WVKC
WVKC (90.7 FM) is a 1,000-watt radio station in Galesburg, Illinois, in west-central Illinois. Knox College is the station licensee, authorized by the Federal Communications Commission.
WVKC is a student-operated radio station of Knox College. The call letters were originally chosen to stand for "The Voice of Knox College", although that catch phrase is not in active use. WVKC was known as "Radio-Free Galesburg" until as recently as 2005, when students decided on "No Sale Radio," again emphasizing that WVKC is a non-commercial, not-for-profit organization. In 2006, students opted to change the name to simply "The Voice," a slogan used by the station in the 1970s and 1980s.
Format
According to station lore, WVKC's official mascot has been known as Zippy the "flaming bat." Though appearances are uncommon -- usually occurring in the station's library -- there are many bats living on the fourth floor of Knox's George Davis Hall, the same space that currently houses WVKC.
Unlike many other college radio stations, any student is welcome to become a DJ, with no experience necessary, and are free to play music of any genre. Members from the community have also contributed to the on-air schedule, contributing rock, jazz, gospel, and latin formats.
The station also features live web broadcasting for remote listeners, available at the station's website
History
Originally founded as an experimental radio station, WVKC has been operating continuously for more than 50 years, making it one of the oldest college radio stations.
- ca. 1925 - Knox College briefly operated an experimental radio station under a different call sign.
- 1950s - WKC (WVKC's direct predecessor) operated as a carrier current radio station, broadcasting to selected locations on campus.
- 1961 - WVKC (a fourth letter having been added by the call sign) was granted by the FCC for a Low power FM station on 90.5 MHz. This was a Class D station at 10 watts ERP.
- 1979 - Due to planned renovation and transfer to a developer of the station's location since 1961 (basement of Whiting Hall on W. Tompkins Street), the college granted the station space on the fourth floor of George Davis Hall (then vacant, and the original location of Knox's radio studio in the 1920s).
- 1980 - The station acquired a refurbished Collins transmitter and moved into the fourth floor of George Davis Hall. Along with new studios, the station's power was increased to 1000 watts ERP.
- 1984 - Began broadcasting in stereo using a prototype Harris exciter.
- 1990 - In cooperation with the FCC and to accommodate an increase in ERP by Augustana College's WVIK at 90.3 MHz in the Quad Cities area, as well as reducing adjacent channel interference with WVIK, WVKC changed its FM frequency to 90.7 MHz.
- 1998 - WVKC rebrands as Radio Free Galesburg.
- 2000 - On October 20th, WVKC begins simulcasting over the web. WVKC also purchased a large 5000-watt solid-state transmitter (this did not change WVKC's ERP), which was manhandled up to the fourth floor of GDH with a handcart by the general manager, two broadcast engineers, and a student passerby.
- 2001 - The Apples in Stereo visit WVKC. They sign the air studio wall and a deal is made in which their bassist purchases several boxes of LPs that would otherwise be discarded. Also that year: WVKC appears online as WVKC.org.
- 2003 - Someone gets drunk and pees on all the equipment.
- 2007 - Someone makes racial slurs on the radio.
General Managers
- 1997-98 - Brian Gawor ('98)
- 1998-99 - Ben Markese ('99)
- 1999-00 - Mike Sweeney ('00)
- 2000-01 - Eric Pietras ('01)
- 2001-02 - Toby Greenwalt ('02)
- 2002-03 - Joe Mohan ('03)
- 2003-04 - Ryan Fitzgerald
- 2004-05 - Matthew Holland (interim)
- 2005-06 - Erik Byng ('06)
- 2006-07 - Erik Byng ('06) and Mark Imielski
