WTBU
Encyclopedia
WTBU is a "Part 15" student-managed and -operated radio station at Boston University
. This means it is not licensed by the FCC but operates legally under special "low power" rules (not to be confused with LPFM FCC licensed stations). It has a block-format programming schedule, with individual DJs able to play pretty much whatever they choose during their weekly airshifts (usually two hours in length). Overall the sound skews mostly rock/alternative, but can vary significantly, including pop, urban, rap, classic rock, Triple-A
, trance, electro, industrial and metal...or just true freeform
.
WTBU is on the air 22 hours a day, any day that the BU dorms are open (at least eight months of the year). During the summers the studios may be used for special classroom exercises by the Boston University College of Communication
, or "COM."
Taking advantage of the large number of broadcast journalism
majors at COM, there are regular newscasts and sports updates. There is also extensive live coverage of BU sporting events, like hockey, basketball, soccer and more.
WTBU is somewhat unusual in that it is entirely "student managed." There is a faculty advisor with some oversight duties, but students are effectively "running the operation" (which often has over 120 volunteer student DJs) in pretty much every aspect. Virtually all positions are unpaid volunteers. There is an informal policy of only having current students to be on the air; community volunteers and alumni are not allowed.
There is no formal class curriculum specifically for radio broadcasting at BU, save for some broadcast journalism classes in COM that include radio. Virtually all the students at WTBU learn by doing. Due to high student demand for airshifts, the standard procedure is for an incoming DJ to "intern" with an established DJ for a full semester to "learn the ropes" before they get an airshift of their own. Incoming DJs can also volunteer at various also aspects of running the station while they intern.
. There are no online versions available of these editions.
The earliest known reference to WTBU comes from the 1960 Boston University HUB (the name for the student yearbook
at the time); at that time the yearbook would actually list student activities for each student. Some students listed both WBUR
and WTBU, suggesting that originally there was some overlap in staff between the two, which makes sense as this was well before WBUR became a professionally-run NPR
station.
The studios were originally located on the second floor of the George Sherman (student) Union building, in an area that was completely redone to become the modern-day ballroom. In 1969 it moved to the first floor of the Myles Standish dormitory. In 1982, it moved into the new Myles Standish Annex, where the defunct Grahm Junior College
was...albeit the actual broadcast from the new space was delayed several months due to a broken water main. In the late 1980s, the basement studios were completely refurbished with new soundproofing, angled windows and the like. In 1997, WTBU moved to third floor of the College of Communication building (640 Commonwealth Ave), taking over much of the space vacated by WBUR when they themselves moved to 890 Commonwealth Ave. Both stations remain in those spaces today, and WTBU departed the Annex studios as soggy as it arrived in them - torrential rains in October 1996 flooded many basements (and the tunnel of the next-door MBTA Green Line
!) including WTBU!
The heyday of WTBU seems to be in the late 1960s and early 1970s. While WBUR was suffering controversy after controversy (in 1964, a long process started of appointing professionals to run WBUR, only to have to fire them and start over again...a process that lasted until the early 1970s). During that time, WTBU enjoyed a significant boost in student attention from displaced WBUR volunteers and overall attention paid to "underground" radio stations by student protesters. As late as 1971 there were articles touting awards WTBU was winning (Station Manager George Schweitzer won the United Press International Broadcast Documentary Award First Prize), special broadcasts they were running (the Distinguished Lecture Series, for example) and being a core member of the "Ivy Network Corporation" - a collaboration between WTBU, WZBC
, WBRS
, WHRB
, WTBS
(aka WMBR), WZLY
and WBRU
.
At some point in the 1980s, the tradition of "Cram Jams" was formally instituted. This refers to the last week or two of the semester, when finals are being taken. The entire WTBU schedule is revised and DJs tend to play music they feel is especially relevant to test-taking.
