Broadcasting the rhythm of the city with WYBC

Love Talk embodies everything college radio is supposed to be: students relaxing and experimenting on the air, entertaining both their audience and themselves. The easygoing banter of broadcasts like Love Talk typifies 94.3 WYBC, the commercial radio station serving both the Yale campus and the greater New Haven community. WYBC provides undergrads with opportunities to train as DJs, develop their own radio shows, and study broadcasting techniques first-hand. This year, however, WYBC's radical reforms in programming threatened student involvement and grew into one of the largest campus-wide controversies.

WYBC originated in 1941 when a group of engineering students funded by Yale alumni gathered to broadcast music, news, and campus-related talk on a closed-circuit AM airwave over the New Haven city. Because the station first operated under the auspices of the Yale Daily News, a student newspaper, it initially retained the call letters WOCD. Just one year later the two organizations separated, and the station became WYBC.

The Yale Broadcasting Corporation's inception occurred early in 1948 and the non-profit, tax-exempt WYBC became Yale's official radio station. In 1958, the FCC rewrote and revised the station's license, making WYBC the first college station to broadcast 24 hours a day, and moved it to its current frequency, 94.3, which expanded the station's listeners beyond the Yale campus. Then, in 1961, the station adopted its present mission statement: "To serve as a communication link between the Yale community and the surrounding area, bringing the resources of the University to its neighbors, and fostering a closer contact between the two groups for the benefit of both."

WYBC has a strong history of liberal activism. In fact, the fictitious radio station WBBY, invented by Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau, DC '70, was based upon WYBC and represented the widespread social dissent and radical values perpetuated by the station during the '60s and '70s. The current WYBC continues to foster a link between Yale students and New Haven residents. Programs airing on 94.3 today include talk shows The Electric Drum, Law Talk, Community Forum, and Love Talk; broadcasts of Yale athletic events; musical features of contemporary hits; urban music and oldies; and other student-run programming.

LIZ OLINER/YH Recent changes in WYBC's format have threatened student DJ's involvement.

However, sweeping changes in WYBC's format this past year have sparked controversy both on and off campus. The station managers have been heavily criticized for giving the New Haven audience priority over Yale listeners and taking significant steps to limit student participation in the station. Program director Emad Abdelnaby, DC '99, said, "We had to come up with a way to make our format more professional." The Executive Board arrived at the urban, dance, and popular music mix, which comprise Contemporary Hits Radio. The Board feels the changes enabled it to fulfill its mission to unite New Haven and the University.

Opponents of the new changes argue that the transformed station has abandoned its Yale audience for financial reasons. "Undermining student involvement and taking the station out of the hands of the student body is the worst offense a collegiate organization can make," displaced DJ Lucas Oppenheim, BK '00, said. "Instead of trying to compete with other urban stations, WYBC needs to understand its role as a college station."

Despite the high degree of student dissatistfaction Oppenheim articulates, WYBC has attracted new student DJs for next year and hopes to re-train many of the former ones to continue the station's tradition of student involvement. All interested in broadcasting can pursue DJ training, which involves four free evening sessions, a final test, and training in individual formats. Upon completion, students become official DJs with access to the airwaves of 94.3.

If Yalies are not interested in becoming DJs but still wish to be a part of the world of radio broadcasting, they can participate in WYBC's community service projects, write commercials, and review new music. No matter which aspect of radio programming interests you, be it doing a play-by-play of a Bulldog hockey game or deejaying a hip-hop music program, getting involved with "94.3 WYBC, the Rhythm of the City" is the way to go.

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