WIUX might switch to another frequency on FM dial

IU’s student-run radio station WIUX-LP may be able to remain on the FM frequency after all.\nWIUX Station Manager Zach Pollakoff said it is unknown where the station will end up on the dial, but it will be different from the current 100.3 FM station they currently have.\nIn the fall the Federal Communications Commission notified WIUX that the country station WYGB, which broadcasts out of Columbus, Ind., and also occupies the 100.3 frequency, decided to double its broadcast range, overriding the broadcast power of WIUX. IU’s station operates from a low-power signal, making the station secondary on the 100.3 frequency and by FCC law, was legally required to be “kicked off” from the frequency it shared with nearby WYGB, Pollakoff said.\nSenators Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Rep. Baron Hill, D-9th, recently sent a letter to the FCC’s chairman for consideration that WIUX be kept on the air, according to a news release.\nPollakoff said WIUX recently struck an agreement with Commonwealth Broadcasting in northern Kentucky, which plans to help WIUX find a new frequency.\n“The letter (from Bayh, Lugar and Hill) is assisting us in receiving the other frequency,” Pollakoff said. \nFor 40 years, WIUX had been working to raise money to gain an FM signal, Pollakoff said.\nAfter the FCC granted WIUX a license in 2005, they finally went to an FM signal on Jan. 30, 2006, for the 100.3 station.\nPollakoff said that with the help of congressmen’s statement, WIUX has been able to stay on the 100.3 frequency for the last few months.\n“It is in some ways a small victory, but the decision is still pending,” Pollakoff said.\nPollakoff affirms that broadcasts will continue, and the station will never give up their 24 hour broadcasting over the Internet at www.wiux.org. \n“We appreciate the words from Bayh, Lugar and Hill,” Pollakoff said. “I personally appreciate their support of the station and we feel supported by the University. It’s a real great feeling to have.”