WFUV

WFUV

Broadcast area	New York, New York
Branding	90.7 WFUV
Frequency	90.7 (MHz) (also on HD Radio) 90.7-2 FM FUV 24/7 (HD Radio) 90.7-3 FM "The Alternative Side" (HD Radio)
First air date	1947
Format	Adult album alternative College Radio
ERP	46,000 watts
HAAT	155 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	22033
Transmitter coordinates	40°52′48.00″N 73°52′40.00″W
Callsign meaning	W Fordham University's Voice
Affiliations	National Public Radio Public Radio International
Owner	Fordham University
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.wfuv.org

WFUV, 90.7 FM in New York City, is Fordham University's 50,000-watt, non-commercial radio station, with studios on campus and its antenna atop nearby Montefiore Medical Center. First broadcast in 1947, WFUV has an airstaff which includes such New York radio veterans as Pete Fornatale (who returned to WFUV in 2001 after a 30-year hiatus), Dennis Elsas, and Vin Scelsa. Other full-time air staff members include Rita Houston (music director and host of the program The Whole Wide World), Darren DeVivo, Claudia Marshall and Corny O'Connell.

Background

The station is a National Public Radio affiliate and carries several shows from Public Radio International. It had been a 3,500-watt station until February 21, 1969 and began broadcasting in stereo on March 31, 1973. It serves over 300,000 listeners weekly in the New York area and thousands more worldwide on the Web (wfuv.org). The station is known for its adult album alternative format (a mix of adult rock, singer-songwriters, world and other music), as well as Celtic music. Other programs include genres such as folk music and early pop and jazz. National programs heard on WFUV include World Cafe, American Routes, Mountain Stage and Thistle & Shamrock. In-studio interviews and performances are also a prominent feature of its programming. On-air guests have included Radio Hall of Famer Arthur Godfrey (in 1947), Pete Hamill, Steve Buscemi, Tim Robbins, Graham Nash, Roger McGuinn, Suzanne Vega, Jimmy Webb, Peter, Paul & Mary, Cyndi Lauper, Sting, Bo Diddley, Judy Collins, Lou Reed, Brian Wilson, Robert Klein, Kevin Bacon, Dick Cavett, Glen Campbell, Ringo Starr, Joshua Bell, Paul Simon, Robbie Robertson, Los Lobos, Tony Bennett, The Bad Plus, Buddy Guy, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Ani DiFranco, Jackson Browne, Ben Harper, Richard Barone, The Decemberists, Moby, Uncle Tupelo, Josh Ritter, Neil Young, Mavis Staples, and Norah Jones (in her radio debut). WFUV has introduced many other new artists over the years.

The station's call letters stand for "Fordham University's Voice." Though operated as a professional public radio station, WFUV's mission also includes a strong training component for Fordham students. Students receive intensive instruction and are heard on the air in news and sports programming. WFUV's alumni, including Charles Osgood of CBS-TV & radio, Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo), film producer Jack Haley Jr., Raymond Siller (Johnny Carson's head writer), and actor Alan Alda, have had a significant impact on broadcast and entertainment history. News department alumni are heard on many stations and networks nationally. These include Richard Hake of WNYC in New York, Chris Reilly, an anchor on WINS in New York and WNYC, Kathleen Maloney, a WINS reporter, Tom O'Hanlon, a reporter on WCBS and Greg Kelly, a journalist on Fox News Channel. The sports department has produced several notable alumni, including Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers announcer and baseball Hall of Famer Vin Scully, two-time Emmy Award-winning sports anchor for WPIX-TV in New York Sal Marchiano, Yankees announcer Michael Kay, New York Times sportswriter Jack Curry, USA Today sportswriter Malcolm Moran, Knicks announcer and "The NBA on ABC" sportscaster Mike Breen, Nets announcer Chris Carrino, Lakers announcer Spero Dedes, New York Giants announcer Bob Papa, WFAN's "Talking Baseball" host Ed Randall, who also is heard on MLB.com, and ESPN's Around the Horn host Tony Reali.

History

WFUV's rock music shows were formerly hosted by Fordham students and some of those famous alumni include Fornatale (whose first show began in November 1964, when he was a sophomore), former WFUV Program Director Bill Crowley of Air America Radio, Pat Dawson of NBC News, and Gary Stanley, sportscaster on WCBS in New York City. Two went on to win Emmy Awards as directors of Sesame Street—Ozzie Alfonso and Edward May. Daily rock music programming was begun in February 1970 by then Program Director Lew Goodman. Prior to that the programming was a mix of classical (e.g., the Evening Concert show M-F 6:00 to 8:00 PM), popular and ethnic music (e.g., Bill Shibilski's 36+ year long Polka Party starting in 1965), and Fordham University sports broadcasts. Many chamber music and piano recitals were broadcast live from now-defunct Studio B in the 1950s.

WFUV was on the verge of going off the air in September 1968, due to budgetary cuts by the university, but the student-staff went on strike and organized rallies and demonstrations to save the station that were attended by thousands of students and faculty.

WFUV has been a professionally-managed public radio station since 1988. The station's broadcast audience expanded throughout the 1990s and 2000s, as local commercial stations gave up free-form and the playing of new artists. The station also offers an online archive of programming and several podcasts.

In 2005 the studios, offices, and transmitter moved from the third floor of Keating Hall on Fordham's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx, where it had been since 1947, to Keating Hall's basement. The move allowed the station to improve its equipment and gain more space. Its antenna was moved in 2006 from atop an unfinished tower on the Rose Hill campus (it was previously atop Keating Hall) to atop Montefiore Medical Center on Gun Hill Road, one of the highest locations in the Bronx.

On April 22, 2010, WFUV announced a new transmitter in the Newburgh/Beacon area. The new station is 94.5.

External links

• WFUV's website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WFUV
• Radio-Locator information on WFUV
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WFUV