| WFMU | |
| City: | East Orange, New Jersey |
| Logo Upright: | .8 |
| Area: | New York metropolitan area |
| Format: | Free-form radio |
| Owner: | Auricle Communications |
| Callsign Meaning: | FM Upsala College (former owner) |
| Licensing Authority: | FCC |
| Facility Id: | 3249 |
| Class: | A |
| Erp: | 1,250 watts |
| Haat: | 151m (495feet) |
| Coordinates: | 40.7886°N -74.2556°W |
WFMU (91.1 MHz) is a non-commercial, listener-supported, independent community radio station licensed to East Orange, New Jersey, with studios in Jersey City. It is owned by Auricle Communications, broadcasting a free-form radio format. The station holds periodic on-air fundraisers and seeks donation on its website.
WFMU is a Class A station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 1,250 watts. The transmitter is on Prospect Avenue and Mount Pleasant Avenue in West Orange.[1] Programming is also heard on 10-watt FM translator W220EJ at 91.9 FM in Weehawken.[2] The Lower Catskills, parts of Northern New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania can hear simulcast sister station WMFU at 90.1 MHz, licensed to Mount Hope, New York, with its tower in Otisville.Radio-Locator.com/WMFU That station also has a 10-watt translator at 91.9 MHz in New City, New York, serving Rockland County.Radio-Locator.com/W220EG
WFMU does not belong to any public broadcasting network. Most programming is done in-house by volunteer DJs. Its website says that "experimentation, spontaneity and humor are among the station's most frequently noted distinguishing traits."
"WFMU is a place where the Singing Dogs are just as important as Elvis; a place where you will, in fact, hear Elvis, but in close proximity to ritual disinterment music from Sumatra, the soundtrack from Mothra, a theremin band called Lothar and the Hand People, and the intergalactic jazz improvisations of Sun Ra's Arkestra," wrote Jaime Wolf in a 1999 New York Times station profile.[3]
WFMU was named "Best Radio Station in the Country" by Rolling Stone magazine for four consecutive years: 1991 to 1994.[4] And has also been dubbed the best radio station in either NYC or the US by The Village Voice,[5] New York Press, and CMJ, among others. The station also won three awards ("Best Specialty Programming", "Most Eclectic Programming", and "Music Director Most Likely to Never Sell Out") at the 2006 CMJ College Radio Awards.[6]
WFMU signed on the air in April 1958. WFMU was owned by Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey, a small, independent college in the suburbs of New York City. Initially it was a student-staffed and faculty-administered college radio operation. But as time went on, the station only had a loose association with the college. By the 1980s most of the station's staff were not students and the station's management, though hired by the college, had little involvement with the academic community.
In December 1983, Ken Freedman joined WFMU as a DJ and succeeded Bruce Longstreet as general manager in August 1985.
In 1989, WFMU successfully fended off a challenge to the station's license from four rival broadcasters, who claimed that WFMU was broadcasting above its legal power limit.
A 1990 telephone performance on WFMU by Daniel Johnston was the primary inspiration for filmmaker Jeff Feuerzeig to create the documentary film, The Devil and Daniel Johnston.[7]
In late 1991, Jeff Buckley made his radio debut on WFMU and returned numerous times before signing with Columbia Records.[8]
In 1992, the non-profit organization Auricle Communications was founded. Auricle purchased WFMU's license from Upsala College in 1994, one year prior to the college's bankruptcy in 1995.[3]
In 1993, the station launched its website, and in 1997 it began streaming its broadcasts full-time.[9]
In August 1998, listener donations funded a new studio and office in Jersey City.[10]
In May 2001, WFMU received worldwide attention when both national and international media outlets covered DJ Glen Jones's successful attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest consecutive radio broadcast. Jones stayed on the air a full 100 hours and 42 seconds.[11]
In 2005, WFMU expanded its online broadcasting efforts by offering 15 hours a week of Internet-only live programming, as well as an independent 24-hour-a-day webcast of Nachum Segal's Jewish Moments in the Morning program.
In January 2006, WFMU announced the availability of the station's live stream and archives to mobile devices running the operating systems Windows Mobile (Pocket PC) and Palm OS.
In November 2007, WFMU became the first radio station in the world to offer live streaming to the Apple iPhone.[12]
From 2014 to 2015, a documentary on WFMU, Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU, screened at American film festivals and independent cinemas nationwide.[13]