WAMU

This article is about the radio station. For the defunct bank, see Washington Mutual.
WAMU
City Washington, D.C.
Broadcast area Washington metropolitan area
Slogan The Mind is Our Medium
Frequency 88.5 (MHz) (also on HD Radio)
Translator(s) HD1: WRAU (88.3 MHz, Ocean City)
HD2: W288BS (105.5 MHz, Reston)
First air date October 23, 1961 (originally carrier current 1951-1961)
Format Public radio
HD2: Bluegrass
HD3: Public radio
ERP 50,000 watts
HAAT 152 meters (499 ft)
Class B
Facility ID 65399
Callsign meaning AMerican University
Affiliations National Public Radio
Owner American University
(Board of Trustees of American University)
Webcast Live stream
Website wamu.org

WAMU is a public radio station that services the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day on 88.5 FM, online at wamu.org, and on HD Radio at 88.5-HD1 and HD2. It is owned by American University, and its studios are located near the campus in northwest Washington.

History

WAMU began as a carrier current student radio station on July 28, 1951. Its signal did not make it too far off the AU campus. The station received a commercial FM license in late 1960, and made its first FM broadcast on October 23, 1961.[2] The student radio station is now WVAU, an Internet-only station.[3]

From its inception, WAMU has provided public affairs and educational programming. Beginning in 1961, WAMU was granted a non-commercial broadcast license and joined the National Educational Radio Network, a predecessor to NPR. In 1971 it was a founding member of National Public Radio.[2]

In 1967, WAMU began programming bluegrass music which, in its heyday on the main channel, included the Lee Michael Demsey Show and the Ray Davis Show and weekends included Mountain Stage from West Virginia Public Radio. The station hosted an annual bluegrass concert at Fairfax High School as well as the yearly Pickin' in the Glen featuring performers such as Alison Krauss, Tony Rice, the Gibson Brothers, the Lewis Family, Hot Rize, and Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers.[4]

The station changed its programming in 2002, transitioning its main channel to all news and public affairs and creating a separate bluegrass station online and on its HD2 channel (and, in 2004, with a low-power standard FM signal in northern Virginia [see translators list, below]) through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.[2]

In 2004, the prominent Washington journalist Ellen Wadley Roper left WAMU a $250,000 bequest, the largest gift in the station's history.[5]

When fellow public radio station WETA changed to an all-classical music format in 2007, WAMU became Washington, D.C.'s only full-time NPR news station.[6]

In December 2015, WAMU executives announced that Diane Rehm would be stepping down from her show following the 2016 Presidential election, representing a major shake-up in WAMU's lineup. Rehm, 79, stated that she wanted a younger voice to take her place at WAMU. Conversely, Kojo Nnamdi, 71, lost its second hour of broadcasting in 2015, showing a trend for easier-to-access media for younger consumers.[7]

Current programming

WAMU's main channel carries content from NPR, American Public Media, Public Radio International, Public Radio Exchange and the BBC World Service. News coverage is framed by NPR news each hour as well as Morning Edition and All Things Considered. The Diane Rehm Show is produced at WAMU and heard by an estimated 2 million public radio listeners nationwide. Local public affairs programs include The Kojo Nnamdi Show, which airs each weekday, and Metro Connection, which used to air each Friday and Saturday.[8]

The station also airs several entertainment shows, including the long-running The Big Broadcast, which originated in 1964 as Recollections; this program, which airs for four hours each Sunday night, features rebroadcasts of drama, comedy, and variety shows from the "golden age of radio", including The Jack Benny Show, Dragnet, Gunsmoke, The Great Gildersleeve, Lux Radio Theater, and Philco Radio Time with Bing Crosby. Ed Walker, himself a storied Washington broadcaster, served as the program's host from 1990 to 2015.

The station also produces Hot Jazz Saturday Night and airs A Prairie Home Companion and This American Life.

WAMU's Bluegrass Country produces live and original bluegrass music programs, including The Katy Daley Show, The Lee Michael Demsey Show, Stained Glass Bluegrass and The Ray Davis Show.

Translators

WAMU runs the following translators to increase its coverage area:

Call sign Frequency
(MHz) 		City of license ERP
W 		Class FCC info
WRAU 88.3 Ocean City, Maryland 50,000 B FCC
WYAU 89.5 Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia 8,000 B1 FCC

The following translator repeats Bluegrass Country:

Call sign Frequency
(MHz) 		City of license ERP
W 		Class FCC info
W288BS 105.5 Reston, Virginia 99 D FCC

References

  1. ↑ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=8 HD Radio Guide for Washington D.C.
  2. 1 2 3 "WAMU 88.5 History". Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "About WVAU". Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Mission & History". Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "WAMU 88.5 FM Receives $250,000 Bequest; Largest Gift in Station's History" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: American University. 8 April 2004. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Classical WETA's Official Release". Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "WAMU Is Making Big Changes. Here's a Look at Its Plans". Washingtonian. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
  8. ↑ "Station Schedules". Retrieved 10 March 2014.

External links

Coordinates: 38°56′10″N 77°05′31″W / 38.936°N 77.092°W / 38.936; -77.092

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