WONY Marks 50 Years On the Air

Dinner-plate-sized LPs have been replaced by invisible digital files, “new music” has evolved from British rock to punk to grunge to hip-hop, and the old “Keep it to the left” catchphrase has become obsolete, as online playlists and streaming audio have supplanted radio dials, and, indeed, radios themselves.

Yet, as much as the music, the mechanics and the media have changed, the spirit that got SUNY Oneonta’s student-run radio station on the air 50 years ago has never wavered, and the essence of WONY— freeform programming provided for the students, by the students — endures. From its first broadcast in January 1962, through flooding, budget problems, an arduous FCC licensing process and a broken antenna, the students of WONY have done whatever it took to keep the tunes coming.

WONY began in 1962 with six members playing top-40 songs from their own records for a few hours a day on a closed-circuit AM frequency accessible in the four dorms on campus through small basement transmitters. In 1975, after five years of planning, WONY began broadcasting on the FM airwaves at 90.9, its current frequency, and two years later, the station went stereo.

Today, WONY has 55 DJS playing music in two-hour slots, with automation from 2 to 6 a.m. Pre-recorded station IDs and five-minute campus news segments air at the top of the hour, and a weekly variety show, PolyTalk, features news, entertainment and special guests. Downloadable playlists for each show are posted at wonyfm.com, and the station’s web stream attracts about 300 to 500 listeners a week. In addition to supplying music around the clock, WONY members DJ campus events, hold open-mic nights and take part in service activities, such as a CD sale to benefit the United Way.

“We have this great balance between having fun and being as professional as possible,” said General Manager Cooper Nelson. “It’s the one thing that I’m going to remember out of college — besides all the stuff that I’ve learned and the skills I’ve obtained. When I look back on the fond moments, WONY is what I’ll remember.”