Christian Music Online

WIWU-FM radio station contemporary Christian music 24 hours a day

October 16, 2007 – 10:52 am

Indiana Wesleyan University’s WIWU-FM radio station, broadcast from the new academic building at 38th and Washington streets, is now broadcasting on the air at 94.3 FM.

Randall King, director of broadcast media at the university, said the license for the station was transferred from College Wesleyan Church last summer, and the station began broadcasting Oct. 1.

The station plays contemporary Christian music 24 hours a day and has a program called Total Access that is broadcast every day from 7 a.m. to noon, King said. The show focuses on artists from Nashville, Tenn.

“In time, we want to give coverage to community events and talk to churches about what they’re doing,” he said. “It’s primarily going to be a music station, though.”

King said he thinks this is the first Christian radio station in the area.

“The station is bringing a new kind of music to the area,” he said. “We want to be that Christian station that stays connected to the area.”

Not only will the station give the community music to listen to and access to community events, the student-run station also will give college students at the university an opportunity to learn about radio, he said.

“This is a training ground for students,” King said. “It gives them an opportunity to do different things.”

Morgan McQuate, a senior from Ashland, Ohio, is serving as the station manager during the fall semester. His older sister was involved in radio during her college career, and he said he thought he might like to follow in her footsteps.

“I really love music, and I enjoy being able to share that with others,” McQuate said. “I work behind the scenes. I’m kind of a technical nerd, so I like working with computer software.”

McQuate, a communication arts major with an emphasis in mass media, doesn’t know what he wants to do after he graduates in April. Whatever he ends up doing, he said he thinks his involvement with the radio station will help him throughout life.

“It helps me to learn about computer software and being flexible in a job,” he said.

McQuate said he also is learning about responsibility. As station manager, he is in charge of making sure the programs and satellite feed are working correctly together, he said. He also oversees the music that is being played and the shows that are being produced, he said.

King said 10 students run and manage the station, and he expects that number to increase to 15 or 20. To be involved with the station, students are not required to be a communications major, but they have to take a prerequisite class, he said. The class gives the students instructions on broadcasting and gives the faculty a way to tie the station in to the curriculum, he said.

“We consider them an important part of what we teach, and we’re tying it to our radio station,” he said.

In the future, King hopes the station will broadcast from area events and cover some sports, he said.

“That’s down the road a little ways, and we’re preparing for that,” he said. “Right now we’re just getting the students up to speed on the situation.”

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