When tuning into WSUM 91.7 FM, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s student-run radio station, listeners get transported into a musical ecosystem. With over 200 members and dozens of unique shows, the best college radio station in the nation reaches the greater Madison area, introducing their audiences to alternative sources of music, UW-Madison sports and news coverage.
The station recently received four awards, including Best Sports Play-by-Play, Best News Interview, Best Mobile App and Best College/University Station (More Than 10,000 Students) at the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Media Awards in New York City on Feb 21.
WSUM began broadcasting from Vilas Hall on Feb. 22, 2002 before calling the Student Activity Center home in 2009. WSUM hosts unique shows such as their weekly Snake Sessions, inviting local Madison bands to play live at the station, and its annual Snake on the Lake music festival. Last semester, WSUM hosted more than 10 local Madison groups in their conference room.
WSUM has three missions: to act in a service and outreach capacity for UW-Madison students and the Dane County community, provide valuable hands-on experience for students and provide an alternative source of information and entertainment to their listeners.
Student leadership says the success of the station can be attributed to the strong community they’ve built.
Sssupportive community
Because WSUM is entirely student-run, members say the community in the radio station is encouraging and thrives on peer-on-peer connection. Whether DJs just come in to do their show and leave or sit down on the couch laughing with their peers, the radio station welcomes all.
Hesprich first joined WSUM freshman year in search of a community after he felt “pretty late” on finding friends. His mom suggested he join a church, but when he found WSUM, he knew he was in the right environment.
“I’ve met all my close friends and even though the people who used to be at the station when I was a freshman have graduated. It’s almost like Theseus’ ship is here — in the sense that the soul in the community has remained that as people are gone, there’s awesome people right there that take their place,” Hesprich said.
Kelsey Brannan, director of radio and general manager, joined WSUM from 2010-2014 during her time as a UW-Madison undergraduate to find people who shared her passion for music. Seeing from both perspectives as a former WSUM member and her current role, Brannan is able to see the dedication and tireless work ethic that the WSUM members have to run the radio station independently.
“I love working with college students in particular because they’re so passionate about everything they do. There’s creativity that you wouldn’t get at industry necessarily,” Brannan said. “I think once you become a broadcast professional, you still have big ideas but I think surrounded by more self-consciousness. And I think students have this incredible drive to just kind of try things to see if they’ll work and experiment with different creative outlets.”
Brannan recalled a time when she first started working at WSUM where a band had to cancel their Snake Session at the last minute. DJs jumped into gear and subbed the live performance with a spur of the moment WSUM talent show. What stuck out to Brannan was the students’ commitment.
“The show itself was cool, but that’s not really the memory that I’m describing here. It’s more the enthusiasm around it and just the energy,” Brannan said. “It was probably April Fools Day, and the first warm day of the year. The sun was out, and everyone was in a good mood. Towards the end of it, I popped my head out of my office and down the hallway there were students who were literally tumbling and doing gymnastics down the hallway.”
Brannan said many of the students want to work professionally in radio after graduating, making WSUM the perfect place to prepare them for the real world.
“As a listener, [you hear] stories from a student perspective, which I think is unique instead of turning to national media or even local media here in Madison. Hearing from a student perspective is really important,” Brannan said.
Hands-on experiences for students
Every DJ must complete a nearly semester-long training program before being considered for a show. By the end of their six-week training, members are able to operate the soundboard, source their own music and confidently broadcast on air.
Nathan Jahn, a sophomore and current WSUM news director, joined the radio station at the start of his freshman year. He was introduced to the WSUM by his sister who, at the time, had her own music show before the two collaborated for their sports show: Making Racket.
As the news director, Jahn has the final say over the stories that are aired but allows his anchors to report on stories they find impactful to the Madison community. During “On Wisconsin,” a weekly 1-hour news show, he had the opportunity to interview professors, candidates for governor and other influential individuals from around Madison.
Jahn said he feels he can contribute more to the journalistic ideal from the station than in his classes.
“Learning in all of the classes about what journalists do is super cool but you don’t really feel like you’re doing it in class and you’re just doing assignments,” Jahn said. “At the radio station, it was just always cool [to contribute] even when the news isn’t always happy or fun news. You still get to feel like you are part of it by writing stories and contributing to campus.”
Vincent Hesprich, WSUM’s sports director and a first year graduate student, found his love for sports radio listening to sportscaster Matt Lepay with his grandfather. Hesprich immersed himself in sports journalism in high school, but it wasn’t until college when he decided to give sports broadcasting a shot.
Hesprich broadcasts Badger games of over nine different teams, including football and men’s and women’s basketball.
Since joining WSUM, Hesprich has had the opportunity to travel to March Madness, connect with the athletic department through Big Ten Plus, a live broadcasting platform for college sports teams and call the first two rounds of the NCAA National Championship that was aired on ESPN+.
“It felt like a dream come true,” Hesprich said.
Inside the snake-filled station (and more decor)
As you step into the radio station, you are surrounded with posters of past and current radio shows, local bands and festivals. The longer you admire the collages of posters, painted on CDs, zines and polaroid photos of staff and various local bands, the more hidden gems you find — such as small plastic snakes or artwork of snakes, a homage to their mascot, Syd the Snake.
“I feel that’s definitely a big part of the station too, it makes it feel homey,” WSUM Music Director Allison Lukas said. She said the posters on the wall idea was a big project done by the traffic desk before she started working at the radio station.
The radio station has two on-air studios: the FM studio which reaches the greater Madison area and gets staticky around Rockford, Illinois, and the Free Flow studio that airs exclusively online. Both stations are sound-proof and equipped with soundboards the DJs use to control their music, underwritings — unpaid promotions — public service announcements and the BSI, WSUM’s automated music system.
WSUM invites DJs to explore their music taste with any of their over 1,000 CDs and vinyl records in their CD library. Most of the CDs are sent in by up-and-coming artists' record labels.
Music ecosystem
Ranging from genres like bossa nova jazz to indie alternative, WSUM implores students to find new types of music and local artists. Through Snake Sessions, DJs have an opportunity to film, interview and experience live, alternative music. Most recently, garage emo band Aergo and alternative rock band Yolk, both local Madison acts, performed in the studio.
Snake Sessions brings not only local Madison artists but also artists from Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago and throughout the Midwest. Lukas, who coordinates the Snake Sessions, tries to make each episode diverse.
“I think it makes it more engaging for listeners.” Lukas told the Cardinal. “Maybe one week it's jazz and the next is rock and the next is an independent, solo musician.”
In September, WSUM and WUD Music collaborate together annually for Snake on the Lake, a free outdoor music festival on Memorial Union Terrace.
The radio station has over sixty shows ranging from music, talk and sports that run 24/7.
