There is a pin-speckled map in the studios of 90.3 WRST-FM demonstrating the student-run radio station’s increasing reach, as listeners log in and tap into streaming content on a daily basis.
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s student-run radio station has, truly, gone global.
Raising that awareness and exposure of the station is just one of the reasons why WRST-FM is participating in the first-ever College Radio Day.
WRST-FM is joining forces with other high school and college radio stations on Tuesday, Oct.11 as part of the initiative to get people listening to the radio. Those interested can listen to on-air programming or streaming at www.wrst.org.
Beyond raising awareness of the station, College Radio Day is intended to urge the public to sample the creative spirit of student-run broadcast stations. According to the College Radio Day website, UW Oshkosh’s WRST is one of seven Wisconsin radio stations participating.
“We want to highlight the importance of college radio,” Director of Radio Services Randall Davidson said. “College radio stations serve several purposes. WRST not only serves an educational function as part of the radio-TV-film curriculum, but also provides an alternative broadcast service for the community.”
As part of its participation, WRST will be airing a special program called “College Radio: Its Past, Present and Future,” completely produced at college radio stations. The program will be heard over WRST-FM (90.3) and online at www.wrst.org. It airs at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday.
“The biggest thing is exposure,” Program Director Spencer Wagen said. “We are hoping for more exposure nationwide and in the community. We want to show what we do here.”
WRST-FM has been operating since 1966, offering listeners an alternative program schedule featuring a variety of music genres along with local news, talk and sports. The programs are produced by UW Oshkosh students, many of whom are majors in the University’s radio-TV-film program. WRST alumni can be found in media careers throughout the U.S.
“Beyond just us promoting ourselves, we are promoting college radio in general,” Station Manager Tyler Thrune said. “We will have the ability to have a pool of production spots from a variety of universities.”
WRST-FM airs local programs from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. daily and airs Wisconsin Public Radio Ideas Network offerings at other times.
“We want people to try these stations,” Davidson said. “We want them to see the kind of programs college radio has to offer.”
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