WDSW-LP (88.1 FM) is a low-power

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

featuring an

Adult Album Alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, ...

format. Licensed to

Cleveland, Mississippi Cleveland is a city and one of two county seats of Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States, the other seat being Rosedale, Mississippi, Rosedale. The Cleveland population was 11,199 as of the 2020 United States census. Cleveland has a large c ...

, WDSW-LP serves the Cleveland, Renova, and

Boyle, Mississippi Boyle is a town in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 650 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 4.87%, is water. Demograp ...

areas. WDSW-LP is owned and operated by

Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, a city in the Mississippi Delta. History The school was established in 1924 by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricultu ...

. It broadcasts from the Nowell Student Union Building on the third floor.

History

WDSW-LP signed on as Delta State Radio in 2015 through a combination of donations, fundraising along with community and University support. The station's mission at the time was to serve the diversity of our communities by being an inclusive outlet for all the voices in the Delta. Programming during these early years included a block format which catered to mostly pop, adult hits, some alternative with occasional live programming provided by student, university and community members along with Delta State President William LaForge. There was also a short period with a country format along with religious content. WDSW-LP's mission changed in 2019 with the vision to integrate the station into Delta State's academic mission, thus reframing WDSW-LP as a learning lab for students as part of a broadcast curriculum. WDSW-LP ceased the majority of block programming in December 2019 with the removal of the 10pm - 5am jazz block and instituted an adult album alternative/roots/blues/select Southern-leaning classic rock format 24/7 to provide Cleveland and the surrounding communities with a format that is unserved by other broadcasters in the Delta. WDSW-LP shifted programming slightly starting in late March 2020 with the addition of Community Information Bulletins to relay hyper-local information to the surrounding communities about how the Delta was adapting to the COVID-19 Coronavirus. On April 27, 2022,

was awarded a construction permit by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

to build a new 50,000 watt FM station on 89.5 FM.

Coverage area

WDSW-LP can be heard reliably for a 8-10 mile radius around Delta State University. On good days, the station can be received as far north as Alligator (23 miles), Benoit (18 miles) to the southwest, Drew (12 miles) to the northeast and Doddsville (13 miles) to the southeast. In communities such as Ruleville, Shaw and cities around the 10 mile mark distant from WDSW-LP, WDSW-LP suffers from

attenuation In physics, attenuation (in some contexts, extinction) is the gradual loss of flux intensity through a Transmission medium, medium. For instance, dark glasses attenuate sunlight, lead attenuates X-rays, and water and air attenuate both light and ...

from trees and buildings in addition to

multipath In radio communication, multipath is the propagation phenomenon that results in radio signals reaching the receiving antenna by two or more paths. Causes of multipath include atmospheric ducting, ionospheric reflection and refraction, and refl ...

due to WDSW-LP's single bay antenna being HAAT.

Tropospheric propagation Tropospheric propagation describes electromagnetic propagation in relation to the troposphere. The service area from a VHF or UHF radio transmitter extends to just beyond the optical horizon, at which point signals start to rapidly reduce in st ...

when in active phases can reduce WDSW-LP's signal coverage to 3–5 miles.

References

External links

88.1 WDSW The Trail website

88.1 WDSW The Trail on ''Facebook''

88.1 WDSW The Trail on ''Instagram''
{{Clarksdale MS Radio Adult album alternative radio stations in the United States WDSW-LP WDSW-LP WDSW-LP Delta State University