Bucknell University's WVBU-FM Sold

[JBraddock]

WVBU-FM has been sold to WVIA-FM. VIA has been piped in to the Lewisburg area via W261CA 100.1 for 30 years or so.

WVBU started out as an AM station in 1933. The FM's been on the air since the mid-60s, initially as a 10-watt mono Class D. It upgraded to Class A (around 200 watts stereo) in 1980. They'd attempted to get a grant to go to 10Kw around that time, but were turned down. The lower wattage is probably what kept them independent for this long, but they'd been in the shadow of Susquehanna U's WQSU for decades. WQSU has increased its coverage several times since the 80s.

Ah well, the kids don't care about OTA radio anymore. The station sold for $17.6K.

http://www.insideradio.com/features...cle_34b22276-671f-11e9-b2e3-b3b5473e5e3b.html

 

[TheBigA]

Ah well, the kids don't care about OTA radio anymore. The station sold for $17.6K.

That's what the adults say. The students often feel otherwise, and in every case I'm aware of, the online station attracts far fewer listeners and fewer student DJs. If you really want to have an online station, you can build your own in your dorm room. But the University gets rid of an expense and can redirect the money to their primary mission. They should have made a deal with the new owner for internships. That's what other schools have done.

I notice Bucknell doesn't offer a major in Communications. They offer Film/Media Studies curriculum in their English department, and it's more about writing than performance. So there's no real educational loss. Students didn't go to Bucknell if they were really interested in practical careers in the media.

 

[JBraddock]

I notice Bucknell doesn't offer a major in Communications. They offer Film/Media Studies curriculum in their English department, and it's more about writing than performance. So there's no real educational loss. Students didn't go to Bucknell if they were really interested in practical careers in the media.

Actually a number of WVBU alumni went into the industry. Some are mentioned on VBU's wiki page. While I never intended to go into radio as a career, I chose the colleges I interviewed at by how well their radio stations were supported by the schools. I selected Bucknell for engineering and was on the VBU staff and airwaves for my four years there. The station was quite popular with students both in participation and listenership (not a lot of radio competition in Central PA in the 80s).

It's true that the lack of a curriculum tied in to the station caused the station to stagnate over the years, but there were periods of time where motivated students made the station a vital presence on the campus. The professors always preferred WVIA's NPR fare and before a local translator was turned on in the late 80s, it was hard to receive in Lewisburg. I guess WVIA will able to use WVBU for a more-reliable feed for their commercial band translators in the area.