadcaster, YES Network * Jim Hunter, play-by-play announcer, Baltimore Orioles * Joey Wahler, WFAN sports anchor * John Kobylt, KFI talk show host * Kim Mulligan, co-host, WDHA's ''Morning Jolt'' * Mark St. Germain, playwright * Matt Loughlin,
New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The club was founded as the Kans ...
radio play-by-play announcer *
Pete Tauriello Pete Tauriello is a veteran traffic anchor on 1010 WINS, WKXW and several other radio stations in the New York City area including a few years on the Z-100 "Morning Zoo." He has also served as a traffic reporter on WWOR-TV and more recently on WNBC ...
, 1010 WINS/Metro Networks traffic reporter * Robert Desiderio, actor


References


External links


WSOU official websiteSeton Hall University official website
* * *
WSOU archival collection
{{New Jersey college radio Seton Hall University SOU Radio stations established in 1948