WTMD

WTMD

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Broadcast area	Baltimore, Maryland Towson, Maryland Washington DC
Slogan	Radio for Music People
Frequency	89.7 (MHz)
First air date	1979
Format	Independent Rock/Triple A
ERP	10,000 watts
HAAT	72 meters
Class	B1
Facility ID	67461
Callsign meaning	Towson Maryland
Owner	Towson University
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.wtmd.org

WTMD is a radio station licensed to and located at Towson University in Towson, Maryland. It is one of only a few locally owned radio stations in Towson and Baltimore. WTMD has one of the largest listening audiences of any public radio station in Maryland.

Format

The station plays a mix of indie rock, rock, folk and alternative country. WTMD prides itself on playing new and significant music. Many of the artists that WTMD plays are not played on commercial radio stations.

WTMD is a strong supporter of the Baltimore/Washington local music scene. WTMD broadcasts the program "Baltimore Unsigned". This hour-long program airs on Tuesday nights at 9:00 PM and includes only local music. Each week, a band or singer interviewed and plays live. The show is hosted by Sam Sessa who also writes for the Baltimore Sun.

First Thursday Concerts in the Park

WTMD produces First Thursday Concerts in the Park, a series of six free after work shows at West Mount Vernon Park in downtown Baltimore, and starting in 2014, Canton Waterfront Park. Artists like The Damnwells, Joan Osborne, Los Lonely Boys, LP, Steve Forbert, The Colour, The Young Dubliners and others have performed, attracting crowds of about 3,000.

The 2013 calendar includes performances by artists The Lone Below, Alpha Rev, The Wild Feathers, and the Kopecky Family Band. As of 2013, First Thursday attendance has dramatically increased, doubling from previous years to draw 6,000 to 7,000 attendees.

The 2014 calendar includes artists such as Joan Osborne, Joseph Arthur, Marah, Los Lonely Boys, Spanish Gold, LP, Grizfolk, Strand of Oaks, Lydia Loveless, Moon Taxi, The Whigs, JD McPherson, The Hold Steady, Hamilton Leithauser, and Among Wolves.[2]

Relationship with Washington

WTMD partnered with WAMU in Washington, D.C. whereby WAMU rebroadcasts WTMD on their HD Radio Channel 2. This brought back independent music radio to Washington for the first time, since WHFS was sold to CBS Radio. In fact, this partnership was recognized and praised by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner McDowell in his remarks when the Commission voted to make HD multicasting permanent.

WTMD had also been transmitting via a low power signal from the suburb of Great Falls, Virginia on 105.5 FM. However, the operator of this transmitter replaced WTMD's audio feed with WAMU's "Bluegrass/Country" format on October 10, 2008. The FCC granted this requested change, along with a power increase from 38 to 250 watts. FM translator stations are rarely granted the right to transmit using power this high. Such exceptions are usually reserved for FM stations that are not reaching fringe areas. The introduction of this new signal now gives WAMU two separate stations with extensive reach in the Washington, DC area, and decreases the reach of WTMD.

Accomplishments

• WTMD has been voted Best Radio station in Baltimore by the City Paper for three years in a row.

External links

• WTMD website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WTMD
• Radio-Locator information on WTMD
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WTMD