WMSE
Encyclopedia
WMSE is a non-commercial
radio station
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
, playing a wide-ranging eclectic
music format run by volunteer DJ's. The station is part of the Milwaukee School of Engineering
(MSOE).
. The call letters assigned (sequentially, they had no meaning) were WIAO. Since December 1, 1921, radio stations had been assigned two wavelengths: 360 meters (833 kHz) for "broadcasting news, concerts and such matter", and 485 meters (619 kHz) for "broadcasting crop reports and weather forecasts". As such, WIAO was licensed to broadcast on a wavelength
of 360 meters (833.3 kHz). Although its license called for “unlimited” time at a power of 500 Watts, the fact that the three other Milwaukee stations: WAAK (Gimbel Brothers department store), WCAY (Kesselman O’Driscol Music Co.) and WHAD (Marquette University
), were also licensed for the 360 meter band, meant that WIAO had to share time with them.
At 10:15 a.m. on October 23 of that year, WIAO went on the air from the school's Marshall Street building with 100 watts of power, using a student-built transmitter. That power level was formalized on January 9, 1923 when a new license was issued.
On July 23, 1923, another new license was issued — this time solely to the School of Engineering — specifying a power level of 200 Watts. The power level was reduced to 100 watts on October 9.
In January 1924, The Wisconsin News, began programming the station on a part time basis. On May 31, 1924, the station was authorized to shift its frequency to 246 meters (1220 kHz). The station did so at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 9. On August 18 of that year, WIAO changed its call letters to WSOE. On December 31, the school announced that it had purchased all of the equipment of WCBD in Zion, Illinois (one of the first religious stations, which also preached "flat earth
" information). The purchase included a new, more powerful (500 Watt) transmitter and twin towers, which were mounted atop the school's Oneida (now Wells) Street building. The new WSOE was dedicated on July 8, 1925. At that time, The Wisconsin News took over programming the station full time, while the School of Engineering took care of technical operations. Formal approval of the power increase was issued on July 15.
The authorized power level was increased to 1,000 watts on April 21, 1927.
At 3:00 a.m. on June 15, 1927, the first of two major reassignments of radio frequencies made by the new Federal Radio Commission
(FRC
) took effect. The reassignment affected almost 600 of the nation’s 694 radio stations. WSOE was shifted to a wavelength of 270 meters (1110 kHz).
The Journal Co.
had programmed Marquette University’s station, WHAD, since January 1925. It couldn’t come to a satisfactory agreement with them on where to take the station, and at the suggestion of a Federal Radio Commissioner, decided to purchase another. On April 20, 1927, The Journal Co. purchased WKAF.
On June 1, 1927, WSOE was shifted to a frequency of 1110 kHz and its power reduced to 500 Watts. WHAD was assigned to a wavelength of 293 meters (1020 kHz), and ordered to share time with WKAF until the Journal Co. took over the latter station, at which time WHAD would be moved to another frequency. That happened on July 25, 1927, and the call letters were changed to WTMJ
.
As a result, WHAD was shifted to 270 meters (1110 kHz) on September 15, and ordered to share time with WSOE. On October 15, WSOE’s power was cut to 250 Watts.
To compete with WTMJ, The Wisconsin News entered into a lease arrangement with the School of Engineering on November 15, 1927. The lease was for a minimum of three years. The agreement specified that the newspaper was to “operate the station and furnish all financial support while its ownership and technical supervision was to remain in the hands of the school." Subsequent license applications filed on January 11 & 12 were filed in the name of the School of Engineering and The Wisconsin News, respectively.
To reflect the new arrangement, The Wisconsin News changed the call letters of WSOE to WISN on January 23, 1928.
With the issuance of its General Order 40
on August 30, 1928, the FRC assigned WISN a new wavelength of 267 meters (1120 kHz) at 250 Watts of power. The new assignment took effect on November 11. It was also ordered to share time with WHAD, with WISN receiving six-sevenths of the available time, and WHAD one-seventh. The studios, transmitter and towers were still located at the School of Engineering. WHAD had objected to the time-share arrangement with WISN, but its request to shift to 900 kHz was denied by the FRC on October 22.
