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WUEC
Frequency89.7 MHz
Programming
FormatPublic radio, classical music
NetworkWisconsin Public Radio (WPR Music)
AffiliationsNPR, American Public Media
Ownership
OwnerBoard of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
History
First air date
October 27, 1975
Call sign meaning
Wisconsin Eau Claire
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID4282
ClassC3
ERP5,200 watts
HAAT192 m (630 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
44°47′59.9″N 91°27′57″W / 44.799972°N 91.46583°W / 44.799972; -91.46583
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitewpr.org

WUEC (89.7 FM) is a radio station in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) and broadcasts its WPR Music service consisting of classical and jazz music with news updates. WUEC also broadcasts local programming from studios in the Wisconsin Public Broadcasting regional center in Eau Claire and three hours of student programming a week from studios in the Hibbard Humanities building at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UW-EC).

WUEC went on the air on October 27, 1975, as the student-run radio station at UW-EC, which was the last university in the University of Wisconsin System at the time to get such a station. In its early years, it was a limited-power, 10-watt operation that only broadcast during the school year. The station slowly increased its hours of operation as well as its power and coverage area.

Beginning in 1989, WUEC added programming from Wisconsin Public Radio to its lineup, at first in the mornings and later during daytime hours. At the time, WPR was moving toward offering two program services but only had one frequency in the Eau Claire area. In 1992, it opted to favor the relationship with WUEC over a permit it held to build a second Eau Claire frequency, which was sold to Christian radio broadcaster Fourth Dimension and put on the air as WHEM three years later. WUEC's primary format of alternative rock music was replaced in 1996 with jazz during student hours as WPR programming occupied more and more of the station's broadcast day, and student involvement fell off after that. UW-EC student-produced programming now only occupies a three-hour block on Monday nights.[2]

Student radio at UW-Eau Claire

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A carrier current radio station, audible only in campus dormitories, had operated at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UW-EC) since December 10, 1962.[3] It was initially known as WSCB ("Wisconsin State Campus Broadcast"[3]) and changed to WSUR in 1965.[a][5]

By 1973, station staff were formulating a proposal to convert the carrier current station to an FM broadcast operation.[6] At the time, UW-Eau Claire was the last state university to not have its own radio station.[7] The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on August 22, 1974, for authority to build a 10-watt radio station; this was approved on December 6.[8][9][10] WUEC began broadcasting on October 27, 1975, from a transmitter atop the 10-story Women's Towers dormitory. It originally operated on mornings and evenings Monday through Friday and Saturday afternoons and evenings, for a total of 78 hours a week. Some 50 students staffed the station.[11][12] In 1977, the station began broadcasting on Sundays,[13] and it expanded its broadcasting to mornings in 1983.[14] Previously, the station was off the air in midday so students could attend classes and handle production tasks.[7] Throughout this time, WUEC only operated during the school year because it lacked the money to pay someone to run it during the summer.[7]

In its early years, WUEC offered a mixture of local student-produced programming, particularly album-oriented rock,[7] and recorded educational programs as well as classical music. The latter two items helped the station meet a UW System–mandated educational content quota.[15] Programs also included student-gathered newscasts[7] as well as UW-Eau Claire athletic events, though telephone line charges caused this output to be severely curtailed in 1984.[15]

In 1978, the FCC made policy changes that encouraged 10-watt, Class D radio stations like WUEC—the last 10-watt station in the UW System[7]—to upgrade their signals or face being bumped by new stations. As a result, the university filed for a power increase to 750 watts.[8] The new transmitter went into service in November 1979, expanding WUEC's coverage area and introducing stereo broadcasting.[16] It was located off campus on the tower of television station WEAU.[15]

As a WPR station

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By the late 1980s, Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) was starting to move toward offering two program services in much of the state. In western Wisconsin, it was hampered by having just one frequency: WHWC (88.3 FM), which aired a mix of classical music and news and information programming. Listeners in the region did not have access to all of WPR's news programming as a result. In part to offer dual service, WPR began establishing connections with campus-owned radio stations at UW-Green Bay (WGBW) and Lawrence University in Appleton (WLFM). These stations began part-time simulcasts of WPR programming. A third station, WVSS at UW-Stout in Menomonie, was also increasingly turning over its time to WPR.[17]

On June 19, 1989, WUEC began offering WPR's morning classical music programming. This brought Morning Concert back to western Wisconsin after WHWC replaced it with talk the year before, generating outcry from listeners and leading to a member of the WPR advisory board contacting WUEC director Robert Bailey.[18] The arrangement extended that December to include WPR's Afternoon Concert. In total, WUEC aired WPR programming for seven hours on weekday mornings and afternoons plus five hours on Sundays. WUEC eliminated most of its talk programming to retain a similar output of its own music programming.[19] While WPR had filed for a second frequency of its own in Eau Claire, the WUEC arrangement was seen as providing better coverage, if not full-time service. In 1992, the State of Wisconsin Educational Communications Board sold the permit for the second frequency, WHEM 91.3, to Christian radio broadcaster Fourth Dimension, Inc.[20]

Beginning in 1990, WPR supplied most of WUEC's programming before 4 p.m. seven days a week,[21] as well as when classes were not in session at UW-Eau Claire. Meanwhile, WUEC continued to offer student programming after 4 p.m. during the school year, including a weekly sports show and blocks of rock, folk, jazz, and heavy metal music.[22]

