WPRK

28.594722222222 - 81.335Koordinaten: 28 ° 35 ' 41 "N, 81 ° 20 ' 6 " W

WPRK is a high school radio station in Winter Park, Florida. The radio is operated by the Rollins College since December 8, 1952 to hear the greater part of the metropolitan area of ​​Orlando and transmits on 91.5 MHz. About the transmitter is a varied - eclectic program, which consists primarily of current indie music and sports broadcasts of Rollins College team.

The station tried to play mainly music that commercial broadcasters do not have the program, with a high proportion of local bands. During the day program the requirement applies, that a certain proportion of the songs played may not have run in the last three months in the transmitter. The Call Sign WPRK stands for the place of transmission PaRK winter.

History

History and first years

WPRK began as a sender, who worked closely with the college administration. The station suffered throughout history to the problems that had many college radio stations: highly variable funding from the university, volunteers with fluctuating time and motivation, inherent conflict between studentischem staff, the university and the FCC. However, he was able to assert itself as the only broadcaster Orlando, who organized a format radio and in which the program makers are largely independent of management.

WPRK was the second college radio from Rollins. 1924 had a physics professor and some of his students established a medium-wave transmitter and sent first radio programs. The program, which consisted mainly of the transmission of lectures, but was never a big success and was sold. From the station, the Orlando -based private stations WDBO developed.

At 88.1 MHz, a 10 - watt transmitter sent especially classical music by music students, announcements of student obligations, debate and services from the college 's Knowles Memorial Chapel. The beginning financed the Ford Foundation. One of the first supporters of the then U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who on the third day of broadcasting spoke as a proven supporter of the college radio thought a longer greeting belonged, where he expressed that WPRK this could contribute to the spread of great ideas great men and women to obtain their freedom. He was the first U.S. president, whose voice was heard on a college radio.

Expansion

Initially, the station sent five hours program during the week, now he has a 24 - hour program. The studio was in the basement of the Mills Memorial Library on the campus, which WPRK inspiration for the slogan The best in basement radio. Besides the few full-time workers were working in 2008, over 80 DJs in the transmitter.

1954 upgraded the transmitter to 250 watts output power on, 1964, he boasted of having to " most listeners per watt ". Over the decades, the radio moved away from classical music and discussion programs, and more towards a format with more modern music, in which students and their taste had a greater impact on the program design. The manager 1978-1990, J. Gordon Fraser, the program eventually expanded to daily broadcasts. In addition to experimental classical music and free jazz, he led a longer "Free Form" format, in which the student DJs had virtually a free hand in the mission design.

Since the Orlando area is rich thunderstorms and Orlando himself describes as lightning capital of the world, the various WPRK antennas suffered several direct lightning strikes in the course of its existence. The only day since the appointment Fraser, was at the WPRK not on the air, was in September 1985 when Hurricane Elena Orlando met.

Substantive independence and fast sale

1989 translated by the students that the Rollins College, the content control on the transmitter largely abandoned. Since then, the content selection is in fact at the student operators themselves. 2000, however, the participation had fallen on the transmitter to a low point, only 16 volunteer staff from the university kept the station alive. In addition there were 55 DJs who had no connection to the College. The audience numbers were temporarily under 50 simultaneous listeners. In a radio market, which was now one of the 35 largest in the USA, the College planned the entire station and its license to the local radio Wmfe to sell. The NPR offshoot Wmfe would have produced the entire morning and evening program under the Convention and the students as interns allowed the programming at night too. Only major protests by students, radio producers and from parts of the residents of Orlando could prevent this. Rollins College hired a full-time managing the number of Ehrenamtler the radio had doubled over the protests of 16 to 32. University and students agreed, the program again to focus more on issues of Rollins College and less to the entire Orlando area.

In 2005, the WPRK DJ Dave Plotkin trying to break the World Record for the longest live radio broadcast of a DJ. Although he held by the targeted 110 hours, after which it became informed by the Guinness Book of World Records, which had already found in the database, a successful 120 - hour world record attempt in 2003. From this grew the tradition of a regular multi-day fundraising marathon varying quality. The now two full-time employees and the transmission mode, but they remain largely funded by the Rollins College. Two full-time and 110 volunteers send over 1300 watts daily 24 -hour program that is to receive approximately 16 miles radius.

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