Getting VCU’s radio station on the air likely to hinge on FCC decision

Time, work and money will be the keys for a WVCW student-operated FM radio station. The station now broadcasts online through its Web site.

Greg Weatherford, student media director, said several changes would have to be made for WVCW to gain an FM frequency, even though he thinks it possibly could occur within a couple of years.

“First, of course, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has to grant space on the spectrum, and to create a station would be good for the community,” he said. “The federal government controls broadcast, so they get to say whether or not we can do it. So, it would certainly be no less than a couple of years.”

“I think by going FM you would be much more available to the entire community rather than simply to people who know to dial in to the Web site.”

– Greg Weatherford, student media director

Bill Wright, general manager for WVCW, concurred with that opinion, saying with the proper support and adequate funding an FM frequency could be possible within the next few years.

“I would think that we should be able to get an FM frequency providing the administration is behind us, the students are behind us and the funds are there,” Wright said. “I would think in the next five years.”

Weatherford said for WVCW to obtain an FM slot on the dial, the FCC would have to approve the frequency and a tower would be needed. In addition, it would need special permits and additional funds.

“That takes a lot of work as far as getting permits locally,” he said. “If it’s in the city limits, which I will assume it will be, we’ll have to get building permits approved.

“I think the money can be found out. I think we’ve got some money in the system for the amount that would be required.”

The student media director referred to the FCC as playing the most important role in gaining an FM frequency.

“The biggest step,” he said, “and the most complicated and long drawn out one and the most expensive is probably going to be getting through the FCC.”

Funds for the FM frequency, he said, would come from the Student Media Commission.

“Right now the radio station is funded through the Student Media Commission, not through SGA at all,” Weatherford said. “And we are operating under the assumption that that’s how we’re going to continue.”

Wright said he, too, thinks a frequency would be the next stage for the WVCW station.

“The next step would be to go either AM or FM,” Wright said. “But it would be low-power AM or (it would be) FM, which is a big difference from regular AM and FM.”

Jason Kenney, a disc jockey and assistant general manager of the student-operated station, said WVCW should have an FM frequency because most other schools in Virginia have one or they have a broadcast station and it is something that the students should expect to have.

“I think it’s just a natural progression,” Kenney said, adding that it not only would raise the station a notch but it also would enhance the reputation of the school and its mass communications area.

Weatherford said by WCVW gaining an FM frequency, it could be heard by more people.

“What we have now is on the Internet,” Weatherford said. “And it’s an excellently run station, and I think it’s actually a very strong alternative college rock station.

“But I think by going FM you would be much more available to the entire community rather than simply to people who know to dial in to the Web site.”

Robert Fleskes, marketing director for the Richmond Coliseum and faculty adviser for WVCW, agreed with Weatherford’s reasoning for the frequency.

“The obvious reason: More people would actually hear the station,” Fleskes said, because its audience now is limited. “Listenership is the main reason behind it.”

In regards to the community, Fleskes sees the value an FM frequency would provide for commuter students. Moreover, he predicted that much VCU pride would come with an FM frequency because it would be something students can call their own.

“(It) serves both purposes to entertain and inform,” Fleskes said.

Wright agreed with both Weatherford and Fleskes.

“I think it would just be more accessible to everybody,” Wright said. “You know, right now we’re doing the best that we can by putting it on the Internet and having it available for the students who all have Internet in their dorms. But this would allow them to have it outside of the dorms.”

If a low-power frequency were used, he said, the station could only be heard locally.

“I know a lot of people are talking about having it in their cars, but if we went low power the broadcast range would probably be about three miles from the antenna,” Wright said. “So, you could get it if you were living around Richmond or driving around. But if you’re a commuter student from Goochland you’re probably not going to hear it.”

Additionally, Kenney said an FM frequency would provide practical experience for broadcast students as well as production work.

“I think it just opens up a lot more opportunities for students to be able to practice in a professional environment for something that they may want to do career-wise,” Kenney said.

WVCW’S staff already decides the programming, but an FM station also could produce live news, sports and talk shows.

“VCU-related information of any kind could be available,” Weatherford said.

Wright said the current programming heard now would be aired on the FM frequency too.

“We run off of CMJ format which is the College Music Journal,” he said. “We also have specialty shows ranging from rap to electronic to country to jazz. We have some talk shows.”

Wright recently met with John Michelli, SGA director of student affairs to discuss the FM frequency, while Michelli said he met with Wright to learn more about WVCW.

“There was a bill that came to the Senate,” Michelli said, “in support of an FM station for VCU and I didn’t know a lot about the subject, so I went to them to get filled in.”

Michelli also said that the purpose of the SGA’s FM frequency bill is to provide student support for the station to the administration.

“What they want from the SGA,” Michelli said “is a bill saying that the SGA supports an FM station, essentially saying the student body supports and would like an FM station.

“So that if they ever go to the administration and the administration ever says ‘Well, do the students want this?’ they can say ‘Well, I have a resolution right here that says the students do want it,’ and you know, case closed. So that’s really all they want from the SGA.”

Wright said that WVCW wants the students’ support.

“It’s nice to know that if this bill passes that just lets us know that the student body is behind it,” Wright said.