WJCU

WJCU

City of license	University Heights, Ohio
Broadcast area	Greater Cleveland
Frequency	88.7 MHz
First air date	June 7, 1969
Format	College radio
ERP	2500 watts
Class	A
Transmitter coordinates	41°29′24.00″N 81°31′54.00″W
Callsign meaning	W-"John Carroll University"
Owner	John Carroll University
Website	www.wjcu.org

WJCU is a non-commercial FM radio station at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio, United States, broadcasting at 88.7 MHz. WJCU broadcasts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in the Cleveland area and online. WJCU receives some funding from the university but relies mainly on listener donations made during their annual "radiothon" along with benefit concerts put together by some members of the on-air staff.

History

The radio station was founded June 7, 1969 as WABU broadcasting a 10 watt signal at 88.9 FM, later switching the call letters to WUJC and moving to 88.7 MHz. The call sign WJCU was used beginning in January 1998. In the spring of 2006 the power was increased to 1,000 watts and by summer was up to its current output of 2,500 watts.

Programming

WJCU features a weekday daytime format with eclectic and diversified block programming each evening and weekend. While many of the shows feature music, there are also a number of talk/spoken word programs, most of which are locally produced by community broadcasters. Sundays are the special province of ethnic/community shows with locally produced tastes of Jewish, Lithuanian, Italian, Hungarian, Armenian, Chinese, and Latina culture.

Students dominate the Heights, a weekday 6am - 6pm format mix of adult alternative music, with a little world & local news and community affairs in the mix. The station also carries some JCU Blue Streak varsity football and basketball broadcasts, with more extensive sports coverage provided on the WJCU Two web-only special event stream.

While some of the block-programmed weekly specialty shows are programmed by student show hosts, a number of community broadcasters host weekly shows, many of which have been long-running and have a considerable audience. Among these broadcasters is Bill Peters, whose show Metal on Metal has supported the Cleveland heavy metal scene along with WJCU and Cleveland college radio with regular benefits since its first weekly broadcast in 1982.

Among some of the station's heritage offerings are: Retro Radio, a tribute to Cleveland's legendary Top 40 station "WIXY-1260" and Music to Break Things By, focusing on punk and garage rock across time. Caribbean Groove occupies the longest contiguous time block on Saturday nights and features island beats, while author and Poet George Bilgere hosts Wordplay, an aptly named take on the spoken word. Most of the specialty programming at the station enjoys both a national and international audience via the station's multi-format web streams.

Well known past programs included Kick Out the Jams, Left of Center, -/syntax radio transmission, Lo-Fi, The Butters, Mixing Bored and Atmospheres.

External links

• WJCU Official Web Site
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WJCU
• Radio-Locator information on WJCU