WISN applied for permission to increase its power to 1000 Watts on July 29, 1930, and it was granted by the FRC on September 12. The station was sold to The Wisconsin News in November of that year.
The station continued to be located at the School of Engineering until 1932. That year, the School of Engineering reorganized itself as a non-profit corporation, and changed its name to the Milwaukee School of Engineering
(MSOE). It moved from the Oneida Street building after purchasing the German-English Academy on North Broadway Street. Hearst also owned the morning newspaper, The Milwaukee Sentinel, and the WISN station offices and studios were relocated to its building on Michigan Avenue. The transmitter and tower were relocated to the top of the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co.’s Public Service Building, and the newspaper took over operational responsibility for WISN.
AM
station. In July 1978, MSOE students applied for an FM construction permit for an educational station on 91.7 MHz -- although the application was in the name of the school's board of regents. The school received a construction permit on December 12, 1979.
From about 1978 to 1980, WSOE operated as a 5 watt unlicensed FM station. It lasted until 1980, when it shut down to clear the way for MSOE's very own 1000-watt FM
station, WMSE. Programming consisted of an eclectic mix of freeform
programming from volunteer DJs. Most DJs have three-hour time slots, and program as they wish, mostly within their chosen formats.
In 1988-89 there was a brief period of controversy for the station as it banned the musical genre heavy metal
, arguably WMSE's most well-publicized late night programming. A small backlash was aided by local musician advocates, as well as record producer Eric Greif
, which included an organized advertising boycott which was covered by the Wisconsin media.
In 1994, the station upgraded its equipment and increased its power to 3200 watts. In the late 1990s the station expanded its potential audience through its website, wmse.org, which supports live streaming audio as well as downloadable archives. In 1999, the university cut the station's funding, and it is now entirely listener and sponsor supported, with most money being raised by twice-yearly on-air fund drives.
Since 2003, WMSE has released a series of CD compilations featuring performances recorded live in the station's studio.
After funding from the college was cut, WMSE became even more dependent on listener support. The station allots two weeks out of the year, one in the fall and one in the spring in which listeners can pledge. These pledge drive typically include numerous on-air live performances from both local and national artists. Though there are designated times for donation, WMSE accepts any donations at any time in the year.
They also hold an annual Rockabilly Chili Contest and a Food Slam Competition that many local businesses participate in.
For their 25th anniversary on March 17, 2006, they made available several limited edition prints of works donated by local artists for individuals who donated above a certain level.
and the Wisconsin Arts Board,The M.S.E. Project web site includes music news, Mp3’s from local artists, and FAQs for bands interested in getting their music heard on the station. The project also established a dedicated time-slot for live in-studio performances.
Non-commercial
Non-commercial refers to an activity or entity that does not in some sense involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis...
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...
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, playing a wide-ranging eclectic
Eclecticism in music
Eclecticism is used to describe a composer's conscious use of styles alien to his nature, or from one or more historical styles. The term is also used pejoratively to describe music whose composer, thought to be lacking originality, appears to have freely drawn on other models .-Sources:* Kennedy,...
music format run by volunteer DJ's. The station is part of the Milwaukee School of Engineering
Milwaukee School of Engineering
The Milwaukee School of Engineering is a private university located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. MSOE is best known for its applications-oriented curriculum, close association with business and industry, and extremely high placement rate...
(MSOE).
Early history of MSOE stations
On July 22, 1922, a broadcasting license was issued jointly to the School of Engineering of Milwaukee and the daily evening newspaper, The Wisconsin News, which was owned by the Hearst CorporationHearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
. The call letters assigned (sequentially, they had no meaning) were WIAO. Since December 1, 1921, radio stations had been assigned two wavelengths: 360 meters (833 kHz) for "broadcasting news, concerts and such matter", and 485 meters (619 kHz) for "broadcasting crop reports and weather forecasts". As such, WIAO was licensed to broadcast on a wavelength
Wavelength
In physics, the wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial period of the wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.It is usually determined by considering the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase, such as crests, troughs, or zero crossings, and is a...
of 360 meters (833.3 kHz). Although its license called for “unlimited” time at a power of 500 Watts, the fact that the three other Milwaukee stations: WAAK (Gimbel Brothers department store), WCAY (Kesselman O’Driscol Music Co.) and WHAD (Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
), were also licensed for the 360 meter band, meant that WIAO had to share time with them.