In the mid-to-late 1990s there was a general drop in interest in college radio, and WTBU was no exception. But by 2000, renewed interest in media in society had brought WTBU back up to near-24/7 broadcasting during the academic year. On Halloween night of 1999, WTBU started streaming on the web as a means of finally reaching both the campus as well as alumni. This drew WTBU national attention when Bill Rigby, the station manager at that time, was featured in the New York Times discussing the station's expansion to online. Today WTBU enjoys over 100 student volunteers every semester, learning in a hands-on environment of DJ'ing, sportscasting, music review/label management, promotional events/remote broadcasts, news reporting, engineering, and audio production...not to mention the various business aspects of managing a staff that large.
Additional history can be found on the official WTBU website: wtburadio.org
, the self-proclaimed King of All Media. He attended BU in the mid-1970s, and WTBU holds the distinction of being the first station to ever fire Stern. As mentioned in his movie and book Private Parts
, his show (the King Schmaltz Bagel Hour) once aired a segment called "Making the Bishop Blush" in which they pretended a local Catholic Bishop was in the studio. They proceeded to make lurid statements and asked if the Bishop was blushing yet. Then-Program Director Hank Sennott was listening and fired Stern on the spot.
Many WTBU alumni have gone on to careers in broadcasting and related fields, including:
There are radiating cable FM transmitters (broadcasting at 89.3FM) in the Warren Towers and West Campus dormitories, and carrier-current AM transmitters (broadcasting at 640AM) in the Shelton Hall, Myles Standish Hall, and Danielsen Hall dormitories, as well as one in the COM building itself. Not all these transmitters work at any one given point, though...many are decades-old. All are made by LPB Communications.
There used to be carrier-current AM transmitters in other dorms as well: The Towers was destroyed in a flood in the 1980s. Audubon Court was stolen. The AM transmitters in Warren and West (that the FM's replaced) were also lost; exactly how is unknown.
In modern times, WTBU relies more on its webcast
, and on an audio feed to the campus cable BUTV channel 6, to reach its listeners.
While WBUR
is also owned by Boston University, it is an independently-operated professional NPR
news station. There are a few work-study positions at WBUR and sometimes they are filled by WTBU volunteers, but there is no formal connection between the stations.
The broadcast antenna and tower on top of the LAW Tower (BU School of Law
building) is WBUR's backup broadcasting facility. It has nothing to do with WTBU.
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. This means it is not licensed by the FCC but operates legally under special "low power" rules (not to be confused with LPFM FCC licensed stations). It has a block-format programming schedule, with individual DJs able to play pretty much whatever they choose during their weekly airshifts (usually two hours in length). Overall the sound skews mostly rock/alternative, but can vary significantly, including pop, urban, rap, classic rock, Triple-A
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
, trance, electro, industrial and metal...or just true 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...
.
WTBU is on the air 22 hours a day, any day that the BU dorms are open (at least eight months of the year). During the summers the studios may be used for special classroom exercises by the Boston University College of Communication
Boston University College of Communication
Boston University's College of Communication was founded on May 27, 1947, then called the School of Public Relations. Since 1947, the college has gone through many changes in both name and location Boston University's College of Communication was founded on May 27, 1947, then called the School of...
, or "COM."
Taking advantage of the large number of broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are "broadcast", that is, published by electrical methods, instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. Broadcast methods include radio , television , and, especially recently, the Internet generally...
majors at COM, there are regular newscasts and sports updates. There is also extensive live coverage of BU sporting events, like hockey, basketball, soccer and more.
WTBU is somewhat unusual in that it is entirely "student managed." There is a faculty advisor with some oversight duties, but students are effectively "running the operation" (which often has over 120 volunteer student DJs) in pretty much every aspect. Virtually all positions are unpaid volunteers. There is an informal policy of only having current students to be on the air; community volunteers and alumni are not allowed.
