City Bloomington, Illinois Slogan Top 40 with a twist | Branding WZND Fuzed Radio Frequency 103.3 MHz | |
Broadcast area Bloomington-Normal, Illinois First air date 1965 (1965) (WILN)
1981-03-28 (1981-03-28) (WZND)
2004-09-21 (2004-09-21) (WEWT-LP)
2011-09-27 (2011-09-27) (WZND-LP) | ||
WZND-LP (103.3 MHz FM) is an Low Power FM radio station licensed to Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, United States. The station is staffed by students of Illinois State University and airs music from genres including rock, hip-hop, classic, pop, and country.
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ISU student radio
Student broadcasting at Illinois State University began in 1935 in a partnership with McLean County radio station WJBC. WILN, a campus radio station, was started in 1965 with the assistance of Ruth Yates and broadcast to the dorms.
On 18 March 1981, WILN changed its name to WZND and began broadcasting via carrier current on 106.1 FM and 540 AM. At first branded "The Sound" and later in 1983 "Cable’s Hot Music FM, The New WZND", the station reached five thousand to ten thousand people. WZND broadcast progressive rock, new wave sound, and soul soul and aired local soul, jazz, and spot band music. In 2001 WZND rebranded to Z106 and broadcast alternative and hip hop music. On 4 April 2007, WZND switched formats to include 90s music in addition to alternative rock. In January 2010, WZND changed to a college shuffle format, playing a wide variety of genres. The station was rebranded "WZND Fuzed Radio".
WZND has had several locations on campus. Its original location was in Cook Hall in 1981, but moved to Old Union (then called the Media Services Building) in 1985. In the spring of 1994, WZND relocated to its current location in the basement of Fell Hall.
103.3
103.3 began broadcasting on September 21, 2004, as WEWT-LP, "Truth 103", airing a Christian contemporary music format. The station shut down on 16 September 2011 for financial reasons.
On 27 September 2011, the Illinois State University Foundation acquired the 103.3 FM frequency, allowing WZND to broadcast outside the Illinois State campus for the first time in its history.
In 2013 WZND was featured nationally on mtvU