WVBR
Encyclopedia
WVBR-FM is a college radio station that broadcasts to Ithaca
, New York
, and surrounding areas. It operates at 3 kilowatts from a transmitter on Hungerford Hill, in Ithaca. A translator on 105.5 FM provides a cleaner signal to certain areas of Ithaca. WVBR's current studios are located on Ithaca's East Hill.
students. WVBR is completely independent of the university: it supports itself by selling advertising, and receives no funding from the university. Student staff members are, for the most part, unpaid (some earn commissions on time sales or are paid a stipend to help operate the station during the summer and other times when Cornell classes are not in session). The station is owned by the Cornell Radio Guild, a nonprofit organization composed entirely of students who work at the station. It acts as a training ground for students interested in broadcasting, as well as a serious commercial competitor in the Ithaca radio market.
WVBR is very involved in the Ithaca and Tompkins County community. The station features a "Community Calendar" segment twice daily, where non-profit organizations can send bulletins of their events to be read over the air during the morning and afternoon. WVBR also does remote broadcasts from a variety of locations in Ithaca, including from the Ithaca Farmer's Market and from local businesses around town, and it sponsors or helps to sponsor local charitable and cultural events.
The FCC-licensed FM station first went on the air in June 1958, though the WVBR call letters had already been in use for years on the Guild's AM "carrier-current
" broadcasts, which could be received only on campus. The call letters
originally stood for "Voice of the Big Red", referring to the Cornell Big Red
athletic teams. But the station de-emphasized that connection over the years as it carved out an identity independent of the university, and as the university's sports broadcasts were generally carried by WHCU
, a commercial station that Cornell owned for many years. (This has changed to a degree in recent years as WVBR has become the originating station for sponsored broadcasts of major Cornell sports including football, basketball and hockey.)
In its early years, WVBR-FM's musical programming was mainly classical whereas the AM side carried popular music. WVBR-FM switched to rock and popular music in 1968 in a format change billed and promoted as "The FM Revolution." The station greatly expanded its audience, especially off campus, initially with a sound that blended hit music, progressive album cuts, and a sound that anticipated in many respects both album rock and adult contemporary radio formats of subsequent years. By the early to mid-1970s its format had evolved to progressive rock radio
, similar to pioneering rock stations like WNEW-FM in New York, WMMS
in Cleveland, KSAN-FM in San Francisco, and nearby WCMF
in Rochester. In later years the station's format evolved toward more tightly controlled, hit-oriented playlists, mirroring the larger trend in FM radio programming influenced by national programmers like Lee Abrams and Kent Burkhart. It also became heavily involved in live music, promoting its own series of concerts at local venues like the Strand Theater, many of which were broadcast live.
The station's commercial success peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was adversely affected in the later 1980s and 1990s by several factors including: changes to the economy; New York State raising its drinking age to 21, a blow to the radio station's nightclub and bar advertisers; several new stations brought into the Ithaca market via translators and cable; and after deregulation of the radio industry resulted in most of its local competitors being taken over by a single chain owner.
A format change to contemporary hit radio took place in the early 1980s, led by then-program director Kathy Jassy. The format was initially successful and was continued by then-program director and on-air personality (and current Z-100 New York programmer and Clear Channel Radio Prorgramming Platform President) Tom Poleman. But after Poleman and other key personnel graduated from Cornell in the 1980s, the new format eventually faded in audience appeal, especially with WVBR's traditional 18-34 core. The station then moved back to album-oriented rock, regaining much of its old core audience in the process. Structural problems with the station's long-time Collegetown district studio building, which forced it to relocate its studios and offices in 2000, also proved to be both a financial and administrative burden for a time. The station's business picture has improved more recently, thanks to a strong showing in both 12+ and 18-49 audience measurements over the last few years in Arbitron's regular rating surveys of the competitive (13 station) Ithaca radio market, and to the introduction of popular new youth-oriented VBR After Dark programming on weekday evenings.
. During the day, the format is a mix of classic rock
, modern rock
, mainstream rock
, and active rock
. At night, WVBR features VBR After Dark, which features programming geared more towards college students. There is more of a focus on alternative rock
and modern rock, but classic rock songs are played as well. VBR After Dark also features college-related giveaways and promotions.
Currently, WVBR features Jeff Mix on mornings every weekday. The station's afternoons and evenings feature a different DJ every day and night. All or most are students at Cornell University, although a few hail from other colleges around the area.
The station also provides news and sports reports in the morning at every half-hour from 7:00 to 8:30 a.m., and also hourly in the afternoon from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
The best known of the station's weekend programs is Bound For Glory, a long-running folk music showcase with a national reputation. Broadcast every Sunday night for more than 40 years, the program is the longest-running live folk music broadcast in North America; it features a mix of recordings and (most weeks) live performances from a coffeehouse on the Cornell campus. Phil Shapiro has been the program's host since its inception in 1967.
Other long-running specialty programs on the station include "Nonesuch: Music in the Folk Tradition" (eclectic
), which began in 1968, "The Salt Creek Show" (country music
) and "Rockin' Remnants" (oldies
); both have been running since the mid 1960's, though with a succession of hosts and with occasional changes in time slot.
