WBRS
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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 of 25 watts, at a HAAT (height above average terrain) of 46 meters.
[edit] History
The station's origins lie in a campus radio club in the 1950s, originally called WLDB. The club changed their name to WBRS in 1964. At the time, they broadcast via carrier current, and could only be heard on the Brandeis campus. WBRS got an FM radio license in 1968 and began broadcasting at 91.7FM with an FCC Class D license.
In the late 1970s, the FCC stopped issuing low power class D licenses, and stations were pushed to upgrade to class A (100 watts). In dense urban markets such as Boston, this was often difficult or impossible due to interference. WBRS negotiated with other stations in Boston to finally find a home at 100.1FM as a "grandfathered" class D station in 1984.
For 15 years, WBRS's signal covered many surrounding towns, as far as east Boston and the airport to the east, and Framingham and Natick to the west. In 1999, WWFX in Southbridge MA, a commercial station also broadcasting at 100.1 FM, got a significant power increase to become a major Worcester pop station.[1] Since then, WBRS's signal effectively reaches less than a mile to the west (towards Worcester), though it can still be heard in a few citiess to the east including parts of Boston.
A WBRS Music Director, Bobby Haber, founded the College Music Journal (CMJ) in 1978, publishing the first college radio airplay charts.
In the early 1980s, WBRS underwent several structural changes and became an all genre cooperative community station. A new constitution and membership contract were instituted, and membership was formally defined in terms of the contract and participating in the cooperative, rather than affiliation with Brandeis university. Members were required to volunteer for at least 3 hours a month to maintain good standing. The constitution called for an executive board of four elected members and a number of others appointed by the elected members. With some amendments, the constitution and contract remain in force today.
[edit] Staffing and programming
The station is primarily staffed by Brandeis students and some community volunteers. It has a "block programming" format, where the schedule is mostly fixed, with various different genres airing at different times during the day. For example, the schedule from noon to 2 p.m. is, usually, the Jazz Cafeteria. Genres include 80s synthpop, disco, bluegrass, americana, Yiddish music, and the obligatory indie rock.
It also has a 15 year history of live music performances on the air. The Joint has aired weekly during the school year that entire time, save for a six-month outage when the studios were moved across campus in 2003. A recently developed show "The Joint Talk", features interviews and unplugged performances.
WBRS also is the home of Brandeis men's and women's basketball and men's baseball in the spring as well as sports talk all year long on its five sports-talk radio shows. The sports-talk radio shows are caller-friendly and encourage listener participation through giveaways and off-site broadcasts. Graduates from the WBRS Sports Department have gone on to professional broadcasting, Mike and Mike in the Morning (radio show on ESPN Radio and ESPN2), working for ESPN, and covering professional and collegiate sports teams as reporters, among other things. WBRS also has several news talk shows and a headline news broadcast Monday-Thursday.
The news department at WBRS is run entirely by Brandeis students. WBRS News produces a 90 minute news block, titled "Newstalk 90," airing Monday-Thursday from 16:30-18:00. "Newstalk 90" is divided into two blocks: (1) "Datebook," a daily half hour of news (from 16:30-17:00), has up-to-the minute satellite news wire service, Brandeis news, as well as weather, sports, business and entertainment. (2) An hour-long live Talk Shows (from 17:00-18:00), each day with a different theme. "Entertainment Talk" featuring the latest news in the world of entertainment. "Your Brandeis World" features guests and topics that are of particular relevance to the Brandeis Community. In the past, guests on the show included University President Jehuda Reinharz, world renowned economist Olivier Blanchard of MIT, as well as an exclusive 2004 interview with then Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, Gregory Mankiw. The programme also dedicated a special show celebrating NEJS Department's 50th Anniversary, where then hosts Emmanuel Grenader and Hillel Sternlicht interviewed numerous members of the NEJS department, Professor Antony Polonsky, Professor Marc Brettler, amongst many others. "Sports Cafe" features sports news and discussion of the latest headlines and stories from the world of national, international, as well as local Brandeis sports. "Spin Zone," a political talk show. These shows also feature live calls from the listeners.
There is no formal classroom setting associated with WBRS. However, all of the management positions are held by students with annual elections by the WBRS staff according to the WBRS Constitution.
