WCDB
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| City | Albany, New York |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | New York's Capital District |
| Branding | Capital Districts Best |
| Frequency | 90.9 MHz |
| Format |
Freeform Alternative |
| ERP | 100 watts |
| HAAT | 64.0 meters |
| Class | A |
| Facility ID | 63125 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°41′12.50″N 73°49′12.60″W / 42.6868056°N 73.8201667°W |
| Callsign meaning | We are the Capital District's Best |
| Former callsigns | WSUA |
| Owner | State University of New York |
| Webcast | Yes |
| Website | wcdbfm.com |
WCDB is a college radio station located at The University at Albany in Albany, New York. WCDB currently broadcasts at 90.9 FM with a signal covering the Capital District and reaching parts of Western Massachusetts. The station is staffed completely by students and operates on a 24/7 schedule. WCDB's programming includes a wide range of alternative music programs. The station is now airing worldwide via streaming on their website.
WCDB (and its predecessor AM station WSUA) boasts an impressive array of successful alumni in broadcasting, media, and other fields (See below).
The first traces of campus radio activity at the UAlbany campus appeared in the 1940s when the University Radio Council was formed. This organization made initial plans for the creation of a campus station tentatively called WCFA (College For Teachers, UAlbany's first incarnation) and WSCA. In 1962, the college became a University in the State University of New York system. WSUA debuted on February 22, 1963 as a "carrier current" AM radio station, where the broadcast transmissions are propagated via and confined to the electrical wiring of the college campus. The frequency was 640 kHz. At the time, a school newspaper account specified the station's power at eight watts.
WSUA was located in a janitor's closet in Brubacher Hall in what is today called the "Downtown campus." At the time, the format consisted of news, sports and music in the jazz, classical and Broadway vein. It was somewhat later that WSUA realized it could attract a bigger audience among the student population by playing "rock and roll" music, so a Top 40 format soon ensued. The song "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles is said to be the first song played in the new Top 40 format.
In the mid 1960s, WSUA upgraded their studio space to the basement of Brubacher Hall, where space for more studios and record storage was available. The station's management offices were on the first floor. Around this time, the station's carrier current signal was rolled out to the new "Uptown" campus. The electrical wires used to carry the signal often imparted a buzzing sound on the transmission. In 1975, the station began to use the slogan "Buzz Along With Us" on some promotional items to acknowledge this fact.
A more progressive type of rock music format would be introduced beginning in 1968 and would later become the dominant format, displacing the Top 40 music. At the same time, WSUA began sports coverage of the Great Danes basketball and football teams. One of the more popular programs in 1970 was the Saturday Night of Gold, hosted initially by Eric Lonschein and, later, Andy Baum and Glen Trotiner. The station also featured a daily news digest called Earwitness News beginning in 1973. The news program featured, among others, Anita Bonita, who would later become well known on the New York City radio dial. By mandate of the Student Association, the station would be required to use this specific ID for its top of the hour announcement: "WSUA Albany, subsidized completely by student tax paid to the Student Association of the State University of New York at Albany.
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