New frequency, more listeners for WIUX

Just months after nearly losing its spot on the FM dial, IU’s student-run radio station, WIUX, is enjoying a new frequency and setting its goals high for the upcoming school year.\nLast fall, the Columbus, Ind., “Korn Country” radio station WYGB gained Federal Communications Commission approval to take over the 100.3 FM frequency WIUX had been using. Supporters rallied to raise awareness about the campus station’s dire circumstances when they found out WIUX would be removed from the frequency. This attention attracted not only the support of faculty, alumni and congressmen, but also new listeners. \n“(Before the frequency dispute) I think most people didn’t know about us,” Station Manager and junior Craig Shank said. “It was sort of a blessing in disguise.”\nFortunately for WIUX, the 99.1 FM frequency, which has a range of about 15 miles, became available to them, averting a move to an AM frequency with a range of about one mile. On June 4, the station made the switch to the new FM frequency. \nShank said he believes more listeners have been attracted to the station because of the dispute leading up to WIUX’s frequency change.\n“I’ve been getting a lot more feedback from our listeners through e-mails and phone calls, so I’m under the impression that our listenership has increased,” Shank said. \nThe increased amount of feedback provides motivation for Shank. \n“(Following the jump to the new frequency) more people started letting you know they appreciate what you’re doing,” Shank said. “When people say, ‘Whenever I’m in my car I won’t listen to anything but you guys,’ that’s the coolest thing for me and makes me want to work harder on it.”\nShank cited community involvement as one area where the station could exert itself more. \n“We want to move forward as a station,” Shank said. “In the past it’s sort of seemed like an exclusive thing for the people working here. We haven’t reached out nearly as much as I would have liked to.”\nShank said the station is attempting to establish relationships with local groups and organizations such as the Bloomington Playwrights Project and the Lotus World Music Festival.\nIn addition, the station would also like to host more shows than it has in past years. Efforts to meet this goal have already taken effect, when on June 21 the station hosted the first-ever WIUX Dance Party at the WIUX station house. The show featured four DJs providing their own distinct styles, which Shank said included drum and bass, new disco, mash-ups and hip-hop. \nThe show’s lineup strayed from the typical rock music the station usually plays.\n“If you’ve been to the shows, you know we mostly highlight rock music – that’s sort of our bread and butter, so to speak,” Shank said. “But we wanted to do something unique.”\nShank estimated that about three dozen people attended the show, a number he considers a success, given the lack of students in Bloomington for the summer. He hopes the show can become a monthly tradition.\n“I imagine with the right promotion and if we keep it interesting with new DJs each time ... It has the potential to become a tradition here at the station,” Shank said.\nMike Quick, who hosts two WIUX shows, also said he hopes the show will become a monthly event. \n“Bloomington doesn’t have a lot of clubs where you can go and dance,” Quick said. “Hopefully it becomes a monthly thing where people want to go dance and have a good time.”\nTony Cak, another WIUX host, said shows such as the dance party are an opportunity to present types of music he feels are underrepresented in Bloomington, as well as display the talents of the DJs who work at WIUX to the public.\nAside from the possibility of future dance parties, WIUX plans to continue its biweekly Vibe shows during the school year. Shank said the shows provide free entertainment for people of all ages and a chance to support local musicians. \n“We’re a radio station; we’re not in the business of booking shows, really,” Shank said. “But that’s something we like to do to sort of supplement what we’re doing on the air.”\nShank said the station will pick up its promotional campaign for the fall semester around the time most students return to campus.\nBillboards, on-air promotions and “co-promotions with some places in town” are on the agenda for the fall, Shank said.\n“It should be pretty hard to miss WIUX in the fall,” Shank said.