WDBM

WDBM

City	East Lansing, Michigan
Broadcast area	East Lansing, Michigan
Branding	Impact 89FM
Slogan	The Music That Matters
Frequency	88.9 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date	February 24, 1989
Format	College radio; Variety
Power	2,000 watts
HAAT	85 meters
Class	A
Facility ID	4241
Transmitter coordinates	42°42′20″N 84°28′30″W / 42.70556°N 84.47500°W / 42.70556; -84.47500
Callsign meaning	We Do Better Music
Former callsigns	WBDM (11/10/87-2/7/89)
Owner	Michigan State University
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	impact89fm.org

WDBM (88.9 FM), East Lansing, Michigan, is a 2,000 watt, Class A, student-run college radio station at Michigan State University that broadcasts to listeners in the Lansing, Michigan, metropolitan area. The signal can be heard as far south as Jackson, MI, southeast almost to Brighton, MI, and north to Alma, MI far beyond its 60 dBu service countour which represents its clearest signal. ^[1] The station is the successor to the Michigan State Network, which in the 1970s was the nation's largest college carrier current radio network, and had studios in several MSU dormitories. The network was eventually consolidated to one carrier current station, WLFT ('Turn to the Left'), which broadcast from the former WKAR studios on the third floor of the MSU Auditorium Building. This would also be the first home of WDBM-FM.

WDBM began broadcasting in 1989 with the moniker Impact 89FM, a name it still uses today. But WDBM was originally licensed by the FCC with call letters WBDM on 11/10/1987. As told by Professional General Manager, Gary Reid, someone wrote the call letters down as WDBM. Marketing and promotional items were all created with the incorrect WDBM call letters. After the mistake was discovered, the station quickly found that the WDBM calls were available and applied to the FCC to make the change, and the new calls were granted on 2/7/1989.^[2] WDBM is one of the few student-run college radio stations to broadcast 24 hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year. In 2004, it was the nation's first college station to broadcast in HD Radio and streams its programming on its website.^[3] The station's current general manager is Ed Glazer.

Its staff began recording and podcasting Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm's weekly radio address in 2005.

The station is licensed to the MSU Board of Trustees, financed by a student fee, and operates separately from the University's other media outlets, which include WKAR, WKAR-FM, WKAR-TV, and the State News. Impact89FM broadcasts from the basement of the Holden Hall dormitory on south campus.

In February 1994 Impact 89FM hosted its fifth birthday party in the MSU Union. Bands performing that evening included Wally Pleasant and The Verve Pipe (a year before they were signed to RCA).

On Tuesday February 24, 2009, Impact turned 20 and celebrated 20 years of broadcasting by holding a Birthday Bash at the local East Lansing Buffalo Wild Wings, where alumni came back to do a special hour of on-air programing.

In January 2015, Impact89FM was named "College Radio Station of the Year" by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, receiving the award for the first time since 2011. WDBM has been honored with this award more than any other college radio station in the state of Michigan (13).

Programming

Weekdays, WDBM broadcasts mainly alternative music. At night, block programming features an hour of talk, then jazz, alternative country, blues, metal, indie, local music, retro, and hip hop. The Lansing City Pulse magazine credited WDBM's Progressive Torch and Twang program for igniting and sustaining the alternative country scene in mid-Michigan.^[4] Progressive Torch and Twang has also been cited in the seminal book Modern Twang.^[5]

Sources

• Michiguide.com - WDBM History

References

External links

• MSU campus radio alumni website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WDBM
• Radio-Locator information on WDBM
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WDBM