ON THE AIR

When reduced to a number on a dial, many college radio stations face the challenge of, literally, making their voices heard among Boston's many commercial and public radio stations.

Though many such college stations are competing against the fundraising power of 89.7 FM (WGBH) or the "sheer 3,000-watt power of WBZ AM 1030," four college radio stations in the Boston area have developed innovative ways to gain market share and find a niche among students and community members alike.

Students and staffers running these four stations--Boston College's WZBC 90.3 FM, Boston University's WTBU 89.3 FM, MIT's WMBR 88.1 FM and Harvard's WHRB 95.3 FM--say they strive to differentiate themselves from commercial and public radio stations through their music selections, organization or student appeal.

Also, many students involved with college radio stations say their relatively small size is often more of a help than a hindrance.

The freedom and intimacy of these stations seems to lead to strong character on the air, and a dedicated staff in the station that becomes an integral part of these students' college experience.

WMBR, MIT's radio station, is the oldest punk rock station in Boston, according to Russell Newman, a former general manager of the station who graduated from MIT in 1996.

"Every college radio station worth its salt will tell you 'We're trying to play stuff they're not playing anywhere else,'" Newman says. "I'd say at WMBR we're succeeding at doing that."

The rigorous training process at WMBR, while daunting, ensures that the students who become DJs "are involved and motivated to do something different and unique," Newman says.

"People who have shows are passionate about the music they are playing and don't just want to be on the radio," he adds.

Until this year, relatively few undergraduates participated in the station. The only WMBR positions that must be held by students are those of the general manager and program director, who appoint all other management, according to Newman.

Although both students and community members work as DJs for the radio station, many more are from the community.

"There hasn't been any way to bump up student shows. Community members with seniority have day and prime time shows," Newman says.

This past semester, the proportion of community DJs at WMBR dropped to 70 percent.

The WMBR training process is a full semester long and addresses the technical aspects of broadcasting. This process usually discourages otherwise interested and motivated students, according to Newman.

"This year there were quite a few that stuck it out, they all have shows now. It is quite impressive," Newman said.

There are two steps to becoming a WMBR DJ. Potential DJs must first pass a test on the WMBR constitution and the basics of being on the air.

After the test WMBR compers work with an engineer, or qualified station staff member, over a period of months to learn how the station's equipment works and how to solve problems they may encounter on the air.

At the conclusion of this process, compers are led on-site test around the station and asked questions about practical aspects of running radio programming. The last step is to ensure that they will be competent on the air, according to Newman.

Despite its technical focus, WMBR only has a 720-watt transmitter.

Yet, the station has surmounted the problem by literally getting around the other signals. "We put our antenna on top of the tallest building in Cambridge," he says. "There aren't many stations that can block us."

The programming of WMBR has a more regular structure than some other radio stations. For example, WMBR does not share WHRBs practice of having "orgies"--24-hour stretches of featuring one type of music, or the works of a particular artist.

Rather than being organized into departments, WMBR is organized around the tastes of individual DJs. "You may have a department at WMBR because people get together who have common interests," Newman says. "You can obtain your own show outside of a department, whereas at WHRB, if you want a rock show, you join the rock department."

WMBR is funded primarily through listener contributions, many of which are made during an annual pledge drive. During one week in November listeners can call the station and make pledges.

"There are two things we pride ourselves on: We are very organized and offer a wide diversity of programming," Newman says.

Jay Moschella, a first-year student at Boston College, says his school's station is completely student-run. Each out-going Board of Directors, composed entirely of undergraduates, elects the in-coming Board and General Manager.

"We have to balance running the station as professionally as possible with being full-time students," says Moschella, a WZBC board member.

Earlier this year, WZBC realized that its $60,000 per year grant from Boston College would not cover its full costs.

"We need a lot of new equipment," Moschella says. "We also wanted to get on the Internet with real audio, basically broadcasting over the Internet, and that would cost us a lot more."

To fund these improvements, WZBC organized a large-scale, public radio style on-the-air fundraiser in the first week of March.