There is no formal class curriculum specifically for radio broadcasting at BU, save for some broadcast journalism classes in COM that include radio. Virtually all the students at WTBU learn by doing. Due to high student demand for airshifts, the standard procedure is for an incoming DJ to "intern" with an established DJ for a full semester to "learn the ropes" before they get an airshift of their own. Incoming DJs can also volunteer at various also aspects of running the station while they intern.
History
Much of this history is either directly from, or inferred from, early BU yearbooks and old editions of student newspapers like the Daily Free PressDaily Free Press
The Daily Free Press, an independent student newspaper at Boston University, began publication in 1970. On May 1, two newspapers merged into The Daily Free Press as students were responding to the Kent State shootings with a violent protest. Final exams and graduation were cancelled, and The...
. There are no online versions available of these editions.
The earliest known reference to WTBU comes from the 1960 Boston University HUB (the name for the student yearbook
Yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
at the time); at that time the yearbook would actually list student activities for each student. Some students listed both WBUR
WBUR
WBUR refers to two radio stations in Massachusetts, WBUR AM and FM, both owned by Boston University. WBUR is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, Massachusetts, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM, and the only one to focus exclusively on news and talk...
and WTBU, suggesting that originally there was some overlap in staff between the two, which makes sense as this was well before WBUR became a professionally-run NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
station.
The studios were originally located on the second floor of the George Sherman (student) Union building, in an area that was completely redone to become the modern-day ballroom. In 1969 it moved to the first floor of the Myles Standish dormitory. In 1982, it moved into the new Myles Standish Annex, where the defunct Grahm Junior College
Grahm Junior College
Grahm Junior College was a private junior college located in Boston, Massachusetts. The school opened in 1957 under the name Cambridge School of Business, as part of a chain of schools. Other branches were later based in Chicago and Philadelphia...
was...albeit the actual broadcast from the new space was delayed several months due to a broken water main. In the late 1980s, the basement studios were completely refurbished with new soundproofing, angled windows and the like. In 1997, WTBU moved to third floor of the College of Communication building (640 Commonwealth Ave), taking over much of the space vacated by WBUR when they themselves moved to 890 Commonwealth Ave. Both stations remain in those spaces today, and WTBU departed the Annex studios as soggy as it arrived in them - torrential rains in October 1996 flooded many basements (and the tunnel of the next-door MBTA Green Line
Green Line (MBTA)
The Green Line is a streetcar system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the Boston, Massachusetts area of the United States. It is the oldest line of Boston's subway, which is known locally as the 'T'. The Green Line runs underground downtown and on the surface in outlying...
!) including WTBU!
WZBC
WZBC is a radio station broadcasting an Alternative format. Licensed to Newton, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves Boston and its western suburbs. The station is currently owned by Boston College....
, WBRS
WBRS
WBRS is a student-run community and college radio station in Waltham, Massachusetts, west of Boston. The broadcast license is held by the Trustees of Brandeis University and the studio and transmitter are located on the Brandeis campus. WBRS broadcasts at 100.1 FM with an effective radiated power...
, WHRB
WHRB
WHRB is a commercial FM radio station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It broadcasts at 95.3 MHz and is operated by students at Harvard College.-History:...
, WTBS
WMBR
WMBR is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology student-run college radio station, licensed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and broadcasting on 88.1 FM. It is all-volunteer and funded by listener donations and MIT funds...
(aka WMBR), WZLY
WZLY
WZLY is a non-commercial radio station broadcasting a Educational format. Licensed to Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA, the station is staffed by students of and is owned by Wellesley College....
and WBRU
WBRU
WBRU is a commercial alternative rock radio station in Providence, Rhode Island that broadcasts on 95.5 FM. It was the first student-owned-and-operated campus radio station in the United States when it started as the Brown Network at Brown University in 1936...
.
At some point in the 1980s, the tradition of "Cram Jams" was formally instituted. This refers to the last week or two of the semester, when finals are being taken. The entire WTBU schedule is revised and DJs tend to play music they feel is especially relevant to test-taking.
