The story was originally published in The Sylva Herald on June 10.
The small radio station that at one time could only broadcast to a few Western Carolina University buildings will soon reach more the 100,000 people in the Western North Carolina area.
The student run station, WWCU, on the WCU campus is switching frequencies from 90.5 to 95.3 FM. The change began Feb. 1 when the old frequency was taken off air so construction for a new radio tower could begin.
The switch was needed because the new frequency is more powerful, said Don Connelly, WWCU radio supervisor and a WCU professor. The new frequency will reach 60,000 more people than the old frequency of 90.5 was able to provide.
Surrounding areas from “Clingmans Dome to the north, Bryson City to the west, Franklin to the south, to Waynesville to the east,” will potentially be able to access the radio signal, Connelly said.
There is no set date for full completion of the radio tower, but the main structure of the tower has been fully constructed. Due to issues in the supply chain, the tower is not finished as it lacks radio transmission equipment, Connelly said.
History of the WWCU radio station dates to 1948 when it first went on the air, using the call letters WCCA, which stood for Western Carolina Catamount on the Air.
The name of the radio station has changed multiple times since their beginning, but they have been called WWCU since 1976, which stands for We are Western Carolina University.
“During the over 73-year history of the station it has transitioned from a small student campus radio club to an FCC class A FM radio station serving the region and as a professional learning laboratory for students, staff and faculty,” Connelly said.
Despite the station being off air until the construction of the tower is complete, the broadcast is available online at www.wwcufm.com.
The primary focus of the radio station is to provide students with the opportunity to obtain radio experience while in school. There are volunteer opportunities to work as a DJ to host a show or paid positions such as general manager and special programs coordinator.
“It was really fun to do because you were interacting with volunteers that actually, truly wanted to show off their musical library or wanted to go into the field of radio,” said Samuel Dixon, former special program coordinator who graduated from WCU in 2018. “It was a doorway really. It was an opportunity to help volunteers have their goals be fulfilled.
Many students learned valuable information from working at WWCU that they were able to take into their career.
“It gave me a little bit of what the day-to-day was going to be like at a radio station,” said Kevin Bullock, former general manager of WWCU and the general manager for First Radio Media in Rocky Mount.
