WBRS
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| City | Waltham, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Branding | Something For Everyone |
| Frequency | 100.1 MHz |
| First air date | 1968 |
| Format | Variety |
| ERP | 25 watts, Stereo |
| HAAT | 46 meters |
| Class | D |
| Facility ID | 6638 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°22′9.3″N 71°15′26.2″W / 42.369250°N 71.257278°W |
| Callsign meaning | Brandeis Radio Service |
| Owner | Brandeis University |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | wbrs.org |
WBRS is a student-run community and college radio station in Waltham, Massachusetts, west of Boston. The broadcast license is held by the Trustees of Brandeis University and the studio and transmitter are located on the Brandeis campus. WBRS broadcasts at 100.1 FM with an effective radiated power of 25 watts, at a height above average terrain (HAAT) of 46 meters. There is a streaming feed available at wbrs.org.
The station's origins lie in a campus radio club in the 1950s, originally called WLDB (for Louis Dembitz Brandeis's initials). The club never broadcast under this callsign, which had already been assigned to an AM station in Atlantic City. The club then changed its name to WBRS Brandeis Radio Service, in 1964. At the time, they broadcast via carrier current, and could only be heard on the Brandeis campus. WBRS got an FM radio license in 1968 and began broadcasting at 91.7 MHz with an FCC Class D license.
In the late 1970s, the FCC stopped issuing low power class D licenses, and stations were pushed to upgrade to class A (100 watts minimum). In dense urban markets such as Boston, this was often difficult or impossible due to band crowding and interference. WBRS negotiated with other stations in Boston to finally find a home at 100.1 MHz as a "grandfathered" class D station in 1984.
For 15 years, WBRS's signal covered many surrounding towns, as far as East Boston and the airport to the east, and Framingham and Natick to the west. In 1999, WWFX in Southbridge MA, a commercial station broadcasting at the same 100.1 MHz frequency, got a significant power increase to become a major Worcester pop station.[1] Since then, WBRS's signal effectively reaches less than a mile to the west (towards Worcester), though it can still be heard in a few cities to the east, including parts of Boston. It can no longer be heard at all in some parts of its own city, Waltham.
A WBRS music director, Bobby Haber, founded the College Media Journal (CMJ) in 1978 at WBRS, publishing the first college radio airplay charts.
In the early 1980s, WBRS underwent several structural changes and became an all genre cooperative community radio station. A new constitution and membership contract were instituted, and membership was formally defined in terms of the contract and participating in the cooperative, rather than affiliation with Brandeis University. Members were required to volunteer for at least three hours a month to maintain good standing. The constitution called for an executive board of four elected members and a number of others appointed by the elected members. With some amendments, the constitution and contract remain in force today.
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