, host of the MSNBC and Current cable channel program "Countdown with Keith Olbermann
," who worked at WVBR from 1975 to 1979 and who has often cited in interviews the formative role his experiences at the station played in his career.
Other notable alumni include sports journalist Bill Pidto
, Good Morning America
anchor Kate Snow
, former SportsCenter
anchor Whit Watson
and author and veteran TV personality Dr. Joyce Brothers.
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and surrounding areas. It operates at 3 kilowatts from a transmitter on Hungerford Hill, in Ithaca. A translator on 105.5 FM provides a cleaner signal to certain areas of Ithaca. WVBR's current studios are located on Ithaca's East Hill.
Translators
In addition to the main station, WVBR-FM is relayed by an additional translator to widen its broadcast area.Organization
WVBR is a commercial radio station, but is unusual because it is operated and managed by Cornell UniversityCornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
students. WVBR is completely independent of the university: it supports itself by selling advertising, and receives no funding from the university. Student staff members are, for the most part, unpaid (some earn commissions on time sales or are paid a stipend to help operate the station during the summer and other times when Cornell classes are not in session). The station is owned by the Cornell Radio Guild, a nonprofit organization composed entirely of students who work at the station. It acts as a training ground for students interested in broadcasting, as well as a serious commercial competitor in the Ithaca radio market.
WVBR is very involved in the Ithaca and Tompkins County community. The station features a "Community Calendar" segment twice daily, where non-profit organizations can send bulletins of their events to be read over the air during the morning and afternoon. WVBR also does remote broadcasts from a variety of locations in Ithaca, including from the Ithaca Farmer's Market and from local businesses around town, and it sponsors or helps to sponsor local charitable and cultural events.
History
WVBR's history goes back to 1935 when the Cornell Radio Guild was formed (incorporated in 1941), as a Cornell student organization that produced radio programs that aired on WESG, the forerunner of WHCU, in Ithaca. In the early 1940s, the Guild started a network of its own low power AM "carrier-current" transmitters in the dormitories. For a time, the signal of those transmitters was powerful enough, and connected to enough of the regional power grid, that the signal was widely heard beyond campus...until a hoax broadcast in the early 1950s caused the FCC to order the Guild to take steps to restrict the reach of the signal to the immediate campus area. It was at this point, that the Guild began a search for a suitable frequency on either AM or the newly emerging FM to conduct a genuine regional broadcast service. That search was successful in 1957, when a construction permit was issued by the FCC to allow the Guild to build and operate an FM station, first at 101.7 mHz. But before broadcasts were begun, the specified operating frequency was changed to 93.5 mHz, the only frequency where WVBR-FM has ever broadcast.The FCC-licensed FM station first went on the air in June 1958, though the WVBR call letters had already been in use for years on the Guild's AM "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...
" broadcasts, which could be received only on campus. The call letters
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
originally stood for "Voice of the Big Red", referring to the Cornell Big Red
Cornell Big Red
The Cornell Big Red is the informal name of the sports teams, and other competitive teams, at Cornell University. The university sponsors 36 varsity sports, as well as numerous intramural and club teams. Cornell participates in NCAA Division I as part of the Ivy League.The men's and women's hockey...
athletic teams. But the station de-emphasized that connection over the years as it carved out an identity independent of the university, and as the university's sports broadcasts were generally carried by WHCU
WHCU
WHCU is a radio station in Ithaca, New York that programs a news/talk format. The station has been owned by Saga Communications since 2005.-History:...
, a commercial station that Cornell owned for many years. (This has changed to a degree in recent years as WVBR has become the originating station for sponsored broadcasts of major Cornell sports including football, basketball and hockey.)
In its early years, WVBR-FM's musical programming was mainly classical whereas the AM side carried popular music. WVBR-FM switched to rock and popular music in 1968 in a format change billed and promoted as "The FM Revolution." The station greatly expanded its audience, especially off campus, initially with a sound that blended hit music, progressive album cuts, and a sound that anticipated in many respects both album rock and adult contemporary radio formats of subsequent years. By the early to mid-1970s its format had evolved to progressive rock radio
Progressive rock (radio format)
Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...
, similar to pioneering rock stations like WNEW-FM in New York, WMMS
WMMS
WMMS — branded 100.7 WMMS: The Buzzard — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, widely recognized as one of the most influential rock stations in America throughout much of the history of FM broadcasting...
in Cleveland, KSAN-FM in San Francisco, and nearby WCMF
WCMF
WCMF-FM is a radio station located in the Rochester, New York area and broadcasts at 96.5 FM. Its transmitter is located on Pinnacle Hill in Brighton, Monroe County, New York....
in Rochester. In later years the station's format evolved toward more tightly controlled, hit-oriented playlists, mirroring the larger trend in FM radio programming influenced by national programmers like Lee Abrams and Kent Burkhart. It also became heavily involved in live music, promoting its own series of concerts at local venues like the Strand Theater, many of which were broadcast live.
