Sixty years old! But who’s counting? Not 90.5 WKAR!
It has been an interesting journey.
FM radio was only an engineer’s dream in 1928, but broadcasters and administrators at Michigan Agricultural College (MAC) were looking toward the future and planning for the day when the college could offer a complete public service to the people of lower Michigan: WKAR-FM was licensed to MAC in October 1928.
Thirteen years later with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States would not only enter World War II but our country would witness technological advances at an astounding rate, including the development of frequency modulation: FM radio.
Robert Coleman, station manager (1934-59), announced in December 1947 the college’s new FM station would deliver static-free reception and it would broadcast at 90.5 megahertz. He also mentioned one other small detail – listeners would have to invest in a new radio to receive the station’s FM broadcast service.
The long-awaited technology finally arrived in mid-Michigan on October 4, 1948 when 90.5 WKAR went on the air. During the day, 90.5 simulcasted AM’s programs. Upon AM 870’s sunset sign off, WKAR-FM would continue to broadcast its own programs until 10:00 p.m. Early programs included Dawn Salute, The Homemakers’ Hour, Here’s to Veterans, The Farm Page, College Club, Symphony of Melody, and The Bookmobile, a story program for children. WKAR-AM and –FM would continue this arrangement for the next 17 years.
“The separation of FM from AM programming on March 1, 1965 was the awakening of a sleeping giant,” says Dick Estell, former station manager (1964-1978). The “sleeping giant” became an oasis to listeners within its 60-mile broadcast radius as it was the first radio station in Michigan to broadcast an entire schedule of fine arts and cultural programs. It was truly a new station that now required entirely different program offerings to fill its 6:30 a.m. until midnight broadcast hours.
“I shall always be grateful to Dick Estell for creating the position of music program director at WKAR-AM/FM in October 1964 and for giving a young broadcaster – still in his 20s – the opportunity to create an entire program format for WKAR-FM,” explains Kenneth Beachler. “I had the chance to expand our programming during the dark hours before dawn and after the sun went down. “I also found myself running the control board and announcing during most of those dark hours,. But what a joy it was to discover we attracted devoted listeners who were hungry for our fine arts programming.”
Another former station manager, Steve Meuche (1978-2004), also began his radio career, as a student, at WKAR and hosted FM’s inaugural broadcast on March 1, 1965 with a “90-minute tour of the classics and some of the moderns” according to the station’s program guide. “In the span of just over 40 years, the transformation has been remarkable. In the 1960s, WKAR was pretty isolated from the world outside of the Lansing area. The only source for news was the clunky Associated Press teletype. There was no network, no NPR, and no news programs from anywhere else. It resulted in some pretty creative and imaginative programming, But it lacked timeliness in many respects,” he explains.
“Of course, today, with NPR dominating radio news in this country, we are connected with virtually everywhere and can bring people relevant and timely news and perspective. Today, it is even more vital and important to people. WKAR listeners take their public radio personally,” Meuche concludes.
In the last 10 years, 90.5 WKAR has jumped into the digital age with both feet. A new nationwide program delivery system called ‘Content Depot’ sends entire programs to the station in seconds via satellite. The station also offers podcasts and archived local news features on-demand on WKAR.org. And, 90.5 WKAR also podcasts in HD, a higher quality, digital stream with the capability of multiple program streams.
“It’s hard to imagine now, but when WKAR-FM went on the air in 1948, FM radio was a new technology with few listeners,” says Curt Gilleo, WKAR station manager (2005-present). “Sixty years later, our news and music programming has evolved into an integral part of the community, with more than 65,000 people using the station each week. And as our predecessors did in the past, we look forward to expanding this public service in the future.”
And as long-time radio and television commentator Charles Osgood said in one of his pieces, “See you on the radio.”
published: September 30, 2008
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