WVSS
{{short description|Radio station in Menomonie, Wisconsin}}
{{for|the secondary school in British Columbia|West Vancouver Secondary School}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = WVSS
| logo = Wisconsin Public Radio Logo.png
| city = Menomonie, Wisconsin
| area =
| branding = WPR News and Classical
| frequency = {{Frequency|90.7|MHz}}
| airdate = {{start date|1970}} (at 89.5)
| format = Public radio, Classical music, News
| erp = 590 watts
| haat = {{convert|130|m|ft|sp=us}}
| class = A
| facility_id = 4287
| coordinates =
| callsign_meaning = "Voice of Stout State" (former name for University of Wisconsin–Stout){{Cite news |last=Bundies |first=Timm |date=August 28, 1980 |title=WVSS endures summer problems |page=10 |work=Stoutonia |url=https://archive.org/details/StoutoniaVolume71/page/n19/ |accessdate=June 1, 2021}}{{Cite news |date=October 12, 1971 |title=Stout State or UW–Menomonie? |page=10 |work=Wausau Daily Record-Herald |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78777228/ |accessdate=June 1, 2021}}
| former_callsigns =
| former_frequencies = 89.5 MHz (1970–1976)
| network = Wisconsin Public Radio (NPR News & Music)
| owner = Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
| licensee =
| sister_stations =
| webcast = [https://www.wpr.org/ways-to-listen Listen Live]
| website = [https://www.wpr.org/ wpr.org]
| licensing_authority= FCC
}}
WVSS (90.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to Menomonie, Wisconsin. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) and airs WPR's "NPR News & Music Network", consisting of classical music and news and talk programming, as well as local news from WPR's regional studio in Eau Claire.{{Cite web |last=nlarson |date=September 3, 2013 |title=Regions |url=https://www.wpr.org/regions |access-date=June 2, 2021 |website=Wisconsin Public Radio |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=February 26, 2014 |title=FCC WVSS FM |url=https://www.wpr.org/fcc-wvss-fm |access-date=June 2, 2021 |website=Wisconsin Public Radio |language=en}}
Prior to being a Wisconsin Public Radio transmitter, WVSS was a station programmed by students at the University of Wisconsin–Stout in Menomonie. Student programming moved off the FM frequency in 1988, and it broadcast classical music programming for two years until joining WPR in 1990.
History
On April 1, 1968, Stout State University was awarded a construction permit to build a new radio station on 89.5 MHz, to broadcast with 10 watts;{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=70838 |title= History Cards for WVSS|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards) a committee had been researching the idea of a station as early as 1966.{{Cite news |date=December 5, 1969 |title=Radio Station Here Soon |page=3 |work=Stoutonia |url=https://archive.org/details/StoutoniaVolume59/page/n106/ |accessdate=May 31, 2021}} WVSS began broadcasting in 1970, initially operating for seven hours a day;{{Cite news |date=December 16, 1970 |title=Stout's Radio Station WVSS-FM Geared to University Community |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78692691/ 3] |via=Newspapers.com |work=The Dunn County News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78692500/ |accessdate=May 31, 2021}} this soon expanded, and the station broadcast from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. by 1980.{{r|summer}} The studios were located in what had been the boys' locker room{{r|presents}} in the basement of the former Central Elementary School,{{Cite news |date=December 20, 1968 |title=FM Radio to Serve Stout and Community |pages=1, 8 |work=Stoutonia |url=https://archive.org/details/StoutoniaVolume58/page/n112/ |accessdate=May 31, 2021}}{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/TheTower1972/page/n159/ |title=The Tower |date=1972 |publisher=University of Wisconsin–Stout |volume=63 |page=159 |accessdate=June 1, 2021}}{{r|summer}} which the university had previously purchased to convert into a communications center.{{Cite news |date=May 27, 1966 |title=Facilities Purchased As TV Center Expands |page=1 |work=Stoutonia |url=https://archive.org/details/StoutoniaVolume55/page/n200/ |accessdate=June 1, 2021}} Broadcasts were upgraded to stereo in 1975;{{Cite news |last=Wichman |first=Deon |date=September 21, 1978 |title=WVSS, your music station, presents, sounds, shows, and solutions, to entertain you |pages=14–15 |work=Stoutonia |url=https://archive.org/details/StoutoniaVolume68/page/n101/mode/2up |accessdate=June 1, 2021}} the first broadcasts over the summer took place in 1980, to come into compliance with new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations.{{r|summer}}
