WFSU-FM

Infobox Radio Station


name = WFSU-FM/WFSQ/WFSL/WFSW
airdate = WFSU-FM: January 21 1949 (on 660 AM, moved to 91.5 FM in 1954 and to 88.9 in 1990)
WFSQ: October 14 1990
WFSW: March 18 1996
WFSL: April 15 2003
frequency = 88.9 FM (MHz) (WFSU)
91.5 FM (MHz) (WFSQ)
89.1 FM (MHz) (WFSW)
90.7 FM (MHz) (WFSL)
city = Tallahassee, Florida (WFSU & WFSQ)
Panama City, Florida (WFSW)
Thomasville, Georgia (WFSL)
area = Tallahassee, Florida
Panama City, Florida
North Central Florida
Southwest Georgia
format = Public Radio (WFSU & WFSW)
Classical Music (WFSQ & WFSL)
owner = Florida State University
branding =
slogan =
callsign_meaning = W
Florida
State
University
affiliations = National Public Radio
Public Radio International
website = [http://www.wfsu.org/ WFSU website]
sister_stations = WVFS & WFSU-TV
class = WFSU-FM: C
WFSQ & WFSL: C1
WFSW: A
haat = WFSU-FM: 379 meters
WFSQ: 224 meters
WFSW: 47 meters
WFSL: 123 meters
facility_id = WFSU-FM: 21799
WFSQ: 21803
WFSW: 93708
WFSL: 21798
erp = WFSU-FM: 90,000 watts
WFSQ: 86,000 watts
WFSW: 250 watts
WFSL: 100,000 watts
coordinates = WFSU-FM: coord|30|40|13.00|N| 83|56|26.00|W|region:US_type:city
WFSQ: coord|30|21|31.00|N| 84|36|38.00|W|region:US_type:city
WFSW: coord|30|50|12.00|N| 83|58|57.00|W|region:US_type:city
WFSL: coord|30|22|2.00|N| 85|55|29.00|W|region:US_type:city

WFSU is the callsign (or variations thereon) for public radio stations operated by Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

WFSU also operates 3 radio stations that serve northern Florida:

*WFSU-FM 88.9 FM: Tallahassee-based news/talk/public affairs station carrying several NPR programs and overnight BBC World Service programming. Also heard on these low-powered repeaters:
**97.1 - Carrabelle
**106.1 - Marianna
**96.7 - Apalachicola
**93.7 - Downtown Tallahassee (necessary because the main WFSU transmitter must conform its signal to protect WTSU in Troy, Alabama)

*WFSQ-FM 91.5 FM: Tallahassee-based classical music station. Also heard on WFSL-FM 90.7 in Thomasville, Georgia, and on low-powered 92.7 FM in the northeast portion of the city of Tallahassee.

*WFSW-FM 89.1 FM: Panama City-based news/talk/public affairs station. Offers many of the same programs as WFSU. Also heard on low-powered 91.1 FM in the Port St. Joe area along the Gulf of Mexico, as well as 94.5 FM in Fort Walton Beach.

History

Florida State entered radio on January 21 1949, when WFSU signed on as a student-run radio station at 660 AM. Due to the terms of its license, the signal was limited to the confines of the Florida State campus. It was on the air for three hours every night during the week, with a lineup of campus news, interviews, music and an occasional play.

The station was forced off the air in April 1953 due to complaints that the signal was leaking off campus. Florida State applied for a low-powered FM license, and WFSU returned to the air at 91.5 FM in July 1954. Soon afterward, it joined the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, allowing it to significantly upgrade its programming with offerings from BBC World Service and Radio France. It also began carrying Seminoles football games after no commercial station would carry them.

In 1970, WFSU-FM became a charter member of NPR, and was one of the 90 stations to carry the initial broadcast of "All Things Considered." In the 1970s, it shifted to a format of mostly classical music.

The station continued to grow during the 1980s, but was somewhat hampered by problems with its signal. Unlike most NPR stations of the time, it had no backup power source for its transmitter, resulting in frequent outages. The station's reception was also marginal at best in the northeastern part of the city, which is very hilly. To solve the problem, WFSU built a new tower northeast of Tallahassee and moved all news and information programming there on October 14 1990. Classical music remained on 91.5, which received new call letters, WFSQ. However, due to the legal structure of the changeover, the Federal Communications Commission considers WFSQ to be the same station as the old WFSU. To improve its coverage on the Georgia side of the market, Florida State signed on WFSL in 2003.

WFSW signed on in 1996, providing Panama City with a second NPR service, alongside Gulf Coast Community College's WKGC. Panama City is one of the smallest cities in the country with separate NPR stations.

ee also

* WVFS

External links

* [http://www.wfsu.org/ WFSU website]
*FMQ|WFSU
*FML|WFSU
*FMARB|WFSU
*FMQ|WFSQ
*FML|WFSQ
*FMARB|WFSQ
*FMQ|WFSL
*FML|WFSL
*FMARB|WFSL
*FMQ|WFSW
*FML|WFSW
*FMARB|WFSW