WFUV

WFUV
City New York, New York
Branding 90.7 WFUV
Slogan NY's Music Discovery
Frequency 90.7 MHz (also on HD Radio)
Repeater(s) 90.7 WFUV-FM3, New York City
First air date 1947
Format FM/HD1: Adult album alternative
HD2: Adult album alternative, FUV All Music
ERP 47,000 watts
HAAT 155 meters (509 ft)
Class B
Facility ID 22033
Transmitter coordinates 40°52′48.00″N 73°52′40.00″W / 40.8800000°N 73.8777778°W / 40.8800000; -73.8777778
Callsign meaning W
Fordham
University's
Voice
Affiliations National Public Radio
Owner Fordham University
Webcast Listen Live
Website www.wfuv.org

WFUV (90.7 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to New York City. The station is owned by Fordham University, with studios on its Bronx campus and its antenna atop nearby Montefiore Medical Center. WFUV first went on the air in 1947. Its air staff has included radio veterans Dennis Elsas, Vin Scelsa and Pete Fornatale.

WFUV broadcasts in HD.[1]

Background

The station is a National Public Radio affiliate. It had been a 3,500-watt station from its inception until February 21, 1969, when its effective radiated power was increased to 50,000 watts. It began broadcasting in stereo on March 31, 1973.[2] It serves over 350,000 listeners weekly in the New York area and thousands more worldwide on the Web (wfuv.org). The station is known for its adult album alternative format (a mix of adult rock, singer-songwriters, world and other music, formerly branded as "City Folk"), as well as Celtic music. Other programs include genres such as folk music and early pop and jazz. National programs heard on WFUV include World Cafe, American Routes, Mountain Stage and The Thistle & Shamrock.

The station's call letters stand for "Fordham University's Voice." Though operated as a professional public radio station, WFUV's mission also includes a strong training component for Fordham students. Students receive intensive instruction and are heard on the air in news and sports programming.

In-studio interviews and performances are also a prominent feature of its programming. On-air guests have included Radio Hall of Famer Arthur Godfrey (in 1947), Pete Hamill, Steve Buscemi, Tim Robbins, The Jefferson Airplane, The Association, Graham Nash, Roger McGuinn, The Washington Squares, Suzanne Vega, Jimmy Webb, Peter, Paul & Mary, Cyndi Lauper, Sting, Bo Diddley, Judy Collins, Lou Reed, Brian Wilson, Robert Klein, Kevin Bacon, Dick Cavett, Glen Campbell, Ringo Starr, Joshua Bell, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Robbie Robertson, Los Lobos, Tony Bennett, John Zacherle, The Bad Plus, Buddy Guy, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Ani DiFranco, The Polyphonic Spree, Jackson Browne, Ben Harper, Richard Barone, The Decemberists, Moby, Uncle Tupelo, Josh Ritter, Neil Young, Of Monsters and Men, Mavis Staples, Brian Fallon, and Norah Jones (in her radio debut). WFUV has introduced many other new artists over the years.

History

Daily rock music programming was begun in February 1970 by then Program Director Lew Goodman. Prior to that, the programming was a mix of classical, popular and ethnic music, including Bill Shibilski's Polka Party, which was broadcast from 1964 till 2001, and Fordham University sports broadcasts. Many chamber music and piano recitals were broadcast live from now-defunct Studio B in the 1950s. The station also broadcast a long-running series of live Sunday classical broadcasts from The Ethical Culture Society in Manhattan.

WFUV was on the verge of going off the air in September 1968, due to budgetary cuts by the university, but the student-staff went on strike and organized rallies and demonstrations to save the station.

WFUV has been a public radio station since 1988. In 2005 the studios, offices, and transmitter moved from the third floor of Keating Hall on Fordham's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx, where it had been since 1947, to Keating Hall's basement. The move allowed the station to improve its equipment and gain more space. Its antenna was moved in 2006 from atop an unfinished tower on the Rose Hill campus (it was previously atop Keating Hall) to atop Montefiore Medical Center on Gun Hill Road, one of the highest locations in the Bronx.

Notable former staff

Former student staff

WFUV's rock music shows were formerly hosted by Fordham students, most notably Pete Fornatale, the renowned radio DJ whose first show began in November 1964, when he was a sophomore, and who returned to WFUV in 2001 after a 30-year hiatus, remaining until his 2012 death. Other alumni include,

News department alumni are/were heard on many stations and networks nationally. These include,

The sports department has produced several notable alumni, most notably the legendary Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers announcer and Baseball Hall of Famer Vin Scully who helped found WFUV. Other alumni include,

Former professional staff

Notable past-staff at WFUV includes acclaimed DJs Pete Fornatale and Vin Scelsa. Bill Crowley, a newscaster at the now-defunct Air America, was a former WFUV Program Director. Alan Light, former editor-in-chief of music magazinesVibe and Spin and music critic at the New York Times was an on-air contributor music reviewer during mid-2000's at WFUV.Legendary radio announcer legendary Marty Glickman instructed students in the sports department after his retirement. Glickman was the radio announcer of the New York Knicks, New York Giants, and New York Jets and the subject of the Martin Scorsese-produced 2013 HBO documentary film Glickman.

References

  1. ↑ "HD Radio station guide for Houston, Texas". www.hdradio.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
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