City Ithaca, New York Frequency 91.7 MHz Format Alternative | Broadcast area Ithaca area First air date January 14, 1947 | |
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Slogan "The Station For Innovation" | ||
WICB (91.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to serve Ithaca, New York, USA. Established in 1947, the station is owned by Ithaca College.
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WICB broadcasts an alternative music format to the greater Ithaca area. Along with alternative music, the student-run radio station reserves programming for several different formats—including jazz, reggae, urban/hip-hop, sports, news, and more. The station features news programming from Westwood One.
The radio station broadcasts locally at 91.7FM, as well as online streaming at wicb.org, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and their own WICB app.
History
92 WICB began in 1947 with 10 watts of power, and operated from a Quonset hut in downtown Ithaca at the corner of Court and Cayuga Streets. It moved to the basement of Dillingham Center in 1968, then to the Roy H. Park School of Communications in 1989.
92 WICB is an affiliate of both Westwood One and the Associated Press, and has active news and sports departments, which cover such events as Ithaca College football, soccer, baseball, and lacrosse.
The radio station is Ithaca College's only FCC-licensed broadcast facility, and is in operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The Radio Station currently operates with 4,100 watts of effective radiated power that is able to reach much of Tompkins County and beyond. The signal is capable of reaching nearly 250,000 listeners from parts of Northern Pennsylvania up to Lake Ontario. The recent addition of a live streaming webcast has expanded potential listener-ship even more.
The station has a long-standing annual tradition of playing the radio station of Ithaca College's rival, SUNY Cortland, in a football game called the "Cortaca Mic". The game takes place in Cortland the evening before the annual Cortaca Jug game.
WICB is run almost entirely by a staff of student DJs and executives. Aside from a technical and upper management support staff, all programming, talent coordination and promotions decisions are left up to a rotating executive board of students.
Awards and honors
WICB is most widely recognized as being ranked the #1 college radio station out of 364 colleges by the Princeton Review in 2010, 2014, and most recently in 2016.
In 2016, readers of the Ithaca Journal voted WICB as "Best Local Radio Station" In 2005 and 2010, readers of the Ithaca Times voted 92 WICB "Best Radio Station." In 2008, WICB won an mtvU Woodie Award for Best College Radio Station.
WICB is an active member of College Broadcasters, Inc (CBI) and consistently places in the finals for the annual National Student Media Electronic Convention hosted by CBI. In October 2015, WICB was a finalist for Best Audio News Reporting and Best Audio Sports Reporting, and the winner of Best Audio Special Broadcast. In 2016, the station's Jazz Impressions show was a CBI finalist for "Best Station Promo", and their sister-station VICradio.org received the award of "Best Special Broadcast" for the annual 50 Hour Marathon.
Programming
The majority of WICB's programming falls under the modern rock category. While broadcasting modern rock, the station is run similarly to a commercial modern rock station, with the inclusion of playlists planned by the programming and music departments that include leeway for listener requests and DJ choices. WICB Music Schedule
Other major programming categories include City Rhythms, Jazz Impressions and a number of specialty shows. City Rhythms includes hip-hop, R&B, and other music considered to be Urban. Jazz Impressions runs during the lunch time every week day and showcases both classic and modern Jazz artists. Specialty shows are run by both student DJs and community members. Many of the shows have developed loyal listener bases from being on the air for a number of years. Shows come from genres like the popularly syndicated Acoustic Café, blues, Broadway, reggae, and "homeless music" not normally heard on public airwaves.
Outside of mainstream music, WICB also provides an outlet for local bands. There is both a specialty show specifically for local music as well as segments throughout the day where local music is scheduled to be played. Very often bands will be brought in to perform live during "Homebrew" in addition to playing recordings from local groups.
Aside from music, WICB has expanded both sports and talk radio segments in recent years. Both the News and Sports departments at WICB are directed by student executives, with students providing live broadcasts during the morning and late afternoon. The WICB Sports department is responsible for broadcasting at nearly all major sporting events involving the Ithaca College Bombers, and live sportscasts 5 days a week. The WICB News department is responsible for live newscasts 5 days a week, as well as producing the weekly news show Ithaca Now.