WNRS-FM

WNRS-FM is a AAA formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Sweet Briar, Virginia, serving Amherst and Amherst County, Virginia. WNRS is owned and operated by Stu-Comm, Inc.[2] and simulcasts WNRN full-time.

Main article: WNRN
WNRS-FM
CitySweet Briar, Virginia
Broadcast areaAmherst, Virginia
Amherst County, Virginia
Frequency89.9 MHz
BrandingWNRN
SloganIndependent Music Radio
Programming
FormatAAA
Ownership
OwnerStu-Comm, Inc.
History
First air date
October 1979
Former call signs
WUDZ (1979–2000)[1]
Former frequencies
91.5 MHz (1979–1999)[1]
Call sign meaning
WNRN Sweet Briar
Technical information
Facility ID74157
ClassA
ERP1,100 watts
HAAT169 m
Transmitter coordinates
37°31′58.0″N 79°5′33.0″W
Links
WebsiteWNRS-FM Online

History

WUDZ ("woods") signed on in late 1979 as Sweet Briar College's student radio station, replacing an earlier Part 15 station that had the unofficial callsign of WSBC.[3] The station was originally licensed for just 10 watts – good for reception at a five-mile radius from campus – but upgraded to 100 watts during 1980.[4]

By 1997, WUDZ was broadcasting for the legally required minimum of 36 hours per week: 6 p.m. through midnight on Sunday through Thursday, off on Friday, and noon through 6 p.m. on Saturday.[5] In February 2000, the callsign was changed to WNRS-FM. That April, Sweet Briar entered into a local marketing agreement to rent its extra airtime to Stu-Comm, Inc., who filled the hours not programmed by students with a relay of WNRN.[6] The station moved to a 30-watt transmitter from the 2,900-foot Tobacco Row Mountain west of Sweet Briar in 2002, allowing reception in car radios in Lynchburg.[7]

Sweet Briar College sold WNRS-FM outright to Stu-Comm in 2010.[7] By this time, Sweet Briar programming had dwindled to a single three-hour window on Mondays through Thursdays during the school year.[8] WSWE-LP has since launched as a new outlet for student programming.

In 2011, Stu-Comm attempted to move WNRS-FM to a 20-kilowatt transmitter on near Appomattox Court House, which would have given the station a 50-mile radius from the Roanoke metropolitan area east to Powhatan County and south to the North Carolina border. A first application was dismissed in 2011 as the Federal Communications Commission primarily determined a signal on 89.9 from this location would cause unacceptable interference to multiple other stations.[9] A second application on 89.5 from the same location progressed to the construction permit stage and received local zoning approval, but was abandoned in July 2015.[7]

Stu-Comm has since moved the station off of Tobacco Row Mountain back to the town of Sweet Briar, in order to increase its power from 30 to 1100 watts.[7]

See also

References
  1. "FCC History Cards for WNRS-FM" (PDF). FCC.
  2. "WNRS Facility Record". Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. Smith, Amy (April 1, 2016). "From WSBC to WUDZ to WSWE: The story of Sweet Briar radio" (PDF). The Briar Wire.
  4. Beck, Katherine (October 30, 1980). "WUDZ Diversifies Schedule Clubs Given Air Time" (PDF). The Sweet Briar News. p. 49.
  5. Weisenberger, Shannon (February 24, 1997). "WUDZ 91.5 on the air" (PDF). The Sweet Briar News. p. 49.
  6. "Local Marketing Agreement".
  7. "WNRS-FM Facility Data". FCCData.
  8. Corbin, Robert (January 27, 2010). "Station transactions". VARTV.
  9. "In re WNRS-FM".


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.