The students solicited premiums from a number of record companies to entice generous donors. One of their largest and most popular gifts, offered for $90.30, was two hours of air time with the DJ of the donor's choice.

The fundraiser also gave the WZBC management a chance to gauge the composition of their listening base, Moschella says.

"During our fundraiser a lot of the larger and more enthusiastic donations came from community members," he says. "Our station is not very popular on campus but is very popular in the community, which really likes the non-commercial music we play."

Moschella, who is a resident of Newton, says he grew up listening to WZBC.

The station plays independent rock which, according to Moschella, is distinctly different from commercial alternative music.

The station maintains this programming 24 hours a day, leading to its "fanatical base of listeners," Moschella says.

The station features a number of shows such as "No Commercial Potential" (NCP) which airs from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.

"The music is electronic, experimental and avant-garde. Songs can be over 15 minutes long," Moschella says. "This is one of the only places where you can hear this stuff."

WZBC, whose 1,000-watt transmitter reaches the entire metropolitan Boston area has an "extreme majority" of community DJs, according to Moschella.

Nonetheless, students receive priority over community DJs in the allotment of shows and air time.

Although it does not make the Boston commercial ratings, WZBC has reason to believe the popularity of its music is increasing.

At a show co-sponsored by WZBC and The Middle East club last year, seven WZBC bands played downstairs, while an NCP show rocked the upstairs. The show was completely sold out.

WTBU, 89.3 FM, the station of Boston University (BU) differs from the other stations primarily because it is not licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The station broadcasts its programming through Boston University's buildings and dormitories and caters mainly to students.

"We are required to have more loyalty to the student body because they are the ones who are listening," says Jason Raymond, WTBU general manager and a second-year student in the College of Engineering. "That is what makes us unique."

WTBU offers greater diversity in programming than many commercial stations and has recently started experimenting with specialty broadcasting, Raymond says.

"We get a lot of callins, especially for 'News Angle,'" Raymond says. WBTU started "News Angle" just this year. The program provides a forum for the discussion of hot national and campus news issues, according to Raymond.

"The news and sports departments have a lot to offer in terms of educational value," he says. "Students write the news updates and cover remote sports events."

WTBU's educational mission is backed by the BU College of Communication, which funds the station, according to Raymond.

WTBU's staff, composed entirely of students, works with a number of campus student groups to program events, co-sponsor performances and serve as a forum for debate during student elections.

"Our goal is to communicate with student groups and give them an outlet to reach the student body," Raymond says.

In contrast to WTBU, Harvard's WHRB 95.3 FM has a mission and structure that largely target the greater Boston community.

"What distinguishes WHRB from other college radio stations is that we receive no financial support from the college," says James S. Twiss '98, WHRB vice-president.

Instead, businesses in the Boston area purchase ad time on WHRB. Advertisements sold to arts organizations bring in a large portion of revenue, according to Twiss.

"What makes us unique is that we are college students and we're competing against some of the most successful radio stations in the country," said Nitin Nayar '98, president of WHRB.

The station plays jazz in the mornings, classical in the afternoons and rock all night.

"We have some of the most sophisticated classical programming in the Boston area," Twiss says.

The station competes with other commercial Boston stations which play the same type of music, and many of which have professional DJs and large advertising budgets.

"We have to distinguish ourself from them, which means we can be more daring in our programming than those stations can be," Twiss says.

WHRB builds its listener base by devoting large blocks of the day to the same types of music. This consistency, which WHRB has maintained for decades, has made the station commercially viable, Twiss says.

"There aren't enough Harvard students to support a commercial radio station, so we can't pitch ourselves exclusively to Harvard students," he says. "Instead we have to compete in the Boston commercial radio market."

However, WHRB does have several unique features. For example, during Reading and Exam Periods, WHRB maintains "orgies," during which, according to Twiss, the "listenership peaks."

Starting tonight and through the end of this week, WHRB will be playing Schubert continuously. The play list will include "everything he ever wrote" which, according to Twiss, includes many pieces listeners will "never hear on any other station in the world."