WMUA

WMUA (91.1 FM) is a student-run college radio station. Licensed to serve Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, the station is based on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The station's broadcast license is held by the University of Massachusetts. WMUA celebrated its 70th Anniversary of continuous on-air broadcasting during the 2017-2018 school year. The station debuted a second, online only stream called WMUAx in September 2017.
WMUA was established in 1948 originally as an AM station. Though it is run by undergraduates, other faculty, staff, assorted members of the community, and graduate students contribute to the station.
WMUA is broadcast to the Connecticut River Valley, including western Massachusetts, northern Connecticut, and southern Vermont. The station is federally licensed (authorized by the FCC) and non-commercial, and is under the supervision of the UMass Board of Trustees.
WMUA's studio is located in the basement of the Lincoln Campus Center building. The actual transmitter and antenna are located on Observatory Way, between the Orchard Hill and Sylvan Residential living areas. This facility, activated at midnight on January 1, 2004, is WMUA's third transmission site; it originally transmitted from atop Marston Hall, and then on Emily Dickinson Dormitory. The Dickinson Dormitory tower in Orchard Hill served as a backup until a re-roofing project took it down in 2011; it is licensed as a backup facility, and rebuilding the backup was completed on June 30, 2014. The station is a licensed "class A" broadcast facility.
WMUA is tentatively slated to move to a new facility in Fall 2020, as part of the UMass Student Union Renovation Project.
Programming.
WMUA's programming philosophy is to provide listeners with an eclectic experience unique to the UMass and Pioneer Valley region the station serves. In addition to music programming, there are talk shows, sports shows, and student-produced newscasts every weekday at 5:30 p.m. WMUA broadcasts 24/7/365, and is available online on WMUA's website, as well as through their app on Radio FX. The station has a second, online only stream called WMUAx that can be accessed on the stations website. WMUAx is non-FCC regulated, and plays additional WMUA content as well as select sports games.
WMUA provides an outlet for multiple opinions to be expressed through music, political and advocacy talk, and public service announcements.
Sports.
WMUA is the flagship radio station of UMass Minutewomen basketball as well as both UMass Minutemen lacrosse and UMass Minutewomen lacrosse. They also broadcast other UMass Minutemen sports including ice hockey, men's basketball, baseball, and football throughout the year. Since 2018 all WMUA Sports productions have been broadcast from the Dave Strader Memorial Sports Studio, named to honor the WMUA alum following his passing.
WMUA Sports produces online podcasts covering a wide range of topics around sports. Podcasts include "Chatting 300" (baseball), "Intentionally Foul" (NBA and fantasy basketball), "Bracketville" (bracket-style game show on the bests and worsts in the world of sports), "From the Peanut Gallery" (WMUA's own version of "First Take"), "Cover Four" (college football), "Four-Point Play" (college basketball) and "Goal Line Stand" (NFL).
Members of WMUA Sports host shows Monday-Friday from 11:00-11:30am during the station's sports block. The department's signature show, "Sportsline" can be heard Wednesday's from 4:30-5:30pm.
News.
"WMUA News" is one of the nation's last remaining daily student run news broadcasts. Broadcasting weekdays from 5:30-6:00pm during the academic year, it focuses on international, national, and local news. All on-air content is hosted, produced, and scripted by students.
Department Directors.
WMUA is run by a group of students who make up the Department Directors. The Executive Committee, consisting of the General Manager and Programmer, is elected through a popular vote of the WMUA General Body each April. The Executive Committee hires the remaining Department Directors, holding interviews for interested candidates to find the most qualified individuals. These paid positions are responsible for running their departments with the assistance of committees composed of WMUA General Body members who have an interest in that field.
General Managers.
WMUA is led by a General Manager, who is elected by popular vote of the General Body near the end of the spring semester. The elected term runs from the day after the end of Spring Semester to the end of Spring Semester the following academic year. There is no term limit on the position, and WMUA has had multiple two term General Managers throughout its history, most recently Andrew DesRochers, who served from Fall 2014 through Spring 2016.