Madison’s independent student-run radio station, WSUM, announced Monday it will offer non-stop live programming for the Spring 2008 semester.

WSUM’s new program schedule will be live on-air 24 hours a day, every day of the week and will offer 140 shows. UW-Madison students and community members will host a majority of the shows, according to station manager Dave Black.

“It’s always been the plan to go live,” Black said. “It’s just been a matter of having enough people who are dedicated enough to be here when we need them to be here.”

The station offers students and Madison residents 168 hours of programming a week, 28 hours of which are new additions to the schedule as of the spring semester, according to Black.

WSUM DJ and traffic director Kate Chanba said the station has attracted a lot of interested students since going live.
“There’s a lot of people doing shows early in the morning and a lot of new people come in, new trainees for the semester that are eager about doing early morning shows,” Chanba said.

Black said the station provides something for everyone, offering a wide variety of music programming in addition to news broadcasts and sports talk shows.

“It’s the first semester we’ve been able to say “WSUM 24/7,” Black said, adding the station’s six year anniversary will be celebrated Feb. 22.