Diamondback Online - The University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper

Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Borowski, Jaclyn

After waiting patiently for two years to see what would happen to their beloved radio station, the staff of student radio station WMUC 88.1 got some good news Monday: They're still on the air.

The last student-run college radio station in the Washington area caught a big break when they discovered that Baltimore's WYPR didn't overtake their frequency after the NPR affiliate finished increasing its signal strength by 5,500 watts March 17.

"We are definitely relieved," said Scött Maxwell, WMUC's general manager. "We just want people to know we're no longer in danger and that the future of the station is, more or less, secure."

Two years ago, the station's signal seemed to be in jeopardy when WYPR announced it was going to increase its broadcast coverage, a move that some thought would force the 71-year-old WMUC off of the 88.1 frequency.

Legally, the comparatively tiny 10-watt WMUC station must accept any interference they receive from more powerful signals. WYPR also received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to go through with construction for their upgrades.

However, WMUC's staff has had an inkling for some time that their station, which broadcasts in College Park and can be heard in Silver Spring and Washington, was safe.

About a year and a half ago, after the initial threat from WYPR, the station hired du Treil, Lundin & Rackley, Inc., an engineering company, to run an evaluation on how the Baltimore station's upgrade would affect WMUC's coverage. The results showed WMUC's signal would possibly be weakened, but not necessarily wiped out, said faculty advisor Steve Gnadt.

However, there was no way to truly tell the effects of the change until the power went on.

"We felt pretty confident that we weren't going to get knocked off, but we just had to wait and see," Gnadt said.

WYPR president Tony Brandon called Monday to officially notify WMUC that his station was fully operational on their strengthened signal. Since the music was still playing, the college radio station knew they were in the clear.

But WMUC's signal has shrunk slightly, and broadcasts that used to reach Laurel now only extend to the Capital Beltway, Gnadt said. However, the staff is still overwhelmingly content when they imagine what could have been lost.

"There was kind of an uproar two years ago," Maxwell said. "People were saying, 'Oh, this is the end of WMUC,' and other things. But it looks like we're safe now, and we're really happy about that."

Continued...

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