KWUR

KWUR

Clayton, Missouri
Broadcast area	Greater St. Louis
Frequency	90.3 MHz FM
Programming
Format	Freeform
Ownership
Owner	Washington University in St. Louis
History
First air date	July 4, 1976
Call sign meaning	K Washington University Radio
Technical information
Class	D
ERP	10 watts
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.kwur.com

KWUR is a College radio in St. Louis, Missouri located at 90.3 MHz FM. KWUR was founded on July 4, 1976 at Washington University in St. Louis, and represents one of the last remaining independent and fully student managed radio station in the United States.

Commercial-free programming, including rock, surf-rock, garage-rock, hip-hop, punk, metal, world, goth-industrial, classical, reggae, jazz, blues, electronica, talk, experimental, and Washington University sports, represent KWUR's freeform format.

Although KWUR is only a class D FM station with a 10 watt effective radiated power (early in its history it billed itself as "the 10,000 milliwatt giant"), its location on the Washington University campus allows reception over the lively and focal Delmar Loop. Additionally, live Internet audio streaming supports a dedicated student, national, and global following. KWUR receives funding and support from the Washington University Student Union, the institution's undergraduate student government. KWUR is notable for fostering the St. Louis music scene through its initiatives including "Stack Sessions", where local musicians are featured, as well as other community events, including St. Louis Open Streets.

History

Kwirroots go back to a small carrier current AM station, KFRH, serving the Forsyth Residence Halls at Washington University in St. Louis in 1961. In 1968, freshman Beau Harris single-handedly broadcast for over 136 consecutive hours establishing a new collegiate record and helping to increase the station's budget. KFRH ceased broadcasting in the spring of 1974 while its staff worked toward establishing an FM station. On July 4, 1976, KWUR 90.3 FM began broadcasting at 10 watts on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. In 1991, in response to the lack of published music writing on campus, KWUR started producing a magazine titled Sample. Based at KWUR, Sample would become the outlet for record reviews and numerous interviews until its end in 1999.

In 1998, KWUR became one of the first college stations to offer a live online stream (at the time in RealAudio format). The now defunct Nibblebox.com, who were once the central body of college radio, gave KWUR nine awards for best shows in their respective timeslots. In 2003, KWUR won the critic's choice from the Riverfront Times for the Best Radio Station in St. Louis.

In 2001, KWUR began the latest of its periodic wattage upgrade campaigns, in the hopes of increasing its transmitting power to 100 watts. (Previous upgrade campaigns occurred in 1989 and 1995.) The outcome of this campaign was the same as before: despite approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and commissioned technical studies showing there would be no interference with adjacent stations, KWUR was unable to get approval from its closest neighbor, NPR-affiliate KWMU.

In 2005, KWUR began a complete renovation of its studio and technology.

In 2006, KWUR began official rebroadcasts of Free Speech Radio News.

Computing

KWUR's internal systems run entirely on Linux, and provide an array of free software written in PHP and Java. Software includes an automated scheduling and show application management system, playlist tracker, single click live remote broadcasting, automatic archival of live and remote content, and a fully customizable audio automation system. As part of a larger KWUR initiative to encourage grass-roots and community radio, on 3 January 2007, KWUR released all of these tools via SourceForge.net under the GNU General Public License. In addition to its support software, KWUR uses Linux to consolidate hardware and cut costs via fully functional and anonymous diskless kiosks.

External links

• KWUR home page
• Facility details for Facility ID KWUR ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database