On Thursday, March 28th, 2019, Hip Hop Director RIZZYSTAYDIZZY visited WGTB (Georgetown University) College Radio. Read below his six-part series pop-up visits to radio stations in the DC-Maryland area!
14:36 – I got off the metro at Dupont Circle. I decided to foot it 32 minutes from Dupont metro to Georgetown University. As soon as I get to the university, just like the other stations, I asked for directions to WGTB.
15:42 – I end up having to wait for nearly 45 minutes because there was no one physically at the station. I finally see someone enter the station around this time and immediately introduce myself. I took pictures and met the station manager Julie Yaeger plus fellow DJs and talked with them for about 30 minutes.
Read more about WRGW below & peep some pictures RSD took!
History & Background of your radio
“The station was founded as an AM station in 1946 by the Reverend Francis J. Heyden, S.J., and moved to FM in 1960. In the late 1960s and through the 1970s, the station attracted attention in the Washington, D.C. area for its blend of alternative rock. Its tag line was “WGTB, one nation underground”. Strong left-wing sentiments, especially ads for the Washington Free Clinic, caused significant friction between the station’s staff and the school’s administration. Fr. Timothy Healy, SJ, Georgetown’s president, donated the 6,700-watt signal, broadcasting at 90.1 MHz, to the University of the District of Columbia in 1979 for the sum of one dollar. UDC sold the signal to C-SPAN in 1997 for $25 million. That incarnation of the station is now WCSP-FM. A new student staff resurrected the college radio station in 1982 as WROX-AM, an album-oriented rock format broadcasting to individual campus buildings over carrier current at 690 AM. The station reverted to its WGTB call sign in 1985 and moved to an alternative format. After the move from studios in the Copley dormitory basement to the Leavey Center in 1996, the station broadcast via a “leaky cable” FM system at 92.3 MHz, also intended to ensure that the station could only broadcast around the campus and its immediate environs. Since 2001, WGTB’s content has been available exclusively over the web. Broadcasts can be heard every day from 6 a.m. to 4 a.m.”
How many students / DJs at your station?
“usually around 125 DJs with 77 shows.”
Does your station get enough funding from your university/college?
“I’d say we get enough funding. We’re able to increase our funding pretty much every year.”
What makes your station, your station? | What is your image?
“We try to foster a really diverse group of shows. So we have Broadway shows to EDM to talk radio to rock and it makes the station a little more interesting. It also gives students a chance to put our what they really care about on the radio. Our heart and soul is our fall concert; in the past, we’ve brought Twenty One Pilots, Lil B the Based God, Wavves, Mick Jenkins, and this year, Snail Mail. We’re pretty good at securing up-and-coming artists, and that’s a big part of our brand.”
What do you expect your station to look like / sound like / be in the future?
“I don’t know what the future holds for WGTB. Right now, we’re transitioning to having better equipment and a more reliable stream. So in the future, I’d like the actual stream to be a bigger part of what people think of when they think of WGTB.”
Thanks to the WGTB Station Manager Julie Yaeger and DJ’s, for hosting me! Stay tuned for the blog of the other five DC radio stations RSD visited! — Read more about WGTB above & peep some pictures RSD took!
