WPSA was the student-run radio station at Paul Smith's College in Paul Smiths, New York. The station operated from 1973 to 2011.

History

On February 22, 1972, Paul Smiths applied for a construction permit to build a 10-watt non-commercial educational FM station on 89.1 MHz at the college, which was granted by the Federal Communications Commission on June 27. ^[1] WPSA signed on for the first time on January 12, 1973; ^[2] the station initially operated from the basement of Cooler Dorm, a campus dormitory that was a former meat market. ^[3] By 1980, the station's operations had relocated to the student council room in Rec Hall. ^[4] The early 1980s saw the station almost be shut down because of prior mismanagement, resulting in new managers and the radio club instituting a more professional station environment. ^[5] In 1982, the radio station was described as "the most active club on campus", broadcasting 18 hours a day, seven days a week. ^[6] For 1986, the station moved again to the Buxton Annex; it now only broadcast on weekdays for two hours in the morning and then from 2 p.m. to midnight, plus 14 hours a day on weekends. ^[7]

The station was approved to move to 98.3 MHz in 1991. ^[8] WPSA's license was cancelled and its call letters deleted in 1999 for failure to file a late renewal; the college filed a petition for reconsideration from the FCC, which was granted in 2001. ^[9] The station was later assessed a $7,000 fine, reduced to $250 per its Class D station status, for the failure to file the renewal. ^[10] WPSA ceased broadcasting at the end of the fall 2011 semester and surrendered the license to the FCC for cancellation that December. ^[10] Reasons for the cessation of operations included a lack of interest from students ^[10] and a potential FCC fine for failure to broadcast the minimum number of hours stipulated by its license. ^[11]

References