WSUM

Madison, Wisconsin
Frequency	91.7 MHz FM
Branding	91.7 FM WSUM
Programming
Format	student radio, variety
Ownership
Owner	Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
History
First air date	1996 (online) February 22, 2002 (terrestrial)
Call sign meaning	Student radio for UW–Madison
Technical information
Class	A
ERP	5,500 watts
HAAT	103 meters (338 ft)
Links
Website	www.wsum.org

WSUM (91.7 MHz FM) is a student radio station in Madison, Wisconsin, affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The station schedule consists of a wide range of music and talk programming serving the campus and wider Madison community.

History

The radio station was founded in 1952 as WLHA, but went off the air in 1993.

An effort to reinstate the station began in 1995 by a group of volunteers, including Stephen Thompson, who would later have a successful journalism career. This group submitted a budget and proposal to the UW–Madison administration.

In June 1995, Dr. James Hoyt (former chair of the UW–Madison School of Journalism) and Dave Black, a graduate student studying journalism at the university, were asked to lead the effort to bring a student radio station back to UW-Madison. Dr. Hoyt’s involvement added long-term stability to the project.

The station began in 1997 with an internet-only broadcast. In 2001, after an application was submitted by the station, the FCC agreed to a radio tower being built in the town of Montrose in southern Dane County. The proposal was met with contention from local citizens of Montrose, but after a legal battle, the tower was constructed. Terrestrial broadcasting of WSUM began on February 22, 2002, at 2:22 PM.

Since then, WSUM has expanded to near-24/7 programming. The station currently has over 250 members.

Programming

Programming on WSUM is entirely free-form, in that hosts are allowed to completely program their own show. Programming schedules operate on a semesterly schedule. A typical schedule consists of a variety of sports, talk shows, and music shows, including indie rock, funk, house music, folk, and community affairs. Most of the programmers are students (of any area college), although there are some community members with shows.

Student Staff

Educating future broadcasters is one of the core objectives of WSUM, according to its mission statement. As such, the staff at WSUM operates as a professional radio station.^[1]

The station manager is elected each year in November by the members of WSUM, while the rest of the staff is hired by the station manager. The program director is in charge of scheduling shows and training future hosts each semester. The music director is in charge of talking to promoters and planning Snake on the Lake. The production director creates on-air fare for the station.

The general manager, currently Kelsey Brannen,^[2] oversees the student staff and liaises with the administration for budget and other issues.

WSUM sports

The WSUM Sports Department provides UW-Madison students with hands-on experience in the field of sports broadcasting. WSUM Sports offers numerous sports talk shows throughout the week, all of which are entirely produced and hosted by students. In addition, WSUM provides live play-by-play coverage of Wisconsin football, men's and women's basketball, and men's and women's hockey on its online sports stream. The station also has an exclusive partnership with the official website of Wisconsin athletics, to broadcast Badger softball and women's hockey games.

In January 2010, the WSUM Sports Department began an exclusive partnership to provide the on-air talent for the Big Ten Network as a part of its "Student-U" initiative.^[3]

Party in the Park

Each year, WSUM puts together a free music festival that is funded through donations and fundraising events. The event was originally known as Party in the Park and was held in James Madison Park, near the UW–Madison Campus. The festival has drawn bands from around the country including The White Stripes, Andrew WK, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead.

Snake on the Lake Fest

In 2007, the festival was moved to the Union Terrace and renamed the "Snake on the Lake Fest". Rock and roll band The Ponys headlined at the 2008 Snake on the Lake Fest, drawing a large crowd to the event. Ryan Leslie headlined the 2013 SOTL. Saint Pepsi headlined the 2014 event at The Sett in Union South. Burial Hex headlined the 2015 event.

In 2016, the Snake on the Lake Fest moved its location to a local venue in Madison, the Frequency with the band Whitney has the fest's headliner.

References

Sources

• WSUM in the FCC FM station database
• WSUM in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

42°54′14″N 89°33′22″W / 42.904°N 89.556°W / 42.904; -89.556