WGVU-FM

WGVU-FM is an NPR member station serving Grand Rapids, Michigan. Owned by Grand Valley State University, it is simulcast in West Michigan. The main broadcast frequency is 88.5 MHz, which is licensed to Allendale, the Grand Rapids suburb that is home to Grand Valley State's main campus. It is simulcast on WGVS-FM 95.3 MHz, which is licensed to Whitehall and serves Muskegon. The format is talk radio from NPR, along with jazz. WGVU-FM began broadcasting on July 17, 1983, as WGVC-FM, owned by what was then Grand Valley State College. The station had originally operated (1974–1982) as student-run WSRX, with an alternative rock format. It was the first locally-focused NPR station in Grand Rapids. It was West Michigan's fourth full NPR member, joining WVGR, a repeater of WUOM-FM in Ann Arbor (now known as Michigan Radio), WMUK in Kalamazoo, and WBLV in Muskegon. As a legacy of its time as a campus radio station, WGVU-FM operates at 4,000 watts, which is fairly modest for a full NPR member on the FM band. This leaves most of Grand Rapids and its inner-ring suburbs with only a marginal signal. To make up for this shortfall, Grand Valley operates a translator in Grand Rapids proper, W237CZ at 95.3 FM. WGVS-FM in Whitehall began as Top 40 station WLRQ ("Super Q") in the late 1970s. In ... ()