WPGU

WPGU

Infobox Radio Station
name = WPGU


area = Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
branding = WPGU 107.1
slogan = "True Alternative"
airdate =
frequency = 107.1 MHz
format = Indie/Alternative
erp =
class =
owner = Illini Media Company
website = [http://www.the217.com/wpgu www.the217.com/wpgu]
callsign_meaning = "Parade Ground Units"

WPGU-FM 107.1 is the fully-commercial student-run radio station at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is operational 24-7, broadcasting indie-alternative music and other programming throughout Champaign-Urbana and surrounding communities. It is owned by the Illini Media Company.

History

WPGU is named for the "Parade Ground Units", where the station was originally located. When the Parade Ground Units were demolished in the early 1960s to make room for the "six pack" dorms, WPGU moved into the basement of Weston Hall. It remained there until 1995, when the station moved off-campus to 52 E. Green Street. In 2006, WPGU along with the other Illini Media outlets (Daily Illini newspaper, Technograph engineering journal, Illio yearbook) moved to a new building at 512 E. Green Street, Champaign.

WPGU began as an experimental radio station by engineering students at the University of Illinois. It was not broadcast, but aired via carrier AM into the dorms. If you had a radio plugged into an electrical outlet, WPGU showed up on 640 AM. After an initial technical problem, WPGU went "on the air" on December 7, 1953, for three hours. It played an hour of jazz, an hour of classical music and an hour of news. WPGU joined the then Illini Publishing Company in 1964 and procured an FCC license for FM broadcasting. FM broadcasting began on April 17, 1967. WPGU began broadcasting in stereo in 1972 (at 6:00pm on April 16, 1972), and the first song broadcast in stereo was "Volunteers" by Jefferson Airplane. In 1973 the station began broadcasting 24 hours a day.

Carrier AM broadcasts were continued by WDBS, a training station for budding WPGU on air personalities. When cable came to Champaign-Urbana, the company agreed to broadcast WBDS on FM 101 for dorm radios that had a special cable hookup. FM cablecasts began on October 8, 1982, and continued until 1992.

WPGU has had many slogans through the years. It was "Full Service Radio" in the early 1960s, "Progressive Rock" and "The Sound of the Seventies" in the 1970's and "Champaign-Urbana's Home of Rock and Roll" in the 1980s. WPGU-FM was once known, during the heyday of the alternative/grunge music genre in the 1990s, as "Champaign-Urbana's Modern Rock, 107.1, The Planet". It has since reverted back to "WPGU". It has had various yearly slogans including: 'Whether You Insist on the Twist or Strings are Your Things, WPGU for You' (1963), 'The Radio Station' (1974), 'No Pinhead Radio' (1988), 'Twenty Five Years and Still Rockin' (1992), 'Either You Rock or You [CENSORED] ' (1993), 'No Rules Radio' (2004), and 'True Alternative' (2007).

Expansion to the Web

In late 2007, WPGU joined with weekly entertainment magazine, the buzz, to create [http://www.the217.com the217.com] , a fusion of local and national music and entertainment news targeted at the Champaign-Urbana area. Both entities' websites were merged into one larger site containing articles, a searchable index containing every artist WPGU plays, a local events calendar, and a business directory.

WPGU's hourly playlists are archived and available in real time, and the radio station is also streamed live online.

External links

* [http://www.the217.com/wpgu/ WPGU official website]
*FMQ|WPGU
*FML|WPGU
*FMARB|WPGU


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • WPGU — * FM 107.1, Champaign Illinois (Community » Radio Stations) …   Abbreviations dictionary

  • Illini Media — The Illini Media Company, previously known as the Illini Publishing Company, is a non profit corporation that owns the Daily Illini , a student run newspaper at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; WPGU FM 107.1, a student run… …   Wikipedia

  • Daily Illini — Type Daily newspaper Format Broadshe …   Wikipedia

  • Animate Objects — Infobox musical artist | Name = Animate Objects Background = group or band Origin = Champaign, Illinois, USA Genre = Hip hop, soul, R B, funk, rap Years active = 2003 – Present Label = Nutta Records URL = [http://www.animate objects.com/ Animate… …   Wikipedia

  • Champaign, Illinois — Champaign redirects here. For other uses, see Champaign (disambiguation). Coordinates: 40°06′47″N 88°15′40″W / 40.112981°N 88.261227°W …   Wikipedia

  • Urbana, Illinois — Geobox City name = Urbana, Illinois native name = other name = other name1 = category = City image size = image caption = A snowy day in Carle Park west of the Urbana High School. On the right is a statue of Abraham Lincoln by Lorado Taft. flag… …   Wikipedia

  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — This article is about the flagship campus. For other uses and locations of University of Illinois, see University of Illinois (disambiguation)infobox University name= University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign motto= Learning and Labor endowment …   Wikipedia

  • Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area — The Champaign Urbana Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Champaign Urbana and colloquially known as Chambana, is a metropolitan area in east central Illinois. Composed of three counties (Champaign, Ford, and Piatt, the area had a… …   Wikipedia

  • List of campus radio stations — This is a list of radio stations run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. In the United States they are called campus radio stations or college radio stations and in the United Kingdom they are called student …   Wikipedia

  • WILL — This article is about the radio and television stations. For other uses, see Will. Infobox Broadcast call letters = WILL TV city = station station slogan = The Broadcasting Service of the University of Illinois station branding = WILL TV analog …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”