WGSU’s return to FM Airways
Photo courtesy of Sarah DeVito
WGSU, SUNY Geneseo’s campus radio station, announces the return of its FM signal.
WGSU is SUNY Geneseo’s sole radio broadcasting service. It houses a wide variety of radio shows —like “Full Circle,” which is The Lamrons’ weekly show— that allow students on campus an outlet to express themselves in whatever capacity and comfortability they deem fit. This radio network can be found on FM radios tuned to channel 89.3.
Unfortunately, the WGSU team decided to suspend the use of its FM signal antenna and transmitter —visible atop Brodie— for the entirety of the last school year— both the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 semesters. This was due to a combination of age and long-standing deterioration caused by exposure to the elements. Because of such circumstances, the WGSU radio station has been online via live stream for the last two semesters and has suffered a drop in its viewership.
WGSU representative, current intern, and host of “Geneseo Today,” Carolyn Przybycien, shared their thoughts on this topic. They began talking about the transition, saying, “Going from a signal that broadcasts our programs over the Genesee Valley to a strictly online stream that can broadcast anywhere in the world doesn't really seem like a big deal. But that isn't the case. Losing our signal hurt our connection to the community. Local businesses would play 89.3, and people in their cars would tune in. While radio to lots of people may seem obsolete, it played an essential part of both history and WGSU is important to Geneseo. Losing our tower was really hard… [and] since we lost that community connection over airwaves…we probably lost some listeners.”
On Nov. 4, 2024, WGSU operations manager Sarah Devito provided a statement saying, “89.3 WGSU, SUNY Geneseo’s campus radio station, is excited to announce the return of its FM signal, now available throughout the college campus and Village of Geneseo…After a year of broadcasting only on an online live stream, the station will return to local listeners via traditional airwaves while maintaining its live stream for broader accessibility. This semester, WGSU has debuted a lineup of 16 original programs covering a range of topics, including sports talk, news, art discussions, and music shows with more to come in the weeks ahead…”
This news has brought with it many positive changes for the staff of the radio station, like Sports Director Brenna Cummings —the host of the WGSU program “Chalk Talk”— who said, “When I joined the Chalk Talk team, we weren’t doing any live streams, just the web broadcast…[where] we made an Instagram for us to do live streams and posts with audio clips over it…I am very happy that we’ll be back on air for the ‘real’ college radio experience, and I cannot wait to incorporate all that we’ve learned and experienced from online broadcasts to on-air radio broadcasts.”
As the staff continues to transition back into their hybrid method of broadcasting, like Carolyn Przybycien, who is genuinely excited to be back in the studio and rekindle WGSU’s blossoming connection with the local Geneseo community. As of the release of this article —Nov. 15, 2024— the tower is currently up and operational, and has already seen a positive influx of viewership as well as positive spirits within their Brodie studios!
On a final note, Sarah Devito wants to remind everyone, “If students, alumni, employees, and community members are interested in starting up a show, email sed13@geneseo.edu.”