WVWP (1947-1958) - WKNC 88.1 FM - North Carolina State University Student Radio

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“The studio is bustling with activity. People were running around setting up microphones and arranging cords. Inside the control room, engineering were dialing knobs and colored lights were flashing on and off. Confusion? No, of course not. This is not confusion. These are the studios of radio station WVWP on the third floor of the 1911 building. These studios make State radioactive.”
1956 Agromeck

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WVWP featured in 1948 Agromeck.
Ballot in the May 21, 1948 Technician asking for a $1 student fee increase to fund WVWP and the College Handbook.
Program schedule from the Oct. 4, 1951 Technician.
Student in control room, circa 1952. Photo from University Archives.
WVWP transmitter, as pictured in the 1953 Agromeck.
Program schedule published in the Dec. 2, 1954 Technician.
The Drama Workshop's "Exploring the Unknown" featured biweekly presentations by WVWP staff, including Chuck Turner, Lydia Fish, Hank Hamilton, Ray McCray, Russell Lyday and Dick Downs. Photo from 1958 Agromeck.

The next changed occurred in 1947 as WNCS became WVWP 580 AM, “VOICE of the WOLFPACK,” after the FCC notified the station the call letters WNCS were already in use. By this time the station was broadcasting Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. and could be heard in all campus dormitories. Also in 1947, WVWP made its first attempt at out-of-town sports coverage with a broadcast of the State v. Davidson football game.¹² By 1948, WVWP carried all home Wolfpack basketball games from Frank Thompson Gymnasium.¹³ The WVWP studio also moved from Owen Hall to join the rest of the student publications in the 1911 Building. The 1948 Agromeck yearbook praised the station: “In its first year of full time operation, the Campus Radio Station, WVWP, continued to bring the students programs that were unavailable in other places. Highlights were the broadcasts of football and basketball games not heard in Raleigh.”¹⁴

Reception across campus improved in late 1948 when the station’s transmitter was moved from the 1911 Building to Syme Hall.¹⁵ The station expanded again in fall 1951, simulcasting its signal on 560 AM and 580 AM. During the 1951-1952 school year the station was programming 52 hours a week, including lunch and dinner music broadcast in the school cafeterias.¹⁶ The station’s 560 AM signal was shut down by the FCC on April 31, 1952 for over-radiation of its signal.¹⁷ The station did not go off the air, as it still broadcast at 580 AM.

^{12. “State-Davidson game to be aired by campus radio station.” (1947, Oct. 3). Technician.}
^{13. “WVWP broadcasts basketball games.” (1948, Jan. 9). Technician.}
^{14. Agromeck yearbook (1948).}
^{15. Whitford, Pat. (1948, Oct. 15). “WVWP reception better after summer work.” Technician.}
^{16. “WVWP back on air.” (1951, Oct. 5). Technician.}
^{17. “FCC silences WVWP.” (1952, May 2). Technician.}