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WETS-FM

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Coordinates: 36°26′02″N 82°08′06″W / 36.434°N 82.135°W / 36.434; -82.135
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WETS-FM
Broadcast areaTri-Cities, Tennessee-Virginia
Frequency89.5 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingWETS FM 89.5
Programming
FormatPublic radio - News - Talk
SubchannelsHD2: Americana music
HD3: Classical music
HD4: Adult Album Alternative
AffiliationsNational Public Radio
Public Radio Exchange
American Public Media
Pacifica Radio
BBC World Service
Ownership
OwnerEast Tennessee State University
History
First air date
February 24, 1974; 50 years ago (February 24, 1974)
Call sign meaning
W East Tennessee State
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID18253
ClassC
ERP66,000 watts
HAAT692 meters (2,270 ft)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Listen Live (HD2)
Listen Live (HD3)
Websitewets.org

WETS-FM (89.5 FM) is the National Public Radio member station for the Tri-Cities region of northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. It is a public radio station owned by East Tennessee State University.[2] WETS receives a little over half of its funding from listener contributions. It also receives public funding from federal (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) and government-funded university sources.[3][4][5] It is licensed to Johnson City, Tennessee, with studios on the ETSU campus.

WETS-FM is a Class C station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 66,000 watts. The transmitter is on Panhandle Road in Hunter, Tennessee, amid the towers for other Tri-Cities FM and TV stations.[6]

Programming

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On weekdays, WETS has a news, talk and information format. It carries national programs from NPR and other public radio networks, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, 1A and Here and Now. The airing of the liberal news show, Democracy Now!, has proven to be controversial, since the Tri-Cities is largely a politically and culturally conservative region. As such, the station lost a number of members who objected to the program. However, the show has attracted a base of local supporters, who have formed a "Democracy Now Tri-Cities" group dedicated to keeping the program on the air. The BBC World Service is heard in late nights.[7]

On weekends, the station carries entertainment programming, including Americana music, featuring local bands from southern Appalachia. It also carries music shows from public radio networks including The Thistle and Shamrock, American Routes, Mountain Stage and Hearts of Space. Talk shows heard evenings and weekends include Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, It's Been A Minute, The Splendid Table, Big Picture Science, Travel with Rick Steves, A Way with Words, This American Life, New Dimensions, The Moth Radio Hour and The TED Radio Hour. The station also has a SHOUTcast webcast available on its web site.

History

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WETS signed on the air on February 24, 1974; 50 years ago (February 24, 1974).[8] The station has transmitted from a tower on Holston Mountain since 1981. It broadcasts from studios in Richard F. Ellis Hall. The hall was opened in 1988, dedicated to the station's first director in 1993. The studios are on the south side of ETSU's campus. Before 1988, it operated from a two-story frame house.[9]

When WETS-FM began broadcasting, it mostly played music. But as with other public radio stations affiliated with NPR, it has gradually reduced music and increased news and informational programming. On February 1, 2010, WETS changed its weekday format to all news and talk shows.[10][11] In its first decade, the station aired classical music on weekday mornings and evenings, with Americana music in the afternoons, and a weekly blues program known as Blue Monday. Most weekend programming, which still includes music, was not affected by this change.[11]

In the fall of 2011, WETS began broadcasting using HD Radio technology. In addition to the main analog transmission, it has several HD digital subchannels. The first is a simulcast of the analog signal, the second is an all-Americana music channel, the third is an all-classical music channel.[12] WETS was the first station in the Tri-Cities radio market to offer HD broadcasts. A fourth subchannel was added later, airing album adult alternative music. Most programming streams are also available on the website.

As an annual fundraiser, the station presents the Little Chicago Blues Festival at the Down Home Festival each spring.[13][14] WETS had been the home station of Your Weekly Constitutional, a constitutional law show distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and produced in collaboration with Montpelier.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WETS-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Guinn Legg, Sue (2007-04-11). "Listeners coming through for WETS fund raising drive". Johnson City Press. Archived from the original on 2007-04-23. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  3. ^ "About WETS-FM 89.5". Retrieved 2010-01-14.
  4. ^ "Public radio finances". NPR. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  5. ^ "A Brief Overview of Public Broadcasting". Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  6. ^ Radio-Locator.com/WETS
  7. ^ "Democracy Now! a rare liberal voice in conservative NET - Kingsport Times-News Online". Timesnews.net. 2007-04-14. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
  8. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-195. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  9. ^ "About WETS-FM 89.5". WETS.org. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  10. ^ "WETS to switch weekday programming to news format". Kingsport Times-News. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  11. ^ a b "WETS Home Page". WETS-FM. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  12. ^ "WETS-FM To Begin HD Broadcasting This Summer". WETS-FM. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  13. ^ DeBerry, Jon (2006-05-01). "Annual Little Chicago Blues Festival comes to Down Home, hosts 16 bands". East Tennessean. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  14. ^ Janz, Doug (2007-04-27). "BLUE FRIDAY (SATURDAY, TOO) - Little Chicago festival continues as a variety of acts perform in support of WETS". Johnson City Press. Archived from the original on 2007-10-10. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  15. ^ "PRX » Series » Your Weekly Constitutional (Subscribable)". PRX - Public Radio Exchange. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
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36°26′02″N 82°08′06″W / 36.434°N 82.135°W / 36.434; -82.135

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