WFSU-FM

WFSU-FM & WFSQ
WFSL & WFSW
Broadcast areaTallahassee, Florida
Panama City, Florida
North Central Florida
Southwest Georgia
Frequency88.9 MHz (WFSU-FM)
91.5 MHz (WFSQ)
89.1 MHz (WFSW)
90.7 MHz (WFSL)
BrandingWFSU Public Media
Programming
FormatPublic radio (WFSU & WFSW)
Classical music (WFSQ & WFSL)
AffiliationsNPR
Public Radio Exchange
Ownership
OwnerFlorida State University
WFSU-TV
History
First air date
WFSU-FM: July 1954 and to 88.9 in 1990)
WFSQ: October 14, 1990
WFSW: March 18, 1996
WFSL: April 15, 2003
Call sign meaning
W Florida State University
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility IDWFSU-FM: 21799
WFSQ: 21803
WFSW: 93708
WFSL: 21798
ClassWFSU-FM: C
WFSQ and WFSW: C1
WFSL: A
ERPWFSU-FM: 90,000 watts
WFSQ: 86,000 watts
WFSW: 100,000 watts
WFSL: 250 watts
HAATWFSU-FM: 379 m (1,243 ft)
WFSQ: 224 m (735 ft)
WFSW: 123 m (404 ft)
WFSL: 47 m (154 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
WFSU-FM: 30°40′13.00″N 83°56′26.00″W / 30.6702778°N 83.9405556°W / 30.6702778; -83.9405556
WFSQ: 30°21′31.00″N 84°36′38.00″W / 30.3586111°N 84.6105556°W / 30.3586111; -84.6105556
WFSW: 30°50′12.00″N 83°58′57.00″W / 30.8366667°N 83.9825000°W / 30.8366667; -83.9825000
WFSL: 30°22′2.00″N 85°55′29.00″W / 30.3672222°N 85.9247222°W / 30.3672222; -85.9247222
Translator(s)See § Stations
Links
Public license information
WebcastWFSU-FM Web stream
WFSQ Web stream
WFSW Web stream
WebsiteWFSU website

WFSU is the callsign (or variations thereon) for public radio stations operated by Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

Stations

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WFSU operates three radio stations that serve northern Florida:

WFSU-FM

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WFSU-FM (88.9 FM) is a Tallahassee-based news/talk/public affairs station carrying several NPR programs and overnight BBC World Service programming. Also relays to the following translators:

Broadcast translators for WFSU-FM
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class FCC info
W229AD 93.7 FM Tallahassee, Florida 21802 250 44 m (144 ft) D LMS
W244BM 96.7 FM Apalachicola, Florida 4294 250 85 m (279 ft) D LMS
W246AX 97.1 FM Carrabelle, Florida 145226 120 39 m (128 ft) D LMS

WFSQ & WFSL

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WFSQ (91.5 FM) is a Tallahassee-based classical music station. Also heard on WFSL (90.7 FM) in Thomasville, Georgia, and relays to the following translator:

Broadcast translator for WFSQ
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class FCC info
W224AT 92.7 FM Tallahassee, Florida 65440 250 69 m (226 ft) D LMS

WFSW

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WFSW (89.1 FM) is a Panama City-based news/talk/public affairs station. Offers many of the same programs as WFSU. Also relays to the following translators:

Broadcast translators for WFSW
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class FCC info
W216BT 91.1 FM Port St. Joe, Florida 122677 80 48 m (157 ft) D LMS
W291AD 106.1 FM Marianna, Florida 4293 40 87 m (285 ft) D LMS

History

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Florida State entered radio on January 21, 1949, when WFSU started as a student-run radio station at 660 AM. Due to the terms of its license, the signal was limited to the confines of the Florida State campus. It was on the air for three hours every night during the week, with a lineup of campus news, interviews, music and an occasional radio drama.

The station was forced off the air in April 1953 due to complaints that the signal was leaking off campus. Florida State applied for a low-powered FM license, and WFSU returned to the air at 91.5 FM in July 1954. Soon afterward, it joined the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, allowing it to significantly upgrade its programming with offerings from BBC World Service and Radio France. It also began carrying Seminoles football games because no commercial station in Tallahassee would carry them.

In 1970, WFSU-FM became a charter member of NPR, and was one of the 90 stations to carry the initial broadcast of All Things Considered. In the 1970s, it shifted to a format of mostly classical music.

The station continued to grow during the 1980s, but was somewhat hampered by problems with its signal. Unlike most NPR stations of the time, it had no backup power source for its transmitter, resulting in frequent outages. The station's reception was also marginal at best in the northeastern part of the city, which is very hilly. To solve the problem, WFSU won approval for a new station on 88.9 FM, operating from a new tower northeast of Tallahassee. All NPR news and information programming moved there on October 14, 1990. Classical music remained on 91.5, which received new call letters, WFSQ. However, due to the legal structure of the changeover, the Federal Communications Commission considers WFSQ to be the same station as the old WFSU. To improve its coverage on the Georgia side of the market, Florida State started WFSL in 2003.

WFSW signed on in 1996, providing Panama City with a second NPR service, alongside Gulf Coast Community College's WKGC-FM. Panama City is one of the smallest cities in the country with separate NPR stations.

Controversy

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In June 2011, it was revealed that WFSU will receive $2.8 million in funding for various services related to Florida government. This is despite the $4.8 million of funding to other public radio and television stations vetoed by Governor Rick Scott in May 2011.[2]

See also

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  • WVFS (not affiliated with WFSU)

References

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  1. ^ 21799
    WFSQ: 21803
    WFSW: 93708
    WFSL: 21798 "Facility Technical Data for WFSU-FM & WFSQ
    WFSL & WFSW"
    . Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
    {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  2. ^ "St. Petersburg Times: "Gov. Rick Scott's veto of public TV and radio funds spares capital's WFSU", June 6, 2011". Archived from the original on June 9, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
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