WPSC-FM

WPSC-FM

City	Wayne, New Jersey
Broadcast area	Northern New Jersey, Western New York City
Branding	WP 88.7 FM
Slogan	"Brave New Radio"
Frequency	88.7 MHz
First air date	1989
Format	Alternative rock
ERP	200 watts
HAAT	79.0 meters
Class	A
Facility ID	72703
Transmitter coordinates	40°59′46.00″N 74°16′51.00″W / 40.9961111°N 74.2808333°W / 40.9961111; -74.2808333
Callsign meaning	Paterson State College[1]
Owner	William Paterson University
Webcast	AAC Stream
Website	gobrave.org

WPSC-FM (88.7 FM) is William Paterson University's non-commercial radio station.^[2] Licensed to Wayne, New Jersey, USA, the station serves the northern New Jersey and western New York City area. In 2011, WPSC was one of the top 25 stations nominated for the mtvU Woodie Award for Best College Radio Station. In 2012, WPSC Won Best College Station In The Nation (Enrollment over 10,000 students) at the 72nd IBS Awards in New York City, March 2012. In October 2011 and also scheduled for October 2012, WPSC will also serve as international HQ for College Radio Day.

History

WPSC went on the air in 1967 through closed circuit on campus to several buildings and then also as a carrier current station (590 AM) as well. During the 1970's WPSC-AM continued to broadcast on campus, both over the air and piped into various buildings on campus while the quest for an FM frequency in the very crowded NY/NJ market began. For a time (1972–1974) WPSC also had an arrangement with WFMU to broadcast a weekly 2 hour pre-recorded program on WFMU.

Between 1974 and 1978, programming expanded to include hourly newscasts, live sports events, campus and community affairs, celebrity interviews, radio plays, alternative comedy, live concerts and other events all created and produced in house. Programming hours increased from 12 hours a day 5 days a week to 18 and a half hours 7 days a week.

Beginning in 1977, WPSC began broadcasting on UA Columbia Cablevision's Channel 3 bringing the station into tens of thousands of living rooms in Passaic, Morris, and Bergen Counties. Programming was mostly AOR/Progressive Rock but also included some Top 40, Oldies, and Soul/R&B/Disco shows. All programming reflected the choices of the DJs on the air during their shift and also included phoned in requests. During this time, WPSC was entirely student staffed and operated with all funding coming from WPC's Student Government Association and supplemented by a small revenue stream from commercial advertising. Faculty oversight and involvement was minimal to non existent.

In December 1988, the station began broadcasting, as North Jersey's Independent Radio.^[3] Throughout much of the 1990s WPSC almost exclusively played top 40, causing harsh criticism from students and the college radio community. As of 2007, it is a part of William Paterson University's Communication department and is staffed by students interested in careers in radio as well as alumni and community volunteers. Hobart Hall, the communication building on campus, houses the station. The signal tower is located in Pompton Lakes, NJ. It has since been relaunched as Brave New Radio WP 88.7 FM

The Bravery in Radio Award

In April 2009, WPSC and William Paterson University launched the 'Bravery in Radio' Award in addition to establishing "The Brave-athon". The award was created by students and Professors to recognize brave leaders in the Radio Industry that have paved the way. The first inaugural award was presented to Les Paul in April 2009 for his pioneering work on the Les Paul Radio Show. The award was presented to Paul onstage at his show at New York City's Iridium.

In April 2010, Bruce Morrow (Cousin Brucie) received the award in recognition of his track record of creating "inspirational programming and a lifelong commitment to the medium of radio." After Howard Stern heard about Marrow receiving the award, he went on his daily Sirius XM show to rant about how he deserves the award rather than Marrow, for being the "only truly brave person in radio." In response to Stern's broadcast, the 2011 award was presented live on the Howard Stern Show to Howard Stern and Robin Quivers who accepted the award for their "pioneering work in the medium of radio." After some on-air ribbing of the award and the university, Stern then sincerely accepted the award by saying "Thank you very much for this beautiful award. I do appreciate it - I’m not so jaded that I can’t be complimented by the students."

In 2012 the award went to an NPR program "Radio LaB", but without a personality to accept the award, it was declined, which was later regretted. In 2013 the award was not presented to anyone.

In efforts to bring the award back to life, the award for 2014 was presented to Elvis Duran live on his Z100 nationally syndicated broadcast morning show. The award then went on hiatus again when Quicke, then head of the award, took a sabbatical from WPU to teach at the University of Oxford. The award will be presented in 2016 to a currently unknown receiver. A board consisting of WPU facility, administrators, and students will decide where the fate of the award lies.

College Radio Day

WPSC is the national HQ for College Radio Day, the first of which is to be on October 11, 2011. The aim of College Radio Day is raise awareness of the many college and high school radio stations in America, and to celebrate the important medium of college radio.

Programming

The programming on WP 88.7 FM is eclectic; music, news, talk and speciality shows are all represented throughout the week. A comprehensive schedule is found on the official website

Rock and Pop

The rock and pop genre dominate the shows that mainly air on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The DJs are encouraged to play newer music from independent artists, as well as local bands from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. WPSC's mix of indie rock, alternative, punk, indie folk, classic rock and jam bands has been termed "Braveology." There are often live band interviews and performances that take place right in the studio. The four classic rock shows that air Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. are known as The Naked Brunch. The heavy metal shows, collectively known as The 4 Horsemen air weeknights from 9 p.m. to midnight.

