Misplaced Pages

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article contains promotional content. Please help improve it by removing promotional language and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic text written from a neutral point of view. (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable, independent, third-party sources. (October 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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
Licensing authority	FCC
Class	A
ERP	5,500 watts
HAAT	103 meters (338 ft)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.wsum.org

WSUM (91.7 MHz FM) is a student radio station in Madison, Wisconsin, affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It plays a variety of music styles with talk programming serving the campus and wider Madison community. The studios and offices are at 333 East Campus Mall on the 4th floor. WSUM is funded by the university but also accepts donations on line.

WSUM is a Class A station with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 5,500 watts. The transmitter is on County Highway A in Belleville, a community in the Town of Montrose, south of Madison.

History

The University of Wisconsin-Madison was the founder of one of the earliest radio stations in America, WHA 970 AM. But that station has a professional staff and aims its programming at Madison and surrounding towns. The university wanted to have a college radio station to help students train for broadcasting careers and to serve the campus community. That station began in 1952. Its call sign was WLHA. But it 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 signed on the air in 1997 as an internet-only service. In 2001, after an application was submitted by the station, the Federal Communications Commission (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 at 2:22 p.m. on February 22, 2002; 22 years ago (February 22, 2002).

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

Programming

Programming on WSUM is entirely free-form. 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.

On Wisconsin Radio is the station's flagship public affairs program. The show covers the Badgers and everything Wisconsin, featuring the latest in political news, sports, music, culture, and community events through quality journalism, creative pre-production and energetic live performance. Previous guests include politicians Senator Tammy Baldwin, Mary Burke, and Madison mayor Paul Soglin, comedians Julian McCullough, Christopher Titus, Steve Byrne, and Adam Cayton-Holland, and former Green Bay Packer Ahman Green. The podcast debuted in February 2015.

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.

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, 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.

The WSUM online sports stream launched in October 2008, with a broadcast of the football game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Coverage has since expanded to include men's and women's basketball, men's and women's hockey, and women's softball. In October, 2009, WSUM Sports traveled to Minneapolis to broadcast its first road game: Wisconsin vs. Minnesota football. WSUM has since covered every Wisconsin football road Big Ten game, select away men's basketball games, The Rose Bowl, The Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament, Women's Hockey Frozen Four, WCHA Final Five, and The 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

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

1. Radio-Locator.com/WSUM
2. "Our Staff | Executive Team | WSUM 91.7 FM Madison Student Radio". 27 June 2013.
3. "WSUM's New General Manager!". wsum.org. 1 September 2021.
4. "Sports department - WSUM 91.7 Madison Student Radio". wsum.org. Archived from the original on 2010-08-07.

Sources

• Facility details for Facility ID 79040 (WSUM) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WSUM in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

v t e University of Wisconsin–Madison
Located in: Madison, Wisconsin – Founded: 1848
Colleges and schools	Agricultural and Life Sciences Business Education Engineering Human Ecology Journalism and Mass Communication Law Letters and Science Medicine and Public Health Music Public Affairs
Campus	Abraham's Woods Agriculture Hall Allen Centennial Gardens Arboretum Bascom Hill Chamberlin Hall Chazen Museum of Art Dairy Barn DeLuca Biochemistry Building Geology Museum Heating Station Lake Mendota Lakeshore Nature Preserve Lathrop Hall Law Building Memorial Union North Hall Pine Bluff Observatory Space Science and Engineering Center Red Gym Science Hall State Street Stock Pavilion Synchrotron Radiation Center Union South Washburn Observatory Weinert Center Wisconsin Union Theater
Athletics	Teams Baseball Basketball (Men's Women's) Crew Football Ice hockey (Men's Women's) Men's soccer Softball Volleyball Venues Camp Randall Field House Kohl Center LaBahn Arena University Ridge Golf Course Bucky Badger Grateful Red Rivalries Paul Bunyan's Axe Heartland Trophy
History	Camp Randall Experimental College Past Chancellors Sifting and winnowing Single-grain experiment Slab of Bacon Sterling Hall bombing Teaching Assistants Association WHA Wisconsin Idea Wisconsin Idea Theatre Wisconsin school Wisconsin School (diplomatic history)
Media and publications	The Badger Herald The Daily Cardinal Scandinavian Studies Tandem Press UW Press The Wisconsin Engineer Wisconsin Law Review WSUM
People	Alumni, faculty and staff Academics Athletics
Research	Biotron Carbone Cancer Center Center for Limnology Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center Helically Symmetric Experiment History of Cartography Project IceCube Neutrino Observatory Law in Action Madison Symmetric Torus McArdle Laboratory Morgridge Institute for Research Pegasus Toroidal Experiment UW Hospital & Clinics Viaspan WIYN Consortium WiCell Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation WISCAPE Wisconsin Energy Institute Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery
Student life	Fundamentally Sound Grateful Red Hoofers Humorology Iron Shield Society Jump Around MadHatters Marching Band On, Wisconsin! Varsity Wisconsin Film Festival Wisconsin Union
Related	University of Wisconsin System The War at Home (documentary)
Category

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

• Radio stations in Madison, Wisconsin
• University of Wisconsin–Madison
• College radio stations in Wisconsin
• Freeform radio stations