Wikipedia
WJSC-FM (90.7 FM) is a College formatted radio station licensed to serve Johnson, Vermont. The station is owned by Johnson State College and licensed to the Board of Trustees, Vermont State Colleges. WJSC-FM, the voice of the mountains, began its operation in the fall of 1968. Broadcasting as an unlicensed station with the call sign WLUV (which also belonged to a legitimately licensed station) on the AM band at 640 kHz with only 5 watts of power, it could be heard in the farthest reaches of Arthur and Martinetti residence Halls – and nowhere else! WJSC first broadcast from a cramped music practice room in Governors Hall, but in early 1970 was asked to move. The station was moved to Stearns Hall, in what is now known as Stearns Stage Space.
During the 1971 calendar year the station staff developed plans to seek licensing from the FCC for operation as a non-commercial, educational station broadscasting with 10 watts.
WJSC-FM launched on July 16, 1972. In the fall of that year, the station was moved into spacious and well-equipped studios in the basement of Senator’s Hall. During the 1971-72 academic year, the licensing process was completed and the station received a license to broadcast at 90.1 mHz with 10 watts of power under the call sign WJSC-FM. Now the entire campus could hear the station and WJSC began to make a mark on campus. The originally assigned frequency had also been assigned to the UVM campus radio station which, at the time, was not an issue provided both stations broadcast with 10 watts of power. A few years later in the early 1980s, the FCC began to phase out 10-watt non-commercial stations. WJSC had proven itself vital to the college and was awarded monies to upgrade from 10 watts to 100 watts. At some point in time, either at the request of the UVM station or WJSC-FM for an increase power, a change in frequency assignment was required and the current frequency of 90.7 mHz was assigned.
WJSC remained in the studios in Senators Hall for about twenty-six years until, in 1997 it moved into the renovated Dewey Campus Center, where it continued to grow as a viable campus and community media outlet. With the move came the shift into the digital age with the introduction of computers, automation (to broadcast on-air 24/7 even when a live DJ isn’t available) and high-end audio editing software for sound production.
In May 2008, WJSC was uprooted once again. Cramming into the hot and window-less transmitter room in the attic of Dibden, WJSC went on auto-pilot for 8 months while construction took place on the Stearns Student Center. The result was well worth the wait as the station received much recognition from the administration and was given the “best spot in the building” to house our new studio, as well as a full technological makeover; bringing WJSC on-par with commercial radio stations of the 21st century.
What started as a humble experimental station in 1968 is now one of the most recognized and respected clubs on campus, streaming their product all over the world to listeners just out of broadcast range to friends and family in Louisiana, California, Canada, England, Germany and beyond! WJSC continues to prove itself vital to the on-campus life here at JSC. It airs a Community radio format.
The station has been assigned these call letters by the Federal Communications Commission since December 2, 1980.