In June 1994, the student music was moved back to start at 6 p.m. so WUEC could air All Things Considered in full.[23] That fall, the primary music format for WUEC's student-produced programming was changed from alternative rock to jazz. The move was made in order to make the station's local programming more compatible with WPR's classical music and talk, but it generated concern from students upset that bands like The Black Crowes and Soundgarden would not be played on local airwaves.[24]

In the years following the format change, WUEC withered away as a visible entity on the UW-Eau Claire campus. In February 2002, a late budget proposal led the Student Senate to deny funding for the station; in the 2001–02 school year, the station had just one student manager and a faculty director, both of whom left the university.[25] In 2003, WPR's regional manager became WUEC's new manager under an agreement between WPR and UW-Eau Claire.[26] In 2005, a new student-produced show, Blugold Performance of the Air, debuted to showcase campus music groups.[27] A new rock show, Local Independence—inspired by radio station The Current in Minneapolis—debuted in 2007.[28] By that time, the station's local programming was confined to Sunday nights.[29]

In 2016, the UW-Eau Claire Foundation was donated former commercial radio station WDRK (99.9 FM), which had been owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting; it relaunched as student-run Blugold Radio.[30] The station, later known as Converge Radio, was sold to the Appleton-based The Family Radio Network in 2020 after it failed to become financially viable as an independent entity.[31]

In Wisconsin Public Radio's 2024 network realignment, WUEC was placed in the WPR Music network. It is one of three Music transmitters in WPR's Western Region, along with WVSS and WEPP-FM in Rice Lake.[2]

Notes

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  1. ^ This followed Wisconsin State College at Eau Claire being granted university status as Wisconsin State University-Eau Claire in 1964. In 1971, the Wisconsin State University System was merged into the University of Wisconsin System, and the name changed accordingly.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WUEC". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ a b "WPR Music, Western Region Schedule" (PDF). Wisconsin Public Radio. May 30, 2024. p. 11.
  3. ^ a b "Radio Station Opens Dec. 10: 600 kc Station Runs Evenings, Called WSCB". The Spectator. December 6, 1962. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  4. ^ "Campus History". University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  5. ^ "University Radio Adds News Service Facilities". The Spectator. September 30, 1965. p. 6. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  6. ^ "FM operating at UW schools". The Spectator. October 11, 1973. p. 10. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Bennett, Joan (May 12, 1979). "Campus radio climbs up the power ladder". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. p. Hilites 6. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "History Cards for WUEC". Federal Communications Commission.
  9. ^ "University given approval to construct FM station". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. January 17, 1975. p. Hilites 5. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "UWEC-FM to make city-wide on the air debut Monday". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. October 24, 1975. pp. Hilites 3, 4. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "WUEC broadcasting underway at UW-EC". Chippewa Herald-Telegram. Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. October 29, 1975. p. 5. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Student-run WUEC: 'alternative radio'". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. August 16, 1978. p. On Campus 19. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Campus radio station has new schedule". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. September 30, 1977. p. Hilites 12. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "WUEC begins morning programs". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. February 19, 1983. p. Hilites 6. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b c DuPre, Chris (October 25, 1985). "WUEC marks 10 years on air". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. p. 1B. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "'U' radio boosts power, takes 'big step'". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. UW-Eau Claire News Service. November 10, 1979. p. Hilites 6. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Lindner, Tom (March 18, 1988). "Changes in the air: Public radio examines its western Wisconsin programming". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. p. 1B. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ DuPre, Chris (May 17, 1989). "Classical music returning here". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. pp. 1B, 4B. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "WUEC adds to schedule of WPR classical music". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. December 16, 1989. p. 7D. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Knight, Joe (November 26, 1992). "Local group protests sale of radio permit". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. pp. 1B, 2B. Archived from the original on June 16, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "WPR changes to hit airwaves". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. August 31, 1990. p. 4D. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Barber, Susan (November 11, 1990). "WUEC's schedule covers all bases". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. pp. 1G, 2G. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "WPR talks up new shows: Listeners to hear Dunn afternoons". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. June 28, 1994. p. 6A. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Michael, Carrie (November 12, 1994). "Format change creates static: Jazzed-up station gives students the blues". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. pp. 1A, 2A. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Petition seeks improved WUEC: Campus radio station gets boost in student interest". The Spectator. November 21, 2002. pp. 1, 2. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  26. ^ Okiror, Jesse (April 10, 2003). "WUEC looks to students for show ideas: Radio station aims to get more campus involvement in its programming". The Spectator. p. 4.
  27. ^ Henson, Chris (February 21, 2005). "Another outlet for student listening: Senior to host, produce radio show featuring campus arts". p. 10.
  28. ^ McCormick, Jake (November 29, 2007). "Public Radio Rocks Out: Revamped station to feature local, regional acts". The Spectator. p. 11. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  29. ^ McCormick, Jake (November 29, 2007). "'Independence' day: Public radio station plans to rock out on Sunday evenings". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. pp. 1B, 2B. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Venta, Lance (July 5, 2016). "Greatest Hits Completes Eau Claire Move". RadioInsight. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  31. ^ Dowd, Andrew (September 18, 2020). "UW-EC Foundation selling 99.9 FM: Christian radio network buying station, tower". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. pp. 3A, 6A. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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