WIUX might be kicked off FM

A new broadcast signal from a country radio station will likely push WIUX off FM radio. The student-run radio station spent years working to upgrade its broadcast strength but might lose its biggest gain after less than a year on its current frequency.\nWYGB, which is licensed in Edinburgh, Ind., but broadcast out of Columbus, Ind., can take WIUX's frequency, 100.3 FM, because its Federal Communications Commission license gives it higher broadcasting priority.\nWIUX Station Manager Zach Pollakoff said because WIUX is a Low Power FM station and WYGB is a commercial station, IU's signal can be forced off the airwaves.\n"The rules governing Low Power FM are either nonexistent or still in the making because it's a fairly new type of license," Pollakoff said. \nWIUX has been on the air for 40 years but only began broadcasting on FM radio Jan. 30, Pollakoff said. The station had previously broadcast on an AM frequency with a radius of one mile. Moving to FM gave the station a radius of 15 miles.\nPollakoff said he wasn't sure if the station could return to AM radio. The AM frequency wasn't as efficient as its FM counterpart because it can only reach a small audience, he said.\nWhen students at the station learned of the takeover last month, they wrote a petition that the University filed with the FCC asking the organization to continue allowing WIUX to broadcast on 100.3 FM.\nDean of Students Richard McKaig, who signed the petition as an IU administrative official, said the setback to WIUX is frustrating. The station had been trying to gain access to a more powerful frequency since he came to campus in 1971, he said.\n"We've spent from '71 to 2005 to try and get the station an FM (frequency)," McKaig said. "It'd be a shame to pull the rug out from under them now."\nWIUX Music Director Craig Shank said he was surprised that the hard work of so many people could be undermined so quickly.\n"My reaction was really just one of shock because I was unaware that we could be put in a situation like this so soon after switching to FM," Shank said. "A lot of people over the years have put a lot into the switch, and hearing the news was just really disappointing."\nThe FCC ruled that Low Power stations can be removed from the airwaves if construction of a new station would cause "signal interference," according to a letter Pollakoff sent to WIUX disc jockeys.\nWYGB Station Manager Mike King said the station was simply trying to expand its broadcast radius and said he didn't know the expansion would force WIUX off FM. He said the station, which is also known as "Korn Country," secured the frequency because it would soon be boosting its signal.\n"What we are doing is we have secured this 100.3 frequency, and we are moving one of our existing stations to that frequency because we can get more wattage," King said. \nPollakoff asked students to support WIUX by sending complaints to the FCC.\n"We're in the process of \nputting up a form online that would be a chance for our DJs, our listeners, students and really anybody to send an e-mail to the FCC," he said. \nWIUX's move in January to FM radio was sponsored largely by donations from alumni. Pollakoff said he was unsure if the station would be able to recuperate money spent on the FM upgrade.\nPollakoff said he believed the most disappointing aspect of the situation was that so much hard work done to move to FM could possibly go to waste. \n"It's a disappointment for me and everybody at the station," Pollakoff said. "We've been a station in Bloomington for 40 years, and it's just difficult for us."\nShank said he believed WIUX being pushed off of FM could hurt Bloomington as well as IU. Not only does the station provide training for students, but WIUX also provides support for local bands and businesses. \n"I think we're a really important student organization because we're a place where students can go to learn about the radio business first hand," Shank said. "This could really not only serve as sort of a blow to WIUX but possibly Bloomington as a whole."\nJunior Jenn Luechauer said she believed WIUX and stations like it should be encouraged, not hindered. \n"I think that it's bad (for the station to leave the air) because it's an IU station, and we need to keep student-run organizations in Bloomington," Luechauer said.\nMcKaig agreed with Pollakoff, saying he believed the station worked too hard for its recent success to lose its license to a commercial station.\n"It really has been an opportunity for the station to gain more credibility," McKaig said. "It's been in the last 18 months that we've really had what we've been trying to get for so long. ... We're on the air, (and) it would be a shame to lose it"