50 years on FM for WRCT

EDITOR’S NOTE: A few corrections have been made to this article since it was published. Details below.

Anyone who says young people don’t listen to the radio haven’t met the students at Carnegie-Mellon University’s WRCT (88.3). In an era where most colleges have sold or turned in their broadcast licenses in favor of online-only broadcasts, WRCT is going strong among students and community members alike – your editor included. On March 1, the station will celebrate 50 years on FM.

But March 1, 1974 was not the beginning of WRCT. By the way, RCT stands for “Radio Carnegie Tech” as the school was named when the station was founded in 1949 by engineering students and professors who were interested in broadcasting.. Back then it was only a carrier current which made it to a few rooms and offices for a few hours each day. But by the 1950s it was making it to about half of the campus over 900 AM.

When WRCT was granted the CP and eventually the license to cover in 1974 via 88.3, they had 10 watts of power. With less power than a lightbulb the signal was able to reach all points of the Oakland Campus and in the mid-1980s the station had 100 watts and was able to cover much of the city and “neighbors at the top of hills”.

But it was in 1988 when the station began a difficult fight to maximize the station’s power. The student-run station spent five years in legal debate with nearby stations – namely a low power FM operated by the He’s Alive Network who were trying to get WRWJ (88.1 Murrysville; today WKGO owned by Broadcast Educational Communications, Inc.) on the air after their construction permit was granted in 1992. As such, by the time WRCT received their approval for its current power in 1994, the station had to agree to a directional FM signal with 1750 watts to the North, South and West and 680 watts to the East. Still a little bit spotty in the valleys around Allegheny County, the station does have a pretty far reach about 15 miles from its transmitter atop Warner Hall where Morewood meets Forbes Avenue in Oakland.

WRCT had been in Skibo Hall until the present day University Center was built in the early 1990s. The station now hides in a small corner of that building’s basement with no windows to see outside. It boasts a library with hundreds if not thousands of vinyl and CD recordings from just about any genre and category you can imagine. The station is equiped with a full air studio, production studio, and performance studio. Programs range from music of all types to area public affairs. Programs from the Pacifica Radio Network are also a part of the station’s lineup.

The biggest programming boost for WRCT likely came in late-2003 when Larry Berger chose the station to be the flagship for his “Saturday Light Brigade”. The program became a favorite after *25 years on WYEP (91.3) before Berger and his crew **made the decision to switch over to WRCT. The program now originates from the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum at the old Buhl Planetarium building on the city’s North Side with a network of similar radio stations and a few webstreams. WRCT also has a partnership with McKeesport’s Tube City Online Radio (WMcK.fm) for at least two programs originating from the outlet’s Daily News building studios. When the pandemic hit in 2020, WRCT enabled show hosts to be able to do their programs safely from remote locations – an option which continues today.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of WRCT’s home on the dial at 88.3 FM, Anthony Cacciato will host an hour-long special beginning at 2:00 p.m. on March 1. The program will feature interviews with station members old and new.

*Originally stated that Saturday Light Brigade was at WYEP for 15 years. (Bad math on editor’s part!)
** Originally stated WYEP cancelled SLB. (Bad memory on editor’s part! Hey… it’s been – counting just to be sure – almost 21 years I’m bound to forget SOME details!)