WETL

File:Tippecanoe Place.JPG, then the Morris School, was the first studio facility for WETL]]

On July 2, 1958, the School City of South Bend applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a new FM radio station in South Bend.{{cite web |title=FCC History Cards for WETL |url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=70285 |work=FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database}} The construction permit was granted on September 3, but even before then, plans were made to put the station into use. School City had received a Ford Foundation grant to study the use of radio programming as part of an experiment in enlarged homeroom sizes at three of the district's high schools.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99696861/ford-grant-enables-school-experiment/|date=June 29, 1958|page=19|first=Roger|last=Birdsell|title=Ford Grant Enables School Experiment|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|location=South Bend, Indiana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 13, 2022}}

WETL began broadcasting on 91.9 MHz on November 18, 1958.{{Cite web|url=https://sbstvradio.org/history|access-date=April 13, 2022|title=WETL History|website=sbstvradio.org}} Its six hours a day of programming nearly exclusively consisted of classes to be received by students.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99601799/high-adventure-in-the-classroom/|date=March 1, 1959|page=Magazine 8|title=High Adventure in the Classroom|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|location=South Bend, Indiana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 13, 2022}} Programming originated from the Audio-Visual Center on the third floor of the then-Morris School (now Tippecanoe Place) the former home of Clement Studebaker; the radio station was located in the ballroom, while studios were converted from cedar closets that had once held furs.{{r|Sout590301}} From the early days, student-produced programming also featured alongside the classes. The first school to get on the air was Riley High School; two students produced a 15-minute weekly magazine program on school happenings.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99601770/riley-duo-gives-radio-show/|date=March 1, 1959|page=64|first=Georgia|last=Polovina|title=Riley Duo Gives Radio Show|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|location=South Bend, Indiana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 13, 2022}} After the first year of the program, it was successful enough that radio instruction was expanded from 1,200 to 4,200 students.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99601740/radio-classroom-ends-first-year-guida/|date=June 14, 1959|page=48|first=Roger|last=Birdsell|title='Radio Classroom' Ends First Year: Guidance Plan Proves aid To Teacher Staff|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|location=South Bend, Indiana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 13, 2022}} In 1962, the station broadcast its first programs for a general audience with a series of classical music shows airing five nights a week.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99601952/school-city-fm-station-to-air-classical/|date=February 4, 1962|page=19|title=School City FM Station To Air Classical Music|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|location=South Bend, Indiana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 13, 2022}} In 1969, school offices moved out of the Morris School into another former Studebaker building, and WETL also was relocated there.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99602601/wetl-announcer-signs-off-duty/|date=June 9, 1981|page=20, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99602614/wetl-radio-announcer-retires/ 21]|first=Alice|last=Slade|title=WETL announcer 'signs off' duty|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|location=South Bend, Indiana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 13, 2022}}

In 1976,{{r|hc}} WETL moved from 91.9 to 91.7 MHz; this change was necessitated by an approved proposal to add an FM station allotment in Goshen, Indiana, that in turn moved WHPD in Dowagiac, Michigan, to 92.1 MHz. That forced WETL to move down a channel.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-1U6AAAAMAAJ&dq=%2522Docket+No.+19831%2522+%2522FCC%2522&pg=PA711 |title=Report and Order (51 FCC 2d 711) |date=March 4, 1975 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |pages=711–716 |language=en}} In 1980, the station broadcast during the summer for the first time in order to maintain its license under new FCC rules that required more airtime and power of smaller noncommercial educational stations; by this time, its programming for general audiences included school board meetings and a daily opera.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99602462/station-wetl-fm-on-air-daily/|date=July 7, 1980|page=37|first=Tery|last=Hudson|title=Station WETL-FM on air daily|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|location=South Bend, Indiana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 13, 2022}}

File:Riley High School South Bend 2015.jpg ]]

WETL transitioned to providing primarily daytime educational programming for elementary school students—including, for kindergarten students, the only art, music, and physical education material in their curriculum{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99700544/wetl-teaches-over-the-airwaves/|date=December 11, 1988|page=C1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99700659/ C2]|first=Gail|last=Hinchion|title=WETL teaches over the airwaves|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|location=South Bend, Indiana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 14, 2022}}—and a training ground for high school DJs. Students from all of the South Bend corporation high schools and St. Joseph High School received class credit and were on the air at WETL.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99602527/their-friends-named-mike-teens-ride/|date=April 1, 1989|page=B5|first=Tina M.|last=Habel|title=Their friend's named 'mike': Teens ride the waves at WETL|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|location=South Bend, Indiana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 13, 2022}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99602718/radio-station-for-students-a-big-hit/|date=April 24, 1993|page=C9|first=Julie|last=Balasa|title=Radio station for students a big hit|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|location=South Bend, Indiana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 14, 2022}} Each student selected the format and the music to play on their show; one student in 1996 did political commentaries, even if there was not much of an audience.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99602638/high-school-station-sends-out-classy-bro/|date=November 1, 1996|page=C3|first=Andrew S.|last=Hughes|title=High school station sends out classy broadcast|newspaper=The South Bend Tribune|location=South Bend, Indiana|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 14, 2022}}

In 2005, WETL moved from the Education Center to Riley High School; it became a 24-hour station two years later.{{r|hist}}

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• {{FM station data|60920|WETL}}

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{{South Bend Radio}}

ETL

Category:Radio stations established in 1958

Category:1958 establishments in Indiana

Category:High school radio stations in the United States

Category:South Bend, Indiana