The station's commercial success peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was adversely affected in the later 1980s and 1990s by several factors including: changes to the economy; New York State raising its drinking age to 21, a blow to the radio station's nightclub and bar advertisers; several new stations brought into the Ithaca market via translators and cable; and after deregulation of the radio industry resulted in most of its local competitors being taken over by a single chain owner.
A format change to contemporary hit radio took place in the early 1980s, led by then-program director Kathy Jassy. The format was initially successful and was continued by then-program director and on-air personality (and current Z-100 New York programmer and Clear Channel Radio Prorgramming Platform President) Tom Poleman. But after Poleman and other key personnel graduated from Cornell in the 1980s, the new format eventually faded in audience appeal, especially with WVBR's traditional 18-34 core. The station then moved back to album-oriented rock, regaining much of its old core audience in the process. Structural problems with the station's long-time Collegetown district studio building, which forced it to relocate its studios and offices in 2000, also proved to be both a financial and administrative burden for a time. The station's business picture has improved more recently, thanks to a strong showing in both 12+ and 18-49 audience measurements over the last few years in Arbitron's regular rating surveys of the competitive (13 station) Ithaca radio market, and to the introduction of popular new youth-oriented VBR After Dark programming on weekday evenings.
Weekday programming
The station's playlist during the week consists of a variety of rock musicRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. During the day, the format is a mix of classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
, modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
, mainstream rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
, and active rock
Active rock
Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock plays contemporary rock artists with a mix of songs common in the classic rock radio format.-Format background:...
. At night, WVBR features VBR After Dark, which features programming geared more towards college students. There is more of a focus on alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
and modern rock, but classic rock songs are played as well. VBR After Dark also features college-related giveaways and promotions.
Currently, WVBR features Jeff Mix on mornings every weekday. The station's afternoons and evenings feature a different DJ every day and night. All or most are students at Cornell University, although a few hail from other colleges around the area.
The station also provides news and sports reports in the morning at every half-hour from 7:00 to 8:30 a.m., and also hourly in the afternoon from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Regular Weekday Features
There are several staples of WVBR's normal programming. Tompkins County Trivia airs every weekday after the 8:00 a.m. newscast. In this segment, the DJ asks a trivia question on a topic local interest, with the first caller to correctly identify the answer winning a prize. Other regularly occurring daily weekday segments include Today in Rock History and The WVBR Concert Log. The 93-Second Sports Shot, an opinion piece covering sports, airs weekdays during the 6 p.m. newscast.Weekend programming
The station features a number of specialty programs on weekends, some focused on specific genres of rock music or its roots, and others on public affairs or sports.The best known of the station's weekend programs is Bound For Glory, a long-running folk music showcase with a national reputation. Broadcast every Sunday night for more than 40 years, the program is the longest-running live folk music broadcast in North America; it features a mix of recordings and (most weeks) live performances from a coffeehouse on the Cornell campus. Phil Shapiro has been the program's host since its inception in 1967.
Other long-running specialty programs on the station include "Nonesuch: Music in the Folk Tradition" (eclectic
Eclecticism
Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...
), which began in 1968, "The Salt Creek Show" (country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
) and "Rockin' Remnants" (oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
); both have been running since the mid 1960's, though with a succession of hosts and with occasional changes in time slot.
Prominent alumni
Over the years, a large number of WVBR student staff members have gone on to significant careers in broadcasting, journalism and related fields. On the management side, they've included not only Tom Poleman at Clear Channel, but people including Joel Chaseman, senior executive at Westinghouse Broadcasting Company (now part of CBS) who pioneered the all-news radio format and implemented it successfully in 1965 at WINS (AM) New York, where it still airs today. Among the best known on-air personalities is Keith OlbermannKeith Olbermann
Keith Theodore Olbermann is an American political commentator and writer. He has been the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of Current TV's weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, since June 20, 2011...
, host of the MSNBC and Current cable channel program "Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Countdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program that airs on Current TV, where it began airing on June 20, 2011. The program was broadcast on MSNBC from March 31, 2003, to January 21, 2011. On MSNBC, the show presented five selected news stories of...
," who worked at WVBR from 1975 to 1979 and who has often cited in interviews the formative role his experiences at the station played in his career.
Other notable alumni include sports journalist Bill Pidto
Bill Pidto
Bill Pidto was a former radio personality on Mad Dog Radio on the show The B-Team and is currently an anchor for MSG Network's coverage of New York Rangers road games and select New York Knicks games. He was formerly a journalist for ESPN from 1993 to 2008. He was often seen as one of the anchors...
, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
anchor Kate Snow
Kate Snow
Kate Snow is an American television journalist and correspondent for NBC's newsmagazine Dateline. In addition, she has also filled in as anchor for Nightly News. Prior to joining NBC, she was a co-anchor for the weekend edition of Good Morning America on ABC from 2004 to 2010...
, former SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...
anchor Whit Watson
Whit Watson
Whit Watson is a sportscaster for Golf Channel, hired in August of 2010.Prior to that position, Watson was a primary host for Sun Sports and Fox Sports Florida, the Florida-based regional cable networks owned and operated by Fox Television. He joined the network in August 2003 after nearly seven...
and author and veteran TV personality Dr. Joyce Brothers.