WMBR
Encyclopedia
WMBR is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
student-run college radio station, licensed to Cambridge, Massachusetts
, and broadcasting on 88.1 FM
. It is all-volunteer and funded by listener donations and MIT funds. Both students and community members can apply for positions, and like many college radio stations, WMBR offers diverse programming.
The current General Manager is Zoë Rogers, and the Program Director is Ahmed Hussain.
The station's board of trustees is the Technology Broadcasting Corporation, whose members are appointed by the President of MIT. The officers are:
President - Henry Holtzman;
Vice President - Anne Slinn;
Clerk - Todd Glickman
;
Treasurer - Shawn Mamros.
The first MIT student broadcasting station first signed on as WMIT on November 25, 1946. It had a "carrier current
" AM transmitter located in the Ware entryway of Senior House dormitory and broadcast over power lines at 800, and later 640 kilocycles ("kilocycles per second" being the proper period term for the unit of frequency now called the "kilohertz"). Audible only within a few hundred feet of the dorms, under FCC
Part 15 regulations it could and did broadcast commercials and was self-supporting.
In the mid-1950s, the possibility of an FM license was explored and it was discovered that the call letters WMIT were (and still are) in use by a North Carolina station serving the Asheville
area. WTBS (for "Technology Broadcasting Service") was chosen as the best alternative. New facilities were constructed in the basement of Walker Memorial, including a switching and mixing console designed by A. R. Kent and Barry Blesser, believed to be one of the first all-transistorized consoles ever built. On April 10, 1961, WTBS-FM signed on with 14 watts of effective radiated power at 88.1 Megahertz FM.
WTBS continued to operate the carrier-current system to the dormitories, with an identical program, except for commercial breaks, during which the noncommercial FM station filled time with public-service announcements, and, later, parody "ads" for products such as "Apple Gunkies" and firms such as "Nocturnal Aviation". The all-request "Nite Owl" was a popular weekend feature, and a "Waveform of the Week" was broadcast for the enjoyment of MIT students watching the program on oscilloscopes.
In the late 1970s, Ted Turner
, then operator of WTCG in Atlanta, Georgia
, wanted to use the call letters "WTBS" (for Turner Broadcasting System). Although call letters are not technically for sale, Turner and WTBS worked out a strategem whereby Turner gave a $25,000 donation to WTBS with an agreement that WTBS would apply for new call letters, with a second donation of $25,000 promised if the FCC were to subsequently grant the letters "WTBS" to Turner. All went as planned, WTBS used the donation for new transmitter equipment, and on November 10, 1979, the station signed on as WMBR with 200 watts of power.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
student-run college radio station, licensed to Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, and broadcasting on 88.1 FM
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
. It is all-volunteer and funded by listener donations and MIT funds. Both students and community members can apply for positions, and like many college radio stations, WMBR offers diverse programming.
The current General Manager is Zoë Rogers, and the Program Director is Ahmed Hussain.
The station's board of trustees is the Technology Broadcasting Corporation, whose members are appointed by the President of MIT. The officers are:
President - Henry Holtzman;
Vice President - Anne Slinn;
Clerk - Todd Glickman
Todd Glickman
Todd Glickman is a meteorologist whose weather reports can be heard on in New York City and internationally at . He has been a fill-in meteorologist there since May, 1979.-Early Years:...
;
Treasurer - Shawn Mamros.
History
This is the third set of call letters for the station.The first MIT student broadcasting station first signed on as WMIT on November 25, 1946. It had a "carrier current
Carrier current
Carrier current is a method of low power AM radio transmission that uses the AC electrical system of a building to propagate a medium frequency, AM signal to a relatively small area, such as a building or a group of buildings...
" AM transmitter located in the Ware entryway of Senior House dormitory and broadcast over power lines at 800, and later 640 kilocycles ("kilocycles per second" being the proper period term for the unit of frequency now called the "kilohertz"). Audible only within a few hundred feet of the dorms, under FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
Part 15 regulations it could and did broadcast commercials and was self-supporting.
In the mid-1950s, the possibility of an FM license was explored and it was discovered that the call letters WMIT were (and still are) in use by a North Carolina station serving the Asheville
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
area. WTBS (for "Technology Broadcasting Service") was chosen as the best alternative. New facilities were constructed in the basement of Walker Memorial, including a switching and mixing console designed by A. R. Kent and Barry Blesser, believed to be one of the first all-transistorized consoles ever built. On April 10, 1961, WTBS-FM signed on with 14 watts of effective radiated power at 88.1 Megahertz FM.
WTBS continued to operate the carrier-current system to the dormitories, with an identical program, except for commercial breaks, during which the noncommercial FM station filled time with public-service announcements, and, later, parody "ads" for products such as "Apple Gunkies" and firms such as "Nocturnal Aviation". The all-request "Nite Owl" was a popular weekend feature, and a "Waveform of the Week" was broadcast for the enjoyment of MIT students watching the program on oscilloscopes.
In the late 1970s, Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
, then operator of WTCG in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, wanted to use the call letters "WTBS" (for Turner Broadcasting System). Although call letters are not technically for sale, Turner and WTBS worked out a strategem whereby Turner gave a $25,000 donation to WTBS with an agreement that WTBS would apply for new call letters, with a second donation of $25,000 promised if the FCC were to subsequently grant the letters "WTBS" to Turner. All went as planned, WTBS used the donation for new transmitter equipment, and on November 10, 1979, the station signed on as WMBR with 200 watts of power.
Further reading
- "The Boston Radio Dial: WMBR(FM)" - information and history of WMBR