WPUM is a non-commercial educational

Non-commercial educational

The term non-commercial educational applies to a radio station or TV station that does not accept on air advertisements , as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission . NCE stations do not pay broadcast license fees for their non-profit uses of the radio spectrum...

 radio station begun in 1977 in Rensselaer, Indiana

Rensselaer, Indiana

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 5,294 people, 2,158 households, and 1,404 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,824.8 people per square mile . There were 2,296 housing units at an average density of 791.4 per square mile...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, owned by Saint Joseph's College. The format is primarily contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...

 and Oldies

Oldies

Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....

 hosted by Saint Joseph's College students in hour air shifts. The station also broadcasts the school's sports programs and can be listened to live on the Internet at WPUM's website. The station is licensed by 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). Its coverage area includes Rensselaer and Jasper County, Indiana.

Switch to 93.3 the Joe

Through the 2000s WPUM had been known as 90.5 Puma Rock, but a displacement of radio frequency

Frequency

Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...

 by another station in nearby Crown Point, Indiana

Crown Point, Indiana

As of the census of 2010, there were 27,317 people and 10,976 households in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 88.20% White, 6.30% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.80% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.90% from other races, and 1.60% from two or more races...

, resulted in a loss of their place on the radio dial. After a long appeal to the FCC, WPUM was transferred temporarily to 93.3 FM until another frequency became available in the non-commercial range on the FM dial. WPUM has been at 93.3 since the fall of 2008. When WPUM changed frequency, it also formally changed its format to include more of a variety rather than straight rock that the station had featured since its launch in 1977. As a result, 90.5 Puma Rock became 93.3 The Joe.