WP 88.7 FM also submits its weekly playlists to the College Media Journal's New Music Report which publishes the lists in a top 30 format.

Urban

The sole hip hop show on Brave New Radio, The Wrap Up, airs Friday night/Saturday morning 12am-3am, offering the widest variety of Hip-Hop and Rap on terrestrial radio. The show is hosted by "T.K."

World

There are currently two distinct world music shows. Club Melting Pot, airing from 12 p.m. noon to 6 p.m. on Fridays, showcases world hip-hop, rap and dance. Libido Latino, airing every Saturday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. plays Latin rock.

Jazz

The jazz show, "Just A Mood" airs Sunday nights from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and is hosted by Stan Myers, a veteran jazz historian and disc jockey.

Gospel

Gospel shows air Saturday mornings (7 a.m. to 9 a.m.) and Sunday mornings (5 a.m. to 9 a.m.).

Talk

There several talk shows at WP 88.7 FM. The Morning Blend airs weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and features different DJs each day.

In the fall of 2008, The Morning Blend added an hour-long segment on Thursday mornings called Newlygreens with special guest cohost Greg Mattison, who hosts a Public-access television cable TV show of the same name with his wife Connie. Since then the segment has become its own one-hour-a-week show called Newlygreens on the Radio, and features Greg and Connie Mattison and former Morning Blend host Risa Pappas. Segments include Reusable News, which features "green" headlines about public policy, clean energy, climate change, environmentalism, and eco-friendly inventions; Greensprouts, which give listeners take-away tips on how to live more sustainably; and weekly interviews with experts from various industries directly or indirectly involved in "green" issues, actions, initiatives and services. Past interviewees include Larry Schweiger, CEO of the National Wildlife Federation and Peter Sinclair, creator of Climate Denial Crock of the Week.

The Nightly Brew, airing weeknights from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. features comedy talk and is hosted by different on-air personalities each night. Monday's Nightly Brew show is The Mixtape. Tuesday's show is Jersey Fresh, a show dedicated to only playing music by New Jersey artists. Wednesday's show is called Random Play, hosted by Smokey, the Bandit and GoBot.

The Reading Circle airing Saturdays 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. has intelligent discussions on literature.

Two Guys, One Mic

Hosted by Jersey John and The PHAT Man, Two Guys, One Mic was a talk/comedy show that broadcast from April 2008 until August 2011. The show consisted of talk comedy, heavy metal, loud rock, local music and more. Each show consisted of several different segments including News You Can't Use, Banished!, Epic Failures in History, Words of Wisdom with Patrick Boyle, 15 Moments of Misery, Random Artist of the Week, Wonders of the World, Ask Kevin Baxter, and many more. After graduating from William Paterson University the duo moved their legacy on to their very own website, TwoGuysOneMic.com

Awards Received: Jersey John & The PHAT Man were chosen for the Best Talk Show award in the 2010 Maltese Awards for Broadcasting

Memorable On-Air Moments

-Jersey John & The PHAT Man gave away boxes of Eggo Waffles to on-air callers during the devastating Waffle Shortage of 2009 (http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/18/news/companies/eggo_waffle_shortage/)

-While broadcasting the duo picked up a phone call, live on-air, which turned out to be the local pizza delivery man who could not get into the radio station due to the doors being locked

-Jersey John & The PHAT Man broke the news of Michael Jackson's death on-air,June 25, 2009.

-The on-air duo began a worldwide holiday they called "Assless Chaps Day", where a celebration took place honoring the cringe-worthy existence of assless chaps

Radio newsroom

The newsroom at WP 88.7 FM records daily news reports from USA News Network by DJs at the station. These reports are broadcast on other college radio stations around the United States.

On-air guests

Over the years, WP 88.7 FM has featured notable on-air guests, including the bands Weezer and Steel Train, artists Jon Anderson of Yes, Dana Fuchs, Bobby Valli, John Lloyd Young and Frank Stallone, comic Carol Leifer, entertainer Penn Jillette, Janet Hubert of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and even chef and TV personality Lidia Mattichio Bastianich.

Events

Every year WPSC hosts a "Brave-a-thon", a day of fundraising for the station featuring 15 live, local artists. 2013 was the fifth year of the Brave-a-thon.

In 2009, WPSC had its first simulcast with WXAV, a college radio station in Chicago. The event, dubbed Unsung Underground Uprising, featured performances and interviews with We Are Scientists, Band of Skulls, and Very Emergency.

In 2011, WPSC was the national headquarters for the first ever "College Radio Day" celebrating college and high school radio in the United States with 365 stations participating.

Notable former staff

Former station staff include Kevin Burkhardt (Fox Sports) NFL/MLB announcer and (SportsNet New York),^[4] Rich Kaminski (WLTW),^[5] Tom Stephens (WCBS 880),^[6] Tim Kennedy, Cora Ann Mihalik, Kathy Millar, Mike McGuire, Daniel Ambrose, Christopher Moore, Pat Blowers (WDHA),^[7] Nikki Marra (WMGM WPHT, WJBR), Fred Demarest (Associate AD/Communications & Marketing, North Carolina State University),^[8] Ira Thor (NJCU athletic communications/New York Giants press box announcer),^[9] and Mike Barker (Shadow Traffic and Total Traffic Network reporter).

References

External links

• Query the FCC's FM station database for WPSC
• Radio-Locator information on WPSC
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WPSC
• The Bravery in Radio Award website