WXOU

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WXOU
City of license Auburn Hills, Michigan
Broadcast area [1]
Slogan College For Your Ears
Frequency 88.3 MHz
First air date 1995 (1967 as carrier current)
Format Variety
Power 110 watts
Class A
Callsign meaning Oakland University
Former callsigns WAEK (8/6/93-1/21/94)
Owner Oakland University
Website http://www.wxou.org/

WXOU is the on-campus radio station located at Oakland University in Rochester, MI. The station can be heard at 88.3 FM and streaming on the station's website. The broadcast studio and administrative offices are located in the Oakland Center building on the lower level.

WXOU serves the OU community with music, movie reviews, campus news and sports coverage. The station provides internship opportunities. WJR News Anchor Gene Fogel is an instructor.

The Sports Department broadcasts:

  • Oakland University Men's and Basketball games
  • On Tuesday during Basketball season, interviews Greg Kampe, head coach of the basketball team
  • Oakland University Hockey, ACHA' Division 1

[edit] Station history

In 1966, students interested in radio broadcasting at Oakland University formed an organization called Radio Oakland. In the winter semester of 1967, two members of the organization began broadcasting via carrier current, from a room in Van Wagoner House (on-campus housing). Later, the students were provided a storage room which they equipped, and called the station WVW. The station could only be heard in Hill House and Van Wagoner house.

During the summer of 1968 much of the equipment was stolen but the students were given space in Vandenberg Hall and $700 from an account established by the now defunct Radio Oakland student organization. The students began broadcasting with 27 watts of power from 7 pm to 1 am In 1969, the power was increased and WVW became available campus wide via carrier current from 4 pm to 1 am.

The call letters were changed in 1974 to WOU, and again in 1975, to WOUX. In the following years WOUX was moved from Vandenberg Hall to the Oakland Center permanently. WOUX was heard through a public address system in the Oakland Center and some common areas of on-campus housing -- the cafeterias of East and West Vanderberg Halls in particular. The 1979 academic year brought concerns from student congress that the station needed to meet the needs of the entire student body and requested that an Advisory Board be formed. This action came with additional and ongoing funding from the student activities fee.

Since the early 1970s, there had been a number of attempts to go FM and in May 1991 the Board of Trustees approved the application to the FCC for an FM broadcast license. This was the culmination of a joint effort involving the Campus Information, Programs and Organizations (C.I.P.O.) office, Student Life, the Communications Department and the WOUX student organization. The FCC accepted the University's application and issued a permit to construct the station. Due to the engineering constraints, the FCC extended the original permit in 1993 and again in 1994. The official call letters for the station were established as WXOU and the final deadline for construction was set for August 1995. The station's frequency was set to be 88.3 megahertz. Due to engineering and construction setbacks, WXOU was forced to postpone broadcasting on the FM airwaves until September 1996.

WXOU has been an FM station ever since. In September 1999 the station moved to another area in the lower level of Oakland Center following an extensive building renovation. In October 2000, WXOU broadcasts became available on the University website. Due to the costs and legal issues associated with royalties, the webcasting ended in 2001.

With the legalities now clearly defined, and costs for college radio broadcasters affordable, as of March 2005, WXOU has returned to broadcasting on the internet. You can listen live to WXOU at WXOU.org

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Michigan college radio stations

WCBN (University of Michigan - Ann Arbor) •  WDBM (Michigan State University) •  WEMU (Eastern Michigan University) •  WHFR (Henry Ford Community College) •  WIDR (Western Michigan University) •  WKUF (Kettering University) •  WLSO (Lake Superior State University) •  WMTU (Michigan Technological University) •  WOCR (Olivet College) •  WQAC (Alma College) •  WUDM (University Of Detroit Mercy) •  WXOU (Oakland University)