WCSP-FM
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| City | Washington, D.C. |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area |
Washington, D.C. Baltimore, Maryland |
| Branding | C-SPAN Radio |
| Frequency | 90.1 MHz (also on HD Radio) 90.1 HD2 C-SPAN1 simulcast (House of Representatives and other) 90.1 HD3 C-SPAN2 simulcast (Senate and Book TV) XM Radio 132 |
| Format | Public Affairs |
| Power | 36,000 watts |
| HAAT | 173 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 68950 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 38°57′44.0″N 77°1′36.0″W / 38.962222°N 77.026667°W |
| Callsign meaning | Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network |
| Former callsigns | WGTB-FM (Until 1980) WDCU (1980 – October 2, 1997) |
| Owner | National Cable Satellite Corporation |
| Webcast | WCSP-FM Webstream |
| Website | WCSP-FM Online |
WCSP-FM, also known as C-SPAN Radio, is a radio station licensed to the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) in Washington, D.C. The station broadcasts on 90.1 MHz and is on-air 24 hours a day. Its studios are located near Capitol Hill in C-SPAN’s headquarters. In addition to WCSP-FM, C-SPAN Radio programming is also available online at c-span.org and via satellite radio on XM channel 455.
WCSP-FM broadcasts in the HD (digital) format.
The station was originally licensed to Georgetown University under the callsign WGTB, and was programmed by Georgetown students with a progressive rock format. In 1979, the Georgetown administration decided that the station did not fit with the public image they desired for the university, and sold the station to the University of the District of Columbia for US$1. UDC took ownership officially on March 12, 1980, and WGTB became WDCU, with a jazz format. During a budgetary crisis in mid-1997, the school sold WDCU for $13 million to C-SPAN, a non-profit funded by the cable television industry. UDC had planned to sell the station to Christian radio conglomerate Salem Communications; however this deal was unsuccessful, leading to C-SPAN’s accepted purchase of WDCU. Once the station was purchased, broadcasting of C-SPAN Radio on WCSP-FM began on October 9, 1997.
C-SPAN Radio expanded its coverage by signing programming agreements in 1998 with two subscription-only satellite radio systems: CD Radio (later renamed Sirius Satellite Radio) and General Motors' XM Satellite Radio, bringing the station to a nationwide audience in 2001. Temporarily for a year during the XM and Sirius merger in 2007 and 2008, it was not heard on Sirius, and it is not currently available on radios only compatible with the older Sirius system. The station was added to XM Radio Canada on April 1, 2007. The FM range of the radio station extends as far north as Hanover, Pennsylvania, south around 15 miles beyond Fredericksburg, Virginia, west to 5 miles east of Front Royal, Virginia and east to Cambridge, Maryland. C-SPAN offers three channels of programming for listeners within the FM signal radius with HD radios, using digital technology to multicast all three channels at 90.1 FM. The three channels offer different programming: WCSP-FM's usual programming is broadcast on 90.1 HD-1; 90.1 HD-2 simulcasts C-SPAN, broadcasting coverage of the House of Representatives plus other C-SPAN programming; 90.1 HD-3 simulcasts C-SPAN2, broadcasting coverage of the Senate and audio of Book TV.
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