Mission

History

• 1956 - WWKS (named for William Kimbrough Shake, who installed the equipment), signs on at 91.3 MHz with 3,000 watts. The station broadcasts educational programming aimed primarily at K-12 audiences from Tillman Hall (the "new science building") at Western Illinois University.

• 1962 - WWKS moves to "the new library" - Memorial Hall, which will remain its home for the next 40 years. The station's sole full-time employee throughout the decade is Elmer "Tug" Haddock, who acts as General Manager and provides oversight of volunteer student announcers. The station’s transmitter is installed in Sallee Hall and 250 feet (76.2 m) tower is constructed south of the building.

• 1970 - WWKS becomes WIUM.

• 1978 - WIUM increases power to 7,200 watts. The 19-hour broadcast day features classical, jazz and rock music with some local news, sports and weather. The Radio Information Service is created to broadcast readings from local newspapers through specially tuned receivers placed with people with a print disability. The service was inspired and initiated by Helen L. Wear, the first blind woman to graduate from Western Illinois University.

• 1981 - WIUM relocates its transmitter to the new 500 feet (152.4 m) tower at Western Illinois University's Horn Campus south of Macomb. This tower was constructed for a Public Broadcasting Service
  Public Broadcasting Service
  The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
  
   (PBS) Public television station (WIUM-TV), now WMEC
  Network Knowledge
  Network Knowledge is a group of three Public Broadcasting Service stations in central and western Illinois. Until October 13, 2004, it used the brand name Convocom...
  
   to serve west-central Illinois. The original tower adjacent to Sallee Hall was dismantled in the following years.

• 1982 - WIUM qualifies for Corporation for Public Broadcasting support and becomes a member station of National Public Radio. Coinciding with the addition of NPR programming is the organization of a second station to be run and programmed by WIU students (WIUS
  WIUS
  WIUS is a 120 watt student operated campus radio station in Macomb, Illinois, in west-central Illinois. The station is run by Western Illinois University and is authorized by the Federal Communications Commission....
  
  -FM, now in the Department of Broadcasting in Sallee Hall).

• 1983 - WIUM's first on-air membership drive raises $3,550 in pledges.

• 1984 - The station purchases its first compact disc player and begins 24-hour a day broadcasts.

• 1989 - WIUM increases its power to 50,000 watts.

• 1990 - Production of Rural Route 3 begins. The award-winning live performance series is distributed to public radio stations nationwide throughout the decade.

• 1991 - WIUM's administrative reporting line is moved from Broadcast and Educational Communication Services to the School of Extended and Continuing Education.

• 1995 - Tri States Public Radio is born as WIUW
  WIUW
  WIUW is a 10,000 watt radio station in Warsaw, Illinois, in western Illinois. The station is licensed by Western Illinois University, operated by the university's College of Fine Arts and Communication and is authorized by the Federal Communications Commission.- Mission :WIUW-FM provides National...
  
  signs on at 89.5 FM. The new tower and transmitter just outside Warsaw, Illinois extend public radio service into southeast Iowa and northeast Missouri.

• 2002 - Tri States Public Radio moves into a new, state-of-the-art broadcast facility at 320 University Drive at the front door of the Western Illinois University campus.

• 2004 - Tri States Public Radio becomes part of the College of Fine Arts and Communication. The Southeast Iowa News Bureau in the Hotel Iowa in downtown Keokuk opens.

• 2005 - WIUM become the first University-licensed public radio service in the state of Illinois to begin broadcasting with HD (high definition) Radio technology.

External links

• TriStates Radio
• WIUM via streaming audio - Allegro service