WMUC-FM (90.5 MHz
FM) is the student-run non-commercial
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 the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...
in
College Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States Census. It is best know ...
, broadcasting at 30 watts. It is a
freeform radio
Free-form, or free-form radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commer ...
station staffed entirely by UMD students and volunteers.
Broadcast Coverage
WMUC can be heard on 90.5 FM in
College Park and
Hyattsville, in parts of
Washington, DC
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and
Silver Spring, and many of the surrounding communities. It is also streamed on the
internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...
a
wmuc.umd.eduand through the WMUC Radio app.
History
WMUC had its first beginning in 1942 when student-run Old Line Network began daily broadcasts. Gilbert Cullen, with the help of George Reynolds, built the first University of Maryland campus radio station. Broadcasts were limited to the campus, transmitted by
carrier current, so the station did not require an FCC license to operate. This became the fifth student-run campus station on the east coast. However, the station shut down January 1943 when most of its technical personnel were enlisted in the armed forces. The station re-launched in January using the call letters WMUC. The first WMUC broadcast aired October 11, 1948, but was shut down three days later due to transmission issues. The station relocated from the Speech Department to Silvester Hall in spring 1950, but in the fall, relocated again to a renovated shower stall in Calvert Hall where it remained until 1953. In 1953, WMUC moved to the old Journalism building (better known as Temporary Building FF) in a low-lying area of campus called "the gulch," where it stayed for over 20 years. Finally, the station relocated to the third floor of South Campus Dining Hall in fall 1974, where it currently resides.
WMUC received its FM license for 88.1 MHz in 1979 after a two-year "FM or Bust" campaign, airing as a 10-watt FM station for the first time on September 10, 1979. It adopted the freeform format in 1982 so DJs could promote underground artists and music that is under-represented by commercial radio. The WMUC(AM) 650 remained
Top-40 format.
WMUC(AM) gained credibility in the Washington, D.C. radio broadcasting job market, providing announcers and managerial talent to many local stations. Though primarily funded by student fees, it also generated revenue through advertising of local and national concerns. In this era, WMUC "acquired its first news network affiliation, saw Anne Edwards appointed as the first female station manager and, in 1965, was selected by the
Intercollegiate Broadcasting System to receive the 'All-American College Radio Station' Award", as recounted in the University's archives. In the mid 70s, programming broadened to include shows aimed at black and minority students and promoting
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
. Waning listenership and increasing maintenance of the campus-only carrier-current transmission system caused the shutdown of AM in 1999. In its place, the online service WMUC Digital was created.
In 2012, the University Libraries' establishment of the Digital Conversion and Media Reformatting Center (DCMR) facilitated the process of archiving and digitizing the station schedules, staff lists, policies, forms, flyers,
zine
A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...
s, photos, awards, correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, and manuals. The WMUC Collection is now a "permanent and growing part of the University Archives" and i
available for public research "Saving College Radio: WMUC Past, Present, and Future" was exhibited in
Hornbake Library from September 2013 to July 2014.
WMUC-FM's original operation was on channel 201 (88.1 MHz). At the time, WJHU at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD also operated a 10-watt Class D station on the same frequency. The two low-wattage stations did not interfere with each other to any noticeable extent. Over time, the WJHU license was conveyed to the entity that is now WYPR(FM), Baltimore. Because channel 201 was allotted to Baltimore as available for higher-class operation, WYPR(FM) increased power and added a directional signal toward the south. With its transmitter site located only 45 kilometers from the WMUC-FM transmitter site, this resulted in decades of interference, even on the College Park campus. (Class D FM stations are not protected from interference and must accept interference from higher-class full-service FMs.) After a long search, a channel was secured on 90.5 MHz and Washington, DC area stations WETA(FM) and WCSP(FM) agreed that WMUC-FM could operate with only second-adjacent channel separation to each of those stations (fourth-adjacent separation is normally required). This frequency change was made on July 25, 2022 and allowed freedom from extreme co-channel interference for the first time in more than 17 years.
Programming
WMUC-FM is true freeform radio, where the DJs themselves determine the programming of the station. An elected student Program Director assigns weekly time slots on the station to individual DJs, who are then responsible for programming, hosting, and promoting their respective shows. The schedule changes each semester, with the goal of offering a fresh perspective and diverse lineup of music and talk shows created by students at the University of Maryland.
In 2008, WMUC launched WMUC-2, now WMUC Digital, a separate internet-only radio station which, like WMUC-FM, features
freeform music and talk programming. Intended as a "proving ground" for new DJs, WMUC Digital also features programs which may not be appropriate for broadcast under FCC rules.