At 10:15 a.m. on October 23 of that year, WIAO went on the air from the school's Marshall Street building with 100 watts of power, using a student-built transmitter. That power level was formalized on January 9, 1923 when a new license was issued.
On July 23, 1923, another new license was issued — this time solely to the School of Engineering — specifying a power level of 200 Watts. The power level was reduced to 100 watts on October 9.
In January 1924, The Wisconsin News, began programming the station on a part time basis. On May 31, 1924, the station was authorized to shift its frequency to 246 meters (1220 kHz). The station did so at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 9. On August 18 of that year, WIAO changed its call letters to WSOE. On December 31, the school announced that it had purchased all of the equipment of WCBD in Zion, Illinois (one of the first religious stations, which also preached "flat earth
Flat Earth
The Flat Earth model is a belief that the Earth's shape is a plane or disk. Most ancient cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period ...
" information). The purchase included a new, more powerful (500 Watt) transmitter and twin towers, which were mounted atop the school's Oneida (now Wells) Street building. The new WSOE was dedicated on July 8, 1925. At that time, The Wisconsin News took over programming the station full time, while the School of Engineering took care of technical operations. Formal approval of the power increase was issued on July 15.
The authorized power level was increased to 1,000 watts on April 21, 1927.
At 3:00 a.m. on June 15, 1927, the first of two major reassignments of radio frequencies made by the new Federal Radio Commission
Federal Radio Commission
The Federal Radio Commission was a government body that regulated radio use in the United States from its creation in 1926 until its replacement by the Federal Communications Commission in 1934...
(FRC
FRC
The three-letter acronym FRC can have several different meanings:*Facultad Regional Cordoba, a technical university.*False Roman Cancel, a technique used in the fighting game series Guilty Gear...
) took effect. The reassignment affected almost 600 of the nation’s 694 radio stations. WSOE was shifted to a wavelength of 270 meters (1110 kHz).
The Journal Co.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state...
had programmed Marquette University’s station, WHAD, since January 1925. It couldn’t come to a satisfactory agreement with them on where to take the station, and at the suggestion of a Federal Radio Commissioner, decided to purchase another. On April 20, 1927, The Journal Co. purchased WKAF.
On June 1, 1927, WSOE was shifted to a frequency of 1110 kHz and its power reduced to 500 Watts. WHAD was assigned to a wavelength of 293 meters (1020 kHz), and ordered to share time with WKAF until the Journal Co. took over the latter station, at which time WHAD would be moved to another frequency. That happened on July 25, 1927, and the call letters were changed to WTMJ
WTMJ (AM)
WTMJ is a radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin broadcasting at 620 AM. It is a 50,000-watt station airing a format of news, talk and sports. WTMJ is owned by Journal Broadcast Group, which also owns the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and sister station WLWK-FM....
.
As a result, WHAD was shifted to 270 meters (1110 kHz) on September 15, and ordered to share time with WSOE. On October 15, WSOE’s power was cut to 250 Watts.
To compete with WTMJ, The Wisconsin News entered into a lease arrangement with the School of Engineering on November 15, 1927. The lease was for a minimum of three years. The agreement specified that the newspaper was to “operate the station and furnish all financial support while its ownership and technical supervision was to remain in the hands of the school." Subsequent license applications filed on January 11 & 12 were filed in the name of the School of Engineering and The Wisconsin News, respectively.
To reflect the new arrangement, The Wisconsin News changed the call letters of WSOE to WISN on January 23, 1928.
