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{{Short description|Listener-supported, independent community radio station in Jersey City, New Jersey}}
{{Advert|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox radio station
| logo = WFMU logo.png
| logo_size = 220px
| name = WFMU
| airdate = 1958
| frequency = {{Frequency|91.1|[[Hertz|MHz]]}}
| city = [[East Orange, New Jersey]]
| country = US
| area = [[New York metropolitan area]]
| format = [[Freeform radio]]
| owner = Auricle Communications
| erp = 1,250 [[watt]]s
| haat = {{convert|151|m|sp=us}}
| branding =
| class = A
| facility_id = 3249
| webcast = [http://www.wfmu.org/ssaudionet.shtml Listen Live]
| website = {{Official URL|https://wfmu.org}}
| callsign_meaning = '''W''' '''FM''' '''U'''psala College <br> (former owner)
| repeater = {{Radio Relay|90.1|[[WMFU]]|[[Mount Hope, New York|Mount Hope]]}}
| translator = {{Radio Relay|91.9|W220EJ|[[Weehawken, New Jersey|Weehawken]]}}
| coordinates = {{coord|40|47|19.00|N| 74|15|20.00|W|region:US_type:city}}
}}
'''WFMU''' is a listener-supported, [[independent radio|independent]] [[community radio]] station
==Philosophy and influence==
WFMU does not belong to any existing [[public broadcasting]] network, and nearly 100% of its programming originates at the radio station.
WFMU has a stated commitment to unstructured-format broadcasting. All programming is created by each individual air personality, and is not restricted by any type of station-wide [[playlist]] or [[Rotation (music)|rotation]] schedule. Experimentation, spontaneity and humor are among the station's most frequently noted distinguishing traits. Unlike most [[commercial broadcasting]] and [[non-commercial educational]] radio stations, WFMU does not offer regularly scheduled news, weather, traffic, sports, or financial information.
"WFMU is a place where [[the Singing Dogs]] are just as important as [[Elvis Presley|Elvis]]; a place where you will, in fact, hear Elvis, but in close proximity to ritual disinterment music from [[Sumatra]], the soundtrack from ''[[Mothra (film)|Mothra]]'', a [[theremin]] band called the Lothars, and the intergalactic jazz improvisations of the [[Sun Ra]] Arkestra," wrote Jaime Wolf in a 1999 ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' station profile.<ref>[https://www.wfmu.org/times/ Wolf, Jaime, "No Hits, All the Time"], ''The New York Times'', April 11, 1999</ref>
WFMU was named "Best Radio Station in the Country" by ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine for four consecutive years: 1991 to 1994.<ref name="rolling stone ranking">''[https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/13/nyregion/new-jersey-daily-briefing-wfmu-in-fund-raising-drive.html WFMU in Fund-Raising Drive].'', Pristin, Terry. The New York Times. March 13, 1996.</ref> and has also been dubbed the best radio station in either NYC or the US by ''[[The Village Voice]]'',<ref>[http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2013/03/12/wfmu-land-of-the-freeform-radio/ WFMU: Land of the Freeform Radio | The Jersey City Independent<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ''[[New York Press]]'', and ''[[College Media Journal|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=27047246 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-03-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303102756/http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=27047246 |archive-date=2007-03-03 }}</ref>
==Notable history==
In April 1958, WFMU commenced broadcasting as a radio station licensed to [[Upsala College]] in [[East Orange, New Jersey]]. Initially a student-staffed and faculty-administered [[Campus radio|college radio]] operation, by the 1980s most of the station's staff had no affiliation with the college, and the station's management, though hired by the college, had little involvement with the academic community.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}
In December 1983, [[Ken Freedman]] joined WFMU as a DJ and succeeded Bruce Longstreet as general manager in August 1985.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}
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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}
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]]''.<ref>[http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/04/from_the_wfmu_a_1.html "Daniel Johnston and Yo La Tengo Collaborate on The Music Faucet, February 4, 1990"], From the WFMU Archives, Beware of the Blog (April 05, 2006)</ref>
In late 1991, the late [[Jeff Buckley]] made his radio debut on WFMU and returned numerous times before signing with [[Columbia Records]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jeffbuckley.com/rfuller/buckley/tourography/kfaktourog1.html |title=Kingdom for a Kiss - the Jeff Buckley Tourography: 1991 - 1993 |access-date=2008-06-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509055450/http://www.jeffbuckley.com/rfuller/buckley/tourography/kfaktourog1.html |archive-date=2008-05-09 }}</ref>
In 1992, the non-profit organization Auricle Communications was founded, which purchased WFMU's license from Upsala in 1994 one year prior to the college's bankruptcy in 1995.<ref name="Wolf2">{{cite web | url = http://www.wfmu.org/times/ | title = No Hits All the Time| author = Wolf, Jaime| work = [[The New York Times]] | date = April 11, 1999 | accessdate = June 10, 2008 }}</ref>
In 1993 the station launched its website, and in 1997 it began streaming its broadcasts full-time.<ref name="Applebome">{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/nyregion/24towns.html | title = Looking for Music, but Not 'Celebration,' to Remember Castro? Put the Radio On | author = Applebome, Peter |author-link=Peter Applebome| work = [[The New York Times]] | date = February 24, 2008 | accessdate = June 10, 2008 }}</ref>
In 1995, shortly before Upsala's [[bankruptcy]] filing and closure on May 31, 1995, a group of station executives, personnel, and supporters formed Auricle Communications. It became a fully [[independent radio]] station when Auricle bought the license from the college.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}
In August 1998, listener donations funded a new studio and office in Jersey City.<ref>{{Cite web|title=WFMU|url=https://americanarchive.org/participating-orgs/4857|access-date=2021-07-25|website=americanarchive.org}}</ref>
In May 2001, WFMU received worldwide attention when national and international media outlets covered DJ Glen Jones's successful attempt to break the [[Guinness World Record]] for longest consecutive radio broadcast, staying on the air a full 100 hours, 42 seconds.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}
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.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}
In January 2006, WFMU announced the availability of the station's live stream and archives to cellular phones and other [[mobile device]]s running the [[operating system]]s [[Windows Mobile]] ([[Pocket PC]]) and [[Palm OS]].{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}
In November 2007, WFMU became the first radio station in the world to offer live streaming to the Apple [[iPhone]].<ref>[http://www.boingboing.net/2007/11/05/wfmu-streaming-radio.html WFMU streaming radio on iPhone], Boing Boing, 11/5/07</ref>
From 2014 to 2015, a [[documentary]] on WFMU, ''Sex and Broadcasting: A Film About WFMU'', screened at American film festivals and independent cinemas nationwide.<ref>[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/timksmith/freeform-or-death-a-documentary-about-wfmu FREEFORM OR DEATH, a documentary about WFMU by Tim K Smith — Kickstarter<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==See also==
* [[List of community radio stations in the United States]]
* [[List of WFMU hosts]]
* [[WMFU]] – 90.1 FM, licensed to [[Mount Hope, New York]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Official website|https://wfmu.org}}
{{FM station data|WFMU}}
*{{FMQ|W220EJ}}
*{{FXL|W220EJ}}
*[https://americanarchive.org/participating-orgs/4857 WFMU in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting]
{{New York Radio}}
{{Other Radio Stations in New Jersey}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wfmu}}
[[Category:Radio stations in New Jersey|FMU]]
[[Category:Freeform radio stations]]
[[Category:Culture of Jersey City, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Mass media in Hudson County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Community radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1958]]
[[Category:Upsala College]]
[[Category:1958 establishments in New Jersey]]
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