WMUC also has an active Sports department, which maintains its own website and internet stream a
wmucsports.net WMUC Sports features a regular schedule of talk radio shows as well as on-air play-by-play and color analysis of Maryland sporting events. Calling 10 different sports, WMUC Sports is the primary carrier of Maryland men's soccer, women's basketball, baseball, women's lacrosse, field hockey, and softball.
In the past, WMUC had an active News department, which was integrated with the former Radio Television and Film department at the University of Maryland. WMUC's news programming is now student run. The programming is divided into two segments: Weekly Roundup, the flagship news show featuring original reporting on top campus, national and DMV area news; and Drop the Pop, the featured talk show covering all things pop culture, politics, entertainment and more.
Live music
WMUC has a weekly live music program called Third Rail Radio (named after the electrically charged
third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...
of the DC
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban ...
system), started in 1996 by Eric Speck. Third Rail Radio hosts many local and traveling independent bands and musicians. In 2004, the program produced a compilation CD of artists who have appeared on the program.
In addition to Third Rail Radio, there are many in-studio performances. In the past, these have included
Louis Armstrong,
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...
,
The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...
,
Don McLean
Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...
, the
Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...
,
Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger Taylor the following year the band wen ...
, and
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of ...
. Recently,
Beach House
Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals).
Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 to ...
,
Future Islands,
Logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premis ...
,
Matt & Kim,
King Tuff,
Kurt Vile
Kurt Samuel Vile (born January 3, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is known for his solo work and as the former lead guitarist of rock band the War on Drugs. Both in the studio and during liv ...
,
Vivian Girls
Vivian Girls is an American band based in Brooklyn, New York. The only consistent members have been Cassie Ramone and Katy Goodman, on guitar and bass, respectively; the group has had several drummers throughout its history. They took their na ...
,
Alvvays
Alvvays (pronounced "always") is a Canadian indie pop band formed in 2011, originating from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and currently based in Toronto, Ontario. It consists of Molly Rankin (vocals and guitar), Kerri MacLellan (keyboards ...
,
Surfer Blood
Surfer Blood is an American indie rock band from West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, currently signed to Kanine Records, formerly signed to Joyful Noise Recordings and Warner Bros. Records. The band has four members: John Paul Pitts (lead ...
, and
Mitski have performed at WMUC.
Notable alumni
*
Bonnie Bernstein, sportscaster
*
John Davis, drummer of
Q And Not U
Q and Not U was a post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C., signed to Dischord Records. Members John Davis, Harris Klahr, Christopher Richards, and Matt Borlik formed the band in 1998. After Borlik's departure following the release of their f ...
, singer in
Georgie James and
Title Tracks
*
Mark Davis, radio talk show host,
KSKY-AM Dallas-Ft. Worth, columnist,
Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the '' Galvest ...
*
Connie Chung
Constance Yu-Hwa Chung (born August 20, 1946) is an American journalist. She has been an anchor and reporter for the U.S. television news networks NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. Some of her more famous interview subjects include Claus von B� ...
, TV news anchor
*
Len Elmore, sportscaster and former Maryland and NBA basketball player
*
Jeff Krulik, documentary Film Director (''
Heavy Metal Parking Lot'')
*
Aaron McGruder
Aaron Vincent McGruder (born May 29, 1974) is an American writer, cartoonist, and producer best known for creating '' The Boondocks'', a Universal Press Syndicate comic strip and its animated TV series adaptation.
Early life and education
Aar ...
, creator of ''
The Boondocks'' comic strip and TV show
*
Mark Robinson,
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
musician and founder of
TeenBeat Records
Teen Beat is an American independent record label, originally based in Arlington, Virginia, now based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded by Mark Robinson (of Unrest) in 1984 at Wakefield High School, along with Phil Krauth (of Unrest ...
and the band
Unrest
*
Peter Rosenberg, American radio disc jockey and television show host
*
Erin Smith, guitarist of
Bratmobile
Bratmobile was an American punk band from Olympia, Washington, active from 1991 to 2003, and known for being one of the first-generation "riot grrrl" bands. The band was influenced by several eclectic musical styles, including elements of pop, ...
References
External links
WMUC Website*
*
*
WMUC recordsat the
University of Maryland Libraries
The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an o ...
{{Authority control
University of Maryland, College Park
MUC-FM
MUC-FM
Radio stations established in 1950
1950 establishments in Maryland