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WHUS is a
non-commercial educational A non-commercial educational station (NCE station) is a radio station or television station that does not accept on-air advertisements (television advertisement, TV ads or radio advertisement, radio ads), as defined in the United States by the Fed ...
FM
college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
station. It transmits with 4,400 watts on 91.7
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...
from the main campus of the
University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...
in Storrs to audiences in eastern Connecticut, southern Massachusetts and western Rhode Island. WHUS operates as a campus-focused station that features members of the student body and the local community. WHUS also streams their programming through a continuous online stream, and offers news articles, multimedia features, podcasts, and student-submitted work. and is available on the WHUS Radio smartphone app.


Programming

WHUS broadcasts over 100 shows featuring a diverse mix of music, from
polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...
to
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
. In 2014 WHUS added a second online streaming station, WHUS-2, to accommodate additional DJs. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays WHUS airs public affairs and talk programs. It also provides commercial-free coverage of ten
sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...
at UConn. WHUS has four departments: Music, News, Sports and Talk.In-person interview with Adam Hushin, current member of the WHUS News department. The News department has about ten members and focuses on coverage of local news stories, particularly pertaining to the UConn community. The News team is responsible for finding stories, interviewing sources and creating written articles accompanied by audio productions. The News department also produces and hosts a weekly news show in collaboration with
The Daily Campus ''The Daily Campus'', founded in 1896, is a student-run newspaper at the University of Connecticut. The weekday paper services the main campus of UConn and Storrs, Connecticut community with circulation during the school term. Since its creatio ...
and UCTV called Husky Nation News that provides news updates from the prior week and conversation about campus happenings. WHUS Sports travels across the country, providing play-by-play updates, covering UConn men's and women's basketball and football. They also cover men's and women's soccer, hockey and baseball. In addition to their on-air productions, WHUS hosts multiple concerts at UConn each semester, exposing the community to unique bands and artists.


Multimedia

In 2014 WHUS opened a multimedia production studio for video and audio recording and mixing. This resulted in the creation of the WHUS Promotions, Training, Online and Tech/IT Departments. The WHUS Promotions department has two areas of concentration: the marketing and events departments. The marketing department and street team focus on advertising, branding and marketing. The Events department plans and orchestrates the concerts and speakers held throughout the semester. They also help connect WHUS DJs with other organizations for events on campus. The Training department works with the other departments, training in broadcast, media production and management. The Online department produces online content reflective of WHUS' broadcast and non-broadcast activities. Tech/IT educates students on server maintenance, computer support and the functioning of broadcast equipment.


History

WHUS's debut as a non-commercial FM station occurred in 1957. However, organized radio broadcasting at the University of Connecticut began in the early 1920s.


WABL / WCAC

On June 1, 1923, the university, then called Connecticut Agricultural College, was issued a license for a new AM station using a community service name of Storrs, with sequentially assigned call letters of WABL. The station initially operated on 1060 kHz with 100-watts from an on-campus antenna supported by two steel towers. In 1925 power was increased to 500 watts and the call letters changed to WCAC. On April 30, 1936, WCAC's license was voluntarily surrendered for cancellation, due to frustrations over restricted operating hours and constant frequency and power changes mandated by the
Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by ...
(FRC) and its 1934 successor 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 ...
(FCC), that made it impossible for the college to achieve its goal of developing a state-wide educational service.


