High school radio within the United States is almost as old as radio broadcasting itself. Simply defined as a radio station, with its studios located at a high school and usually operated by its students with faculty supervision, stations fitting this description existed in the mid-1920s. Little is recorded about these stations, but like other low-powered stations of the era, their programming would tend to be sporadic, with music and readings performed live by the station's performers - the era of playing records would not be established until the 1950s. The combination of the Great Depression of the early 1930s and new restrictions enacted by the Federal Communications Commission forced all of the high school stations off the air by 1934.
It would not be until the late 1940s, with the advent of the 88-108 MHz FM Radio band that renewed interest was shown in HS radio. Because the 88-92 MHz region was dedicated to non-commercial broadcasting, this allowed for schools to fairly easily obtain licenses from the FCC. The oldest HS station on FM is WNAS in New Albany, Indiana, which started broadcasting in May 1949. The station is still broadcasting today. WHHS, Haverford Senior High School's radio station also started in 1949, located in Havertown, Pennsylvania. As the FM band increased in listenership in the next few decades, the number of HS stations increased with it. By the 1970s, there were over 150 HS stations across the country. In addition to this number, there have always been untold numbers of unlicensed stations using carrier current (popular through the 1970s), extremely low power or "Part 15" stations, and closed circuit broadcasting. Many of the licensed stations are assigned to suburban school districts in a few large metro areas: Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle and to a lesser extent San Francisco and Cleveland. There have historically been very few H.S. stations in the Southeast.
While some HS stations became important training grounds for students who would go on to careers in broadcasting, the perception of HS stations as poorly programmed and supervised helped contribute to the downfall of many stations. After a steady decline in their numbers in the 1980s and '90s, the availability of LPFM licenses has renewed interest in HS radio, at least in rural areas where the LPFM license is most readily available.
Today's HS stations, particularly in rural areas, serve as de facto community radio stations when classes are not in session.
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Difficulties of high school broadcasting
Many HS stations were first licensed in the 1970s on the FM band, just as the band was beginning to fill up and become crowded in many cities. As a result, HS stations tended to be low-powered (under one kilowatt) in most instances.
- The expense involved with maintaining broadcasting equipment.
- Among more powerful HS stations, especially in urban markets, the station's license could become very valuable. This would tend to tempt school administrators to sell the license, usually to a local college, public, or Christian radio broadcaster. Several HS stations have met this fate: KCDC, near Denver, operated sporadically for years before being sold to a public broadcaster. WYCS-FM, near Hampton Roads, Virginia, is now a Christian radio station. Several smaller stations have been transferred to colleges.
- Many of the lowest-powered stations that held "Class D" licenses had no legal protection against higher powered stations applying for their frequency, and thus many were simply forced off the air.
- Instructors or faculty involved with initially establishing the radio station leave or retire and the school is unable to find replacements. A lack of interest then begins to build amongst the students.
- HS stations must air at least 12 hours daily, or they are left open for a third party to apply for a timeshare on the frequency, as in the case of 2004, when Hoosier Public Radio Corp. of Greenfield, Indiana, applied for such against seven HS and college radio stations in Indiana and Kentucky. In March 2005, the FCC ruled against HPR in the case of four of the affected stations, granting the affected stations renewed licenses. The cases in the other three stations are still pending.
- A general perception that radio technology is no longer as exciting to high school students as newer technologies such as the Internet. Many HS stations are now spending more time relaying public radio outlets than producing their own programming.
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John Drury High School Radio Awards
The John Drury Awards are a national competition for high school radio students. The Drury categories include Best Newscast, Best Promotional Announcement, Best Sports Play-by-Play, and Best Public Service Announcement. The awards were formerly held each May annually, but are now presented every November. The awards luncheon and ceremony is hosted by North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, just outside Chicago. The awards began as a small enterprise, but have grown each year with entries from stations in Michigan, Connecticut, Illinois, Tennessee, Iowa, and more. They are named in memory of John Drury, a television news anchorman from Chicago, IL.
The individual record for most awards won was set in 2007 by Wade Fink. Fink won seven awards, and had more points individually than any other station had total.
Points are awarded for each win in one of the ten categories. The station with the most points at the end of the ceremony wins "Station of the Year". The previous Station of the Year award winners are:
- 2005: 88.1 WLTL La Grange, Illinois
- 2006: 88.1 WBFH Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
- 2007: 88.1 WBFH Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
- 2008: 88.1 TIE WBFH Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and 88.1 WLTL La Grange, Illinois
- 2009: 88.1 WLTL La Grange, Illinois
- 2010: 88.1 WLTL La Grange, Illinois
- 2011: 90.3 WWPT Westport, Connecticut
- 2012: 88.1 WLTL La Grange, Illinois
- 2013-2014: 88.1 WBFH Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
- 2015: TIE 88.1 WBFH Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and WLTL La Grange, Illinois
The 2009-2010 award nominations were announced in September 2010. WBFH led the nation with 17 nominations, with Josh Loney leading the individual nomination total with 8. WWPT of Westport, Connecticut had the second most nominations with 9 total. WLTL had 8 and WGBK had 4.
List of radio stations in the United States
"Defunct" refers only to the stations themselves and not necessarily the schools that operated them. The dates listed often refer to the year when the station's license was formally revoked by the FCC, though in most cases the station had ceased broadcasting years before that.
This list only includes stations that were/are licensed by the FCC. No licensed HS stations are known to have existed in Alabama, Hawaii, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
- LA-FM-School Internal Dundee - Lawside Academy, Dundee
- JCC Radio-School Internal Hinckley - John Cleveland College, Hinckley
UK Radio Equipment Suppliers
- Clyde Broadcast - Synergy
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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