With the issuance of its General Order 40
General Order 40
General Order 40 was an order issued on August 30, 1928 by the new Federal Radio Commission under the Radio Act of 1927 which provided for a reallocation of the commercial broadcast radio spectrum....
on August 30, 1928, the FRC assigned WISN a new wavelength of 267 meters (1120 kHz) at 250 Watts of power. The new assignment took effect on November 11. It was also ordered to share time with WHAD, with WISN receiving six-sevenths of the available time, and WHAD one-seventh. The studios, transmitter and towers were still located at the School of Engineering. WHAD had objected to the time-share arrangement with WISN, but its request to shift to 900 kHz was denied by the FRC on October 22.
WISN applied for permission to increase its power to 1000 Watts on July 29, 1930, and it was granted by the FRC on September 12. The station was sold to The Wisconsin News in November of that year.
The station continued to be located at the School of Engineering until 1932. That year, the School of Engineering reorganized itself as a non-profit corporation, and changed its name to the Milwaukee School of Engineering
Milwaukee School of Engineering
The Milwaukee School of Engineering is a private university located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. MSOE is best known for its applications-oriented curriculum, close association with business and industry, and extremely high placement rate...
(MSOE). It moved from the Oneida Street building after purchasing the German-English Academy on North Broadway Street. Hearst also owned the morning newspaper, The Milwaukee Sentinel, and the WISN station offices and studios were relocated to its building on Michigan Avenue. The transmitter and tower were relocated to the top of the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co.’s Public Service Building, and the newspaper took over operational responsibility for WISN.
WSOE, WMSE
In 1969, MSOE students signed on another station with the call letters WSOE. This time, it was 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...
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. In July 1978, MSOE students applied for an FM construction permit for an educational station on 91.7 MHz -- although the application was in the name of the school's board of regents. The school received a construction permit on December 12, 1979.
From about 1978 to 1980, WSOE operated as a 5 watt unlicensed FM station. It lasted until 1980, when it shut down to clear the way for MSOE's very own 1000-watt 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, WMSE. Programming consisted of an eclectic mix of freeform
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...
programming from volunteer DJs. Most DJs have three-hour time slots, and program as they wish, mostly within their chosen formats.
In 1988-89 there was a brief period of controversy for the station as it banned the musical genre heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, arguably WMSE's most well-publicized late night programming. A small backlash was aided by local musician advocates, as well as record producer Eric Greif
Eric Greif
Eric Greif is a lawyer and entertainment personality known first for a management career within the heavy metal musical genre in the 1980s and later within the legal profession...
, which included an organized advertising boycott which was covered by the Wisconsin media.
In 1994, the station upgraded its equipment and increased its power to 3200 watts. In the late 1990s the station expanded its potential audience through its website, wmse.org, which supports live streaming audio as well as downloadable archives. In 1999, the university cut the station's funding, and it is now entirely listener and sponsor supported, with most money being raised by twice-yearly on-air fund drives.
Since 2003, WMSE has released a series of CD compilations featuring performances recorded live in the station's studio.
Fund Raising Activities
Up until 1997, fund raising events were limited to underwriting from local businesses. In exchange for financial support, businesses received mention on the air at the beginning and end of certain programming hours. While on-air underwriting remains, in 1997 WMSE held it first on-air pledge drive and also introduced the Club Card for purchase which offered discounts at area business.After funding from the college was cut, WMSE became even more dependent on listener support. The station allots two weeks out of the year, one in the fall and one in the spring in which listeners can pledge. These pledge drive typically include numerous on-air live performances from both local and national artists. Though there are designated times for donation, WMSE accepts any donations at any time in the year.
They also hold an annual Rockabilly Chili Contest and a Food Slam Competition that many local businesses participate in.
For their 25th anniversary on March 17, 2006, they made available several limited edition prints of works donated by local artists for individuals who donated above a certain level.
Projects
In 2004, WMSE launched the Milwaukee Sound Environment (M.S.E.) Project, a music resource for Milwaukee area artists and listeners. Established with a grant from the Milwaukee Arts BoardMilwaukee Arts Board
The Milwaukee Arts Board, is an arts board staffed by the Department of City Development, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.-Description:...
and the Wisconsin Arts Board,The M.S.E. Project web site includes music news, Mp3’s from local artists, and FAQs for bands interested in getting their music heard on the station. The project also established a dedicated time-slot for live in-studio performances.