In 1988, student programming from UW–Stout moved to a cable system as "C-Rock",{{r|jeopardy}} in part so that the students could produce programming without meeting FCC rules{{Cite news |last=Lindner |first=Tom |date=March 18, 1988 |title=Changes in the air: Public radio examines its western Wisconsin programming |work=The Leader-Telegram |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78693237/ |accessdate=May 31, 2021}} and also to allow for the student operation to be supported by local advertisers.{{Cite news |last=Graves |first=Paula |date=November 9, 1989 |title=Campus radio station in jeopardy: C-Rock may lose funding |page=1 |work=Stoutonia |url=https://archive.org/details/StoutoniaVolume80/page/n160/ |accessdate=May 31, 2021}} The general manager, Arthur "Ace" Matthews, implemented an automated schedule of classical music programming. This had originally been put in place to help the station meet FCC minimum operating hour requirements; Matthews spent about $6,000 of his own money on a collection of some 540 classical music CDs.{{Cite news |date=February 3, 1988 |title=Ace: classical contributor |page=5 |work=The Dunn County News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78692116/ |accessdate=May 31, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}} The station then went silent for seven months in 1990 to replace its antenna and returned with WPR programming that November.{{Cite news |date=November 7, 1990 |title=Menomonie station provides high-quality programming |page=7 |work=The Dunn County News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78691761/ |accessdate=May 31, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}} The changes came at a time when WPR was restructuring into two program services—the NPR News & Classical (now News & Music) service used by WVSS and the Wisconsin Ideas Network—but only had one transmitter to cover western Wisconsin.{{r|changes|quality}}
In 1994, WPR proposed to co-site the WVSS transmitter with WHWC at a site near Wheeler.{{Cite news |date=May 12, 1994 |title=WVSS power increase application now ready to go before the FCC |page=5A |work=Chippewa Herald-Telegram |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78692923/ |accessdate=May 31, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}} The site change was mutually exclusive with an application by Wisconsin Voice of Christian Youth—owner of WVCY-FM in Milwaukee—for a radio station in Eau Claire,{{Cite news |date=April 6, 1995 |title=Network seeks spot on Eau Claire dial |page=4C |work=Leader-Telegram |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78699886/ |accessdate=May 31, 2021}} which was ultimately the one approved in December 1995.{{Cite news |date=January 1, 1996 |title=For the Record |page=65 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1996/BC-1996-01-01.pdf |accessdate=May 31, 2021}} The News & Music service is now heard in Eau Claire on WUEC.{{r|regions}}
Programming
{{main|Wisconsin Public Radio#NPR News & Music Network}}
The NPR News & Music Network, heard on WVSS, offers the national Morning Edition and All Things Considered programs from NPR, as well as Fresh Air and Marketplace, and classical music during the day and at night.{{Cite web |last=nlarson |title=WVSS (FM) 90.7 - Menomonie |url=https://www.wpr.org/wvss-fm-907-menomonie |access-date=June 3, 2021 |website=Wisconsin Public Radio |date=August 19, 2013 |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.wpr.org/ Wisconsin Public Radio]
- {{FM station data|4287|WVSS}}
{{University of Wisconsin–Stout|state=autocollapse}}
{{NPR Wisconsin}}
{{authority control}}
{{coord|44.9155|N|92.0763|W|type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC|display=title}}
Category:University of Wisconsin–Stout
Category:Wisconsin Public Radio
Category:Classical music radio stations in the United States