AM carrier current station

Around the time that WCAC went off the air, students at
Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
in Providence, Rhode Island were developing a campus-wide broadcast service called "The Brown Network". This employed "
carrier current Carrier current transmission, originally called wired wireless, employs guided low-power Radio frequency, radio-frequency signals, which are transmitted along electrical conductors. The transmissions are picked up by receivers that are either conne ...
" transmissions, using multiple very low power AM band radio transmitters that fed their signals into building electrical wires, for reception by any standard radios that were close by. Because of their extremely limited coverage, the FCC did not require carrier current stations to be licensed. Station installations soon spread to other college campuses, especially in the northeastern United States. Representatives from the University of Connecticut traveled to Brown to investigate the idea, and decided to establish a station at their main campus. In February 1940 the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) was formed to coordinate activities between twelve college carrier current stations and to solicit advertisers interested in sponsoring programs geared toward their student audiences, with the University of Connecticut as one of the charter members. The University of Connecticut station initially identified itself as both the "Husky Network" and "UCBS", which stood for the "University of Connecticut Broadcasting System".Bloch (1980) pages 82-83. It began broadcasting on April 8, 1940, using student-built equipment installed by a group headed by LaVerge Williams. The station was initially funded by the Student Senate, but in the fall of 1941 became financially independent by selling airtime to advertisers. A May 1943 review of the "Husky Network" stated that the station was operating from 7:00-8:30 a.m. and 5:00-11:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, for a total of 37½ hours per week. However, equipment shortages due to the outbreak of World War II, as well as staff entering the military, caused the station to cease operations until after the war. Operations were reactivated in May 1946, under the guidance of Dan Harris, operating on 560 kHz from 4-10 p.m. A 1948 review stated that transmitters were operating on both 560 and 640 kHz, with advertisers that included local grocery, drug, and stationary stores as well as restaurants. The station now identified itself as "WHUS", although because it did not need a license these call letters were not formally assigned by the FCC. The studios were moved from the basement of Koons Hall to the new Student Union Building in 1952. Between 1954 and 1956, there was another hiatus in broadcasting owing to technical difficulties in complying with FCC restrictions on signal strength. Eventually low power AM broadcasting was resumed at 670 kHz. AM programming was predominant through the late 1960s, although during periods when the AM and FM stations were carrying the same program, provisions had to be made to avoid airing commercials on the FM side, which was only licensed for non-commercial operation. In 1963 twenty-four-hour-a-day broadcasting was started on WHUS (AM) with the use of automatic reverse tape reels that provided 6 hours of programming. However, by the mid-1970s the closed-carrier AM broadcasting system had fallen into disrepair and was discontinued.


FM station

In 1957 the university received a license for a 10-watt non-commercial FM station operating on 90.5 MHz, which was now formally issued the WHUS call letters by the FCC. This new authorization meant that station coverage was no longer limited to just the campus. WHUS moved to 91.7 MHz in 1966, increased power to 1,250 watts in 1968, then to 3,200 watts in 1974. In the mid-1970s student managers decided to operate the station 24 hours a day year round, adding non-student volunteers to staff and produce programs. WHUS became a "community" station. Beginning about 1975, a major refurbishment of the studios upgraded the mostly mono vintage equipment so that in 1977 FM-stereo broadcasting could begin. In 1997, WHUS built a new tower that allowed its signal to reach a radius. This expansion into the
Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
area helped grow its audience. During the summer of 1998, WHUS began
webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, webca ...
ing its air signal over the Internet. The station moved to an old farmhouse on the North Campus in 2002 for the remodeling of the Student Union. In 2006 the station's website, WHUS.org, acquired a new design and a schedule database system, which allowed dynamic displays of currently playing and upcoming shows. In 2007, the station moved into new state-of-the-art studios in the remodeled Student Union.


Awards

Between 2002 and 2013, WHUS was voted "Best College Radio" by the readers of the Hartford Advocate each year except 2006, when it received a second place award."Hartford Advocate Best of Awards" ''Hartford Advocate'' In December 2009, WHUS was recognized as a finalist in the University of Connecticut's Provost's Award for Excellence in Community Engagement. At the 2014 Intercollegiate Broadcast System Awards in NYC, WHUS Studio Sessions won "Best Live Performance" and "Most Creative Program." WHUS was also a finalist in the "Best Use of Social Media," "Best Sports Broadcast," and "Best Radio Drama" categories that year. In 2015, WHUS won "Best News Delivery" and "Best Facebook Page" at the College Media Association Apple Awards.


See also

*
Campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
*
List of college radio stations in the United States Following are radio stations in the United States of America affiliated with colleges and universities that are regarded as college (student-run) stations. The listings include links to Wikipedia pages on the stations, their parent institution ...


References


External links

*
FCC History Cards for WHUS
(covering 1955–1978)
WHUS official website
(WHUS.org)
WHUStory: The history of college radio at the University of ConnecticutRobert J's WHUS Memories Museum: 80 Years of UConn Radio
by Bob ("Robert J") Neagle

(mediaconferences.org)
College Media Association Apple Awards
(collegemedia.org) {{DEFAULTSORT:Whus HUS University of Connecticut HUS Radio stations established in 1957 1957 establishments in Connecticut Mansfield, Connecticut