WFIU

WFIU

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City of license	Bloomington, Indiana
Broadcast area	Areas around Indiana surrounding Bloomington, Terre Haute, Columbus, French Lick/West Baden, Greensburg, and Kokomo
Branding	WFIU
Frequency	103.7 MHz, plus translators (also on HD Radio)
First air date	1950
Format	Classical music, jazz, and news and information
ERP	29,000 watts
HAAT	197 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	68269
Callsign meaning	W F Indiana University
Owner	Indiana University
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	indianapublicmedia.org/radio/

WFIU is a public radio FM station broadcasting from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The station is a member station of NPR, Public Radio International and American Public Media. Its program schedule consists of classical music, jazz, and news and information, with specialty programming on the weekends. WFIU's broadcast signal, and those of its translators, reaches portions of central, western, and southern Indiana.

WFIU broadcasts in the HD Radio format.

History

WFIU began broadcasting on September 30, 1950, building upon efforts by IU to produce radio programming since 1937. Originally broadcasting on 90.9 FM, WFIU moved to 103.7 FM in 1951. 103.7 had been WSUA-FM, a commercial station, between 1948 and 1950. The owners of WSUA donated the 103.7 transmitter to Indiana University after their station went out of business.

This move was required to prevent interference with the audio channel of WFBM-TV (now WRTV) Channel 6 in nearby Indianapolis, which was the CBS affiliate for central Indiana at the time. The poor-quality tuners of early TVs weren't selective enough to prevent the strong 90.9 signal emanating from the IU campus in central Bloomington from overriding the much-weaker Channel 6, which transmitted from about 50 miles away.

This makes WFIU one of the very few public stations in the U.S. to transmit on a frequency other than those between 88.1 and 91.9 MHz, the FCC's reserved part of the FM band for non-commercial use.

WFIU transmitted with an Effective Radiated Power (ERP) of 75,000 watts from the center of the IU campus until 1971. It moved to the tower of sister-station WTIU Channel 30 on the south side of Bloomington that year. The move not only increased its range, even with a lower ERP, but it cured another problem. Inexpensive FM radios in central Bloomington picked up the station all over the FM dial when it transmitted from campus. The move to the Channel 30 tower fixed that.

WFIU claims to have adopted in 1970 an almost entirely all-classical music format, featuring national programs as well as locally produced content. However, some long-time WFIU staff have stated that it was never a strictly classical station until the mid-1970s or later. It was one of the first 90 NPR affiliates to broadcast "All Things Considered" upon its debut in 1971.

Nationally syndicated programs

• Harmonia - A one-hour weekly program featuring early (e.g., Renaissance, medieval) music. Hosted by musician Angela Mariani and written by Harpsichordist Bernard Gordillo.
• Kinsey Confidential - three-minute weekly program of sexual health information in partnership with the Kinsey Institute.
• A Moment of Science - Daily two-minute modules on various scientific topics.
• Night Lights - A one-hour weekly program of classic jazz hosted by David Brent Johnson.

Local programs

• Art Works - Weekly program focusing on upcoming arts and cultural events and profiling local artists.
• Ask the Mayor - Each week, a mayor from WFIU's listening areas takes your calls and discusses community concerns.
• Afterglow - One hour program of jazz and American popular songs.
• The Big Bands - The Big Bands celebrates the Swing Era of the 30s and 40s as well as post-World War II and modern big-band jazz.
• Classical Music with George Walker - Classical music hosted by George Walker
• Ether Game - 2-hour weekly mix of music quiz show
• Focus on Flowers - 2 minute modules hosted by gardener Moya Andrews
• Hometown - Weekly 5-minute program hosted by Tom Rosnowski about some of the history of Terre Haute
• Just You & Me with Joe Bourne - Afternoon jazz and interviews hosted by Joe Bourne
• Noon Edition - weekly public affairs call-in program
• The Poets Weave - Weekly five-minute program of poetry reading
• Profiles - Weekly biographical program profiling local and national figures
• Saturday Afternoon Opera

Translators

WFIU-FM, broadcasting at 103.7 MHz in Bloomington, also broadcasts via the following translators:

• FM 95.1 Terre Haute
• FM 100.7 Columbus
• FM 106.1 Kokomo
• FM 98.9 Greensburg
• FM 101.7 French Lick/West Baden

External links

• WFIU Homepage, with programming available as podcasts and as a live web stream
• WFIU Program Guide
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WFIU
• Radio-Locator information on WFIU
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WFIU