WPUM History
Prior to 1977, the station's call letters were WOWI and was "carrier-current," meaning that the signal was carried in the current of the campus electrical system. The station was located in a building that was between Dwenger Hall and the current Computer Center. Now, it is a parking lot.
In 1977, the station became licensed by the FCC and received its new frequency and call letters: 90.5 FM WPUM, operating at 10 watts. The broadcast signal could be heard about 2-4 miles from campus. In 1982, WPUM moved its studios from Dwenger Hall to the basement of the Chapel. In 1996, it moved to its current location between the Post Office and Computer Center.
WPUM has seen changes in media formats, music formats, and slogans. Students played music on vinyl records (45s and 33s), carts (similar to 8-track tapes), CDs, and now the computer. The music format also varied throughout the years - from Top 40, College Alternative, Rock, Alternative Rock/Classic Rock, to a Mix. Slogans went from the basic "90.5 WPUM" to "90.5 Puma Rock" to "90.5 We Play It All."
In November 2008, WPUM changed its frequency to 93.3 FM and increased its power to 90 watts. The broadcast signal can now be heard 20-30 miles from campus. The slogan also changed to "The Joe. Joe Plays...Whatever!" Our daily music format is currently a mix of music from the 1950s to today's hits. WPUM schedules its music using the Selector scheduling program by RCS. DJs operate a "living log" on the computer system called Master Control by RCS which plays all music from the hard drive.
