WSOU

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WSOU
WSOU logo
City of license South Orange, New Jersey
Slogan "The Loudest Rock"
Frequency 89.5 (MHz) (Also on HD Radio)
First air date 1948
Format Modern Active Rock
ERP 2,400 watts
HAAT 95 meters
Class A
Facility ID 59707
Transmitter Coordinates 40°44′28.00″N 74°14′42.00″W / 40.7411111, -74.245
Owner Seton Hall University
Website http://www.wsou.net

WSOU (89.5 FM) is a non-commercial, college radio station. The station broadcasts from the campus of Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ. It is a student-run station with General Manager Mark Maben at the helm as a full time faculty member. WSOU currently broadcasts in HD-RADIO.

Contents

[edit] Programming

The station currently broadcasts a modern/active rock format, featuring heavy metal, punk, emo, hardcore and post-hardcore, and other types of rock-based music. WSOU was one of the first radio stations to bring punk rock onto the airwaives in 1978 when DJ's like Marty Byke and Daniel Martin Cooney played artists such as Arthur Comix, The Damned, The Saints, Crass, The Ramones and Johnny Thunders.

[edit] Speciality Shows

WSOU broadcasts many "speciality shows" where the shows are devoted entirely to a specific kind of music.

  • Pirated Advance - a new album is played in its entirety prior to release
  • Club Sessions - dance music and club mixes
  • Campus Buzz - indie, college, & alternative rock)
  • Punk University (punk and hardcore)
  • That "Other" 70s Show - 70's music
  • Vintage 80's - 80's music
  • Under the Stars - scene/emo music
  • No Man's Land - female fronted artists
  • Street Patrol - local, unsigned, underground artists
  • Out of Babylon - Christian music
  • Hardcore Reality - hardcore music

[edit] Community Programming

On Saturday mornings and on Sundays, community shows are broadcast, including the Irish Celtic Heritage Hour with Joe Brennan Vogel, the Armenian Hour with Vartan Abdo, the Arab Caravan, the Pirate News Desk and the long-running Polish Polka Party.

[edit] Thank God It's Monday

Every Saturday morning at 8:30am, Seton Hall alumnus Greg Cellini helps listeners explore workplace issues and ways to get more satisfaction out of their jobs.

[edit] Sports Programming

Along with its mix of modern active rock and community and catholic programming, WSOU is also the leader in coverage of Seton Hall athletics. The station is currently broadcasting at 2400 watts in HD-RADIO, making it the destination for Pirate fans in the New Jersey/New York market. The sports department at WSOU broadcasts all home and away games for both men’s and women’s basketball, the school’s flagship sports. Also aired throughout the year are select games for men’s and women’s soccer, baseball, and softball. For the 2008-2009 academic year the sports department is working on airing more athletic events for all sports.

Online listening of WSOU nearly doubles when men’s basketball games are broadcasted. Following each men’s basketball game is Hall Line, a post game call-in show that allows Pirate fans the chance to share their thoughts about the game and/or the team. The show, which is hosted by student on-air talents, either in-studio or at the site of the game, has been on the air since the 1960s. It currently is the longest-running sports program at WSOU.

Along with Hall-Line, WSOU also offers two Sunday evening sports talk shows hosted by students, From the Stands and Pirate Primetime.


From the Stands

From 6 to 7 P.M. every Sunday evening, members of WSOU’s sports staff analyze and debate the world of professional sports on From the Stands. Topics surrounding MLB, the NFL, the NBA and the NHL are discussed in a format similar to local sports talk radio. All of the important sports stories of the day and/or week are dissected on-air, in addition to having interviews with figures of professional sports during the show. Callers are encouraged to voice their opinions during the broadcast.


Pirate Primetime

From 7 to 8 P.M. every Sunday evening following From the Stands, the attention shifts to Seton Hall athletics on Pirate Primetime. The program often serves as an extension of Hall Line during the basketball season, with extra analysis of previous or upcoming games and on-air caller opinions. Aside from covering the basketball teams, the show’s hosts also discuss all of Seton Hall’s Division I athletic programs, including baseball, softball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, swimming and diving, track and field, and cross country. Similar to Seton Hall University sports teams, during the summer Pirate Primetime takes a hiatus.


At the Ballpark

Much like 2007, for the summer of 2008, WSOU has entered into an agreement with the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball to broadcast all Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday games throughout the season, as well as all playoff games. To coincide with these broadcasts, the WSOU Sports Department will also be offering an all-new sports talk show entitled "At the Ballpark". The show, which airs on Saturday from 9 A.M.-10 A.M. looks to track the entire 2008 Newark Bears season as the team looks to defend their 2007 Atlantic League Championship. Each week, in-depth analysis, series previews and reviews, insider information and player interviews will be available regularly to listeners.


Alumni

In its 60th year of broadcasting, WSOU has had many notable alumni start their sports broadcasting careers while students at Seton Hall University and members of the radio station. Several of these alumni are well known throughout sports, including Bob Ley (ESPN), Bob Picozzi (ESPN), Jim Hunter (Baltimore Orioles broadcaster) and Matt Loughlin (New Jersey Devils radio personality).

[edit] History

In January 2002, WSOU was forced by Seton Hall University to alter their heavy metal format, citing the lyrics of the metal genre had become "inconsistent" with the mission of the faith-based school. They still played rock, but bands such as Slayer and Celtic Frost needed to be taken out of rotation. The station continued to break cornerstone artists in new genres, such as My Chemical Romance, Rise Against, Senses Fail and Poison the Well. With the cooperation of the school, WSOU is now able to play heavier music again, however some of it is only allowed at night.[citation needed]

[edit] Collazo Incident

On July 12th, 2006, Newsday reported an ugly chapter in WSOU's history: "A former director of Seton Hall University's radio station admitted embezzling more than $550,000 over a 13-year period, and faces five years in prison. Michael Collazo pleaded guilty to theft. Collazo's scheme involved embezzling more than $236,000 in underwriting money, and the unauthorized leasing of WSOU's two radio sub-frequencies. The scheme ran from 1991 until 2004, when Collazo was fired."

[edit] Famous alumni

Long-time New York traffic reporters:

[edit] External links