WFNP

WFNP

Rosendale, New York United States
Broadcast area	Mid-Hudson
Frequency	88.7 MHz (timeshare with WRHV-FM)
Branding	The Edge
Programming
Language(s)	English
Format	College radio
Ownership
Owner	State University of New York at New Paltz
History
First air date	September 1, 1990 (1990-09-01)
Call sign meaning	"Radio Free New Paltz"
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	63126
Class	A
ERP	230 watts
HAAT	393 meters (1,289 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	41°43′9.3″N 73°59′45.5″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live
Website	wfnp.org

WFNP (88.7 MHz FM) is a college radio station licensed to Rosendale, New York. The station, which is run by students at State University of New York at New Paltz, broadcasts at 6 kilowatts ERP from a tower on Illinois Mountain in nearby Lloyd, New York.

WFNP-FM is one of a handful of time-share FM stations remaining in the United States; since its 1990 sign-on it has shared the 88.7 frequency with WRHV-FM (originally WMHX-FM), a simulcast of classical-formatted WMHT-FM Schenectady. WFNP-FM is on the air from 7:00 pm–5:00 am weeknights and 10:00 pm–5:00 am weekends while school is in session (September 1 to November 30 and February 1 until April 30). Since the mid-1990s, WFNP-FM has looked to find its own frequency and currently possesses a construction permit to move to 98.9 MHz and expand to 24/7 programming.

Though WFNP-FM signed on in 1990, the station has been on in some form since 1971 when it began as a carrier current AM station heard solely on campus, which went by the name WNPC, and later WRNP (for Radio New Paltz) on 640 AM. After the launch of the WFNP-FM, the AM remained on the air with its own programming by day and an FM simulcast by night. WFNP (AM) lasted until the early 2000s when it was succeeded by the combination of a webcast and a simulcast on WNPC, the campus TV station. As a tip to its heritage, the non-FM programming is referred to as "the AM station".

From the late 1970s to around 1980, the station used the call letters WRSW, until student management realized there was already a real WRSW licensed to Warsaw, Indiana. In addition to being heard in the dorms on 640 AM, local cable TV subscribers could get the station at 91.9 FM if they connected their cable to their home stereo receiver. During the spring of 1980, new student management began to explore the possibility of an actual FM station. In the fall of 1980, a petition was circulated on campus, and student government came up with the funds necessary to perform a frequency search for the new station. A company known as Educational FM associates did the search for a fee of $1800.00. A copy of the petition (the actual roots of today's WFNP) will be posted at a later date.

Some key student personnel from those early days include Dennis O'Keefe, who later became a campus librarian -and whose name adorns a bench outside Sojourner Truth library in his memory; passionate Beatles fan and music director Nelson Metviner (who was memorialized after being killed in an auto accident with a plaque that hung in the station office for many years), engineer Alex Abrash, Tim Cook, Chuck Grant, Nathan "Nato" Mishan, Robin Milling, and general manager Jeff Jensen. It took several more years for the station to finally reach the goal of being an over-the-air FM radio station.

See also

• College radio
• List of college radio stations in the United States

External links

• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 63126 (WFNP) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• WFNP in Nielsen Audio's FM station database