WERS

WERS (88.9 FM) is one of Emerson College's two radio stations (the other being campus station WECB), located in Boston, Massachusetts. Student-run and professionally managed, it serves eastern New England an eclectic mix of musical genres, and more live performances than any other station in the region. Programming features over 20 different styles of music and news, including live performances and interviews. WERS stands as the first non-commercial radio station in New England, and has been in operation since November 1949. Among the founders of the station was WEEI program director Arthur F. Edes, who first taught broadcasting courses at Emerson in 1932 and helped to plan a campus radio station. The chief architect of WERS in its early years was Professor Charles William Dudley.

WERS
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Broadcast areaGreater Boston
Branding88.9 WERS
Slogan"Boston's Music Discovery"
Frequency88.9 MHz (HD Radio)
Translator(s)W243BG (96.5, New Bedford)
W268AM (101.5, Gloucester)
First air dateNovember 14, 1949[1]
FormatEclectic/Triple A
HD2: Show tunes "Standing Room Only"
ERP4,000 watts
HAAT186 meters
ClassB1
Facility ID19482
Transmitter coordinates42°21′8.00″N 71°3′25.00″W
Call sign meaningEmerson Radio Station
Former frequencies88.1 MHz (1949–1950)
OwnerEmerson College
WebcastListen Live
HD2: Listen Live
Websitewww.wers.org

Translators
Broadcast translators of WERS
Call signFrequency
(MHz)		City of licenseFacility
ID		ERP
(W)		ClassTransmitter coordinatesFCC info
W243BG96.5New Bedford, Massachusetts14208855D41°38′25″N 70°55′3″WFCC
W268AM101.5Gloucester, Massachusetts13877238D42°37′28″N 70°39′15″WFCC

In June 2007, WERS inaugurated a translator station on 96.5 MHz in New Bedford, Massachusetts, relaying WERS's programming to New Bedford and nearby communities. Another translator, on 101.5 MHz in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on Cape Ann, went on the air in July 2008.

Critical acclaim

According to The Princeton Review, WERS is the #1 college radio station in America, an award the station has won or come close to winning almost every year since The Princeton Review started ranking colleges.[2]

WERS is the most highly rated student-run college radio station in the US. In the Boston market (10th largest in the nation), WERS's daytime programming usually ranks at 20th to 25th.

Programming

WERS has an eclectic block format. On weekdays WERS has a Triple A format between 2 am and 10 pm Monday through Friday. But on weeknights WERS has an UC format featuring R&B slow jams and soul on "The WERS' Secret Spot", a directive from the college resulted in the cancellation of their Reggae show "WERS' Rockers" and the Hip-Hop show "88.9 @ Night".[3]

On weekends the station features fun loving and energentic family friendly programming, which includes "The WERS' Weekend Morning Music Playground", a totally cool power hour of nonstop Kids' music every Saturday from 6 am to 10 am and every Sunday from 6 am to 7 am, "WERS' Standing Room Only" a block filled with Showtunes every Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm and evry Sunday from Noon to 2 pm, and "WERS' All A Capella" every Saturday and Sunday from 2 pm to 4 pm. On Sundays they broadcast Yiddish Klezmer and Israeli Music from 8 am to 11 am and services from the First Church in Boston Unitarian Universalist from 11 am to Noon.

WERS also features news programming on weekdays during drive time commutes, and the award-winning Public Affairs talk show "You Are Here with WERS" every Sunday morning from 7 to 8 am.

WERS podcasts "You Are Here", available at wers.org.

Sports

In the late 1990s and mid-2000s, WERS featured a successful sports-themed program, “Sports Sunday”, which aired Sundays from noon to 2 pm. The program won three consecutive Associated Press annual awards for student sports programming (2002, 2003, and 2004.) Guests of the show included former basketball great Bill Walton, Boston Globe columnist Kevin Paul DuPont, Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna, former Northeastern University Men’s Hockey head coach Bruce Crowder, InsideHockey.com columnist James Murphy, and NHL.com columnist Bob Snow.

Former show hosts include Lon Nichols (current anchor for KLKN in Lincoln, Nebraska), Lowell Galindo (current ESPNU anchor), Tom Gauthier (current radio broadcaster and director of media relations for the Bowling Green Hot Rods), Justin Termine (current anchor and producer for NBA Radio on Sirius), Mike Gastonguay (interned as an associate producer for KXTA’s “Loose Cannons”), Matt Porter (Palm Beach Post Miami Hurricanes beat reporter), Steve Crowe (Boston Globe part-timer) and Ryan Heisler (noted triathlete).

References
  1. Halper, Donna; Wollman, Garrett. "The Eastern Massachusetts Radio Timeline: the 1940s". The Archives @ BostonRadio.org. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  2. "Best 361 College Rankings". The Princeton Review.
  3. Emerson’s WERS radio cancels ‘Rockers’ and ‘88.9@night’, two late-night music programs
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