WIDR
Encyclopedia
WIDR is a freeform
FM
radio station
that broadcasts from the Western Michigan University
in Kalamazoo, Michigan
. WIDR, a volunteer/student-run radio station licensed
to the Western Michigan University, broadcasts at 89.1 FM with 100 watt
s of power
. The station is entirely volunteer/student run and employs six part-time staff members. Staff members must be students at Western Michigan University, enrolled at least part-time. While the staff deal with most of the day-to-day operations, the station is largely run by its volunteers.
station. The station was started by a small group of students including Jack Clifford, who later went on to found the Food Network
. The station broadcast through the pipes of Western Michigan University; specifically throughout the dormitories. Thus, they picked as their call letters W.I.D.R., or Western Inter-Dormitory Radio.
For the first 23 years, WIDR broadcast as an AM
station at 750 kHz. In 1975, the student-staff filed paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to become an FM
station. They were given a frequency of 89.1 MHz, and allowed to broadcast at a power of 100 watt
s. WIDR is classified by the FCC as a non-commercial, educational station.
Today, the station goes by the moniker WIDR and is the only 100% local community radio station
serving the Greater Kalamazoo area.
Variety music shows draw music from within the WIDR's own music library. The library comprises mainly CDs from a number of non-mainstream or alternative record labels and represents styles ranging from alternative
, jazz
and hip-hop to electronic
, world
and experimental music
.
Experienced DJs are allowed to develop programming focusing on specific genres of music, such as ska
, reggae
or blues
.
Some DJs choose, instead of a specialty music program, to develop a public affairs program. These are generally talk
or interview-based programs focusing on subjects from current events to local culture.
operate at much more power than WIDR does.
WIDR broadcasts a number of popular specialty music and public affairs programs.
Western Michigan University holds the license to WIDR, and as such provides WIDR with mostly in-kind services
. These include the use of on-campus office space, electricity, internet access and the like.
WIDR's main funding source, however, is the community. Most of its operating budget
is raised during an annual, week-long fundraising drive. Called WIDR Week, the station plans a number of fundraising events, solicits donations on-air and requests donations from past supporters.
Barking Tuna Fest is WIDR's main annual event, held in the first weeks of October after classes are back in session. Barking Tuna Fest, or BTF, is held at a local music venue and generally features between four and eight bands or performers. Performers include at least one local band and one major headliner.
Past BTF headliners have included The New Pornographers
, Spoon, Mission of Burma, Stephen Malkmus
, Mates of State, RJD2, Tiny Lights, The New Duncan Imperials, Dan Deacon, Lighting Bolt, and King Khan & The Shrines.
Freeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform 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 commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
that broadcasts from the Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
. WIDR, a volunteer/student-run radio station licensed
Broadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
to the Western Michigan University, broadcasts at 89.1 FM with 100 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s of power
Electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...
. The station is entirely volunteer/student run and employs six part-time staff members. Staff members must be students at Western Michigan University, enrolled at least part-time. While the staff deal with most of the day-to-day operations, the station is largely run by its volunteers.
History
The station originally began broadcasting in 1952, as a carrier currentCarrier current
Carrier current is a method of low power AM radio transmission that uses the AC electrical system of a building to propagate a medium frequency, AM signal to a relatively small area, such as a building or a group of buildings...
station. The station was started by a small group of students including Jack Clifford, who later went on to found the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
. The station broadcast through the pipes of Western Michigan University; specifically throughout the dormitories. Thus, they picked as their call letters W.I.D.R., or Western Inter-Dormitory Radio.
For the first 23 years, WIDR broadcast as an AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
station at 750 kHz. In 1975, the student-staff filed paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) to become an FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
station. They were given a frequency of 89.1 MHz, and allowed to broadcast at a power of 100 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s. WIDR is classified by the FCC as a non-commercial, educational station.
Today, the station goes by the moniker WIDR and is the only 100% local community radio station
Community radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
serving the Greater Kalamazoo area.
Programming
WIDR's programming consists of a combination of variety music shows, specialty music shows and public affairs shows.Variety music shows draw music from within the WIDR's own music library. The library comprises mainly CDs from a number of non-mainstream or alternative record labels and represents styles ranging from alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and hip-hop to electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, world
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
and experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
.
Experienced DJs are allowed to develop programming focusing on specific genres of music, such as ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
or blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
.
Some DJs choose, instead of a specialty music program, to develop a public affairs program. These are generally talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
or interview-based programs focusing on subjects from current events to local culture.
WIDR's Signal
89.1 FM has only 100 watts of radiated power which doesn't cover the entire Kalamazoo area with static the more north and east of Downtown. Most Non-Commercial college stations such as WEMUWEMU
WEMU is the public broadcasting service of Eastern Michigan University.A National Public Radio affiliate whose primary market is Washtenaw County and the surrounding area, WEMU carries the standard NPR news magazines All Things Considered and Morning Edition...
operate at much more power than WIDR does.
WIDR broadcasts a number of popular specialty music and public affairs programs.
Funding
WIDR gets its funding from two sources: Western Michigan University and the listening public.Western Michigan University holds the license to WIDR, and as such provides WIDR with mostly in-kind services
Payment in kind
Payment in kind refers to payment for goods or services with a medium other than legal tender ....
. These include the use of on-campus office space, electricity, internet access and the like.
WIDR's main funding source, however, is the community. Most of its operating budget
Operating budget
An operating budget is the annual budget of an activity stated in terms of Budget Classification Code, functional/subfunctional categories and cost accounts. It contains estimates of the total value of resources required for the performance of the operation including reimbursable work or services...
is raised during an annual, week-long fundraising drive. Called WIDR Week, the station plans a number of fundraising events, solicits donations on-air and requests donations from past supporters.
Special events
WIDR hosts a number of special events every year on Western Michigan University's campus and in the city of Kalamazoo.Barking Tuna Fest is WIDR's main annual event, held in the first weeks of October after classes are back in session. Barking Tuna Fest, or BTF, is held at a local music venue and generally features between four and eight bands or performers. Performers include at least one local band and one major headliner.
Past BTF headliners have included The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia.-History:The band's first four albums each ranked in the top 40 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a...
, Spoon, Mission of Burma, Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Joseph Malkmus is an indie rock musician and icon, and a member of the band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.-Early years:...
, Mates of State, RJD2, Tiny Lights, The New Duncan Imperials, Dan Deacon, Lighting Bolt, and King Khan & The Shrines.