In the mid-to-late 1990s there was a general drop in interest in college radio, and WTBU was no exception. But by 2000, renewed interest in media in society had brought WTBU back up to near-24/7 broadcasting during the academic year. On Halloween night of 1999, WTBU started streaming on the web as a means of finally reaching both the campus as well as alumni. This drew WTBU national attention when Bill Rigby, the station manager at that time, was featured in the New York Times discussing the station's expansion to online. Today WTBU enjoys over 100 student volunteers every semester, learning in a hands-on environment of DJ'ing, sportscasting, music review/label management, promotional events/remote broadcasts, news reporting, engineering, and audio production...not to mention the various business aspects of managing a staff that large.
Additional history can be found on the official WTBU website: wtburadio.org
Notable alumni
Famous WTBU alum include Howard SternHoward Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
, the self-proclaimed King of All Media. He attended BU in the mid-1970s, and WTBU holds the distinction of being the first station to ever fire Stern. As mentioned in his movie and book Private Parts
Private Parts (1997 film)
Private Parts is a 1997 American biographical comedy film produced by Ivan Reitman and released by Paramount Pictures. Written by Len Blum and Michael Kalesniko, the film is an adaptation of the 1993 best-selling book of the same name by radio personality Howard Stern, who stars as himself. It...
, his show (the King Schmaltz Bagel Hour) once aired a segment called "Making the Bishop Blush" in which they pretended a local Catholic Bishop was in the studio. They proceeded to make lurid statements and asked if the Bishop was blushing yet. Then-Program Director Hank Sennott was listening and fired Stern on the spot.
Many WTBU alumni have gone on to careers in broadcasting and related fields, including:
- Pete Gustin, WEEIWEEIWEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts, that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts, and is owned by Entercom Communications. The station is one of the top-rated sports talk radio stations in the nation. Studios are located in Brighton, Massachusetts...
& Pete's Bits - Aaron Read, KCSB
- Eric Rasmussen, WFTV
- Stephen Belter, C-SPANC-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
- Gary Trust, Billboard Magazine
- Leif Erickson, WFNK
Engineering notes
WTBU is a Part 15 station, which means that it operates without an FCC license, but within the legal power limits. These limits are very, very low (the equivalent to one-tenth of a watt) and generally work on a building-by-building basis...that is, if you are inside, say, Shelton Hall, you can hear WTBU on 640AM. But walk outside and within 25 ft the signal will disappear.There are radiating cable FM transmitters (broadcasting at 89.3FM) in the Warren Towers and West Campus dormitories, and carrier-current AM transmitters (broadcasting at 640AM) in the Shelton Hall, Myles Standish Hall, and Danielsen Hall dormitories, as well as one in the COM building itself. Not all these transmitters work at any one given point, though...many are decades-old. All are made by LPB Communications.
There used to be carrier-current AM transmitters in other dorms as well: The Towers was destroyed in a flood in the 1980s. Audubon Court was stolen. The AM transmitters in Warren and West (that the FM's replaced) were also lost; exactly how is unknown.
In modern times, WTBU relies more on its webcast
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...
, and on an audio feed to the campus cable BUTV channel 6, to reach its listeners.
Relation to WBUR
WBUR
WBUR refers to two radio stations in Massachusetts, WBUR AM and FM, both owned by Boston University. WBUR is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, Massachusetts, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM, and the only one to focus exclusively on news and talk...
is also owned by Boston University, it is an independently-operated professional NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
news station. There are a few work-study positions at WBUR and sometimes they are filled by WTBU volunteers, but there is no formal connection between the stations.
The broadcast antenna and tower on top of the LAW Tower (BU School of Law
Boston University School of Law
Boston University School of Law is the law school affiliated with Boston University, and is ranked #22 among American law schools by US News and World Report magazine. It is the second-oldest law school in Massachusetts and one of the first law schools in the country to admit students regardless...
building) is WBUR's backup broadcasting facility. It has nothing to do with WTBU.