It is best known for its sports staff, which has produced the likes of Bob Costas, Mike Tirico, and many others. Lou Reed also hosted a free-format show on WAER during his time at Syracuse University; this free-format radio tradition at Syracuse is carried on by WERW. Other alums include Ted Koppel, Jerry Stiller and Dick Clark. The station is managed by full-time professional staff and employs as many as 50 students each semester.[4][5][6]
Radio programming began on the university campus as early as 1931,[7] the year when AM station WSYR-WMAC in Syracuse built its new transmitter site on the university campus. This station employed the WMAC call sign only when it carried Syracuse University programming originating from Crouse College.[8][9] In late 1933 the call sign was changed to WSYR-WSYU, with WSYU, being used when broadcasting the university programs.[10][11] In 1940, the use of dual call letters was ended, and this station became just WSYR.
On April 1, 1947, an experimental low-powered educational FM station began broadcast at 88.1 MHzasWJIV-FM, primarily as a practical workshop for SU radio students,[12][13] becoming first class D educational station in the nation.[11] After three months, a license renewal from the FCC allowed the students to change the call sign letters to WAER (WAlpha Epsilon Rho), referring to the radio honorary society).[14][15][16] The call sign was also interpreted as Always Excellent Radio.[17] The studios, financial supported by General Electric, were located at Radio House, a set of prefabricated houses near the steps to Mount Olympus, immediately south of Carnegie Library.[14]GE provided the setup, valued at 150,000 in 1948,[18] and asked Syracuse university to experiment with this type of transmitter, in hopes of pioneering educational broadcasting by using the low-powered FM transmitters.[8][19]
The enterprise was overseen by the dean of Radio department Kenneth G. Bartlett and professor Lawrence Myers Jr. served as the faculty manager.[12] Student staff was soon appointed to create schedule of broadcast.[18][20] The broadcasts included classical music, sports, news, religious programs from the Hendricks Chapel, immediate university news, student activities, as well as official university events. The station operated from 4 pm to 10 pm to avoid lecture hours.[20][21][22][23]
When it began in 1947, WAER was authorized radiated power of only 2.5 Watt, but in 1951 FCC granted an increase in power to 1000 watts.[8] The station began broadcasting seven hours a day, seven days a week, and became Syracuse University's permanent radio station.[20][24][25] By 1984, The station ran at 6,000-watt power.[17] The station had moved to the then newly-built Newhouse II building by the seventies.[11]
Up until 1983, WAER was student-run, but in a controversial decision in 1983, SU took over WAER and hired full-time professionals to run operations and train students.[7]
Former logo
In 2017, a full length documentary titled "The Miracle Microphone: The Impossible History and History Makers of WAER Radio" chronicled the 70-year history of WAER.[14] The documentary was researched and produced by Scott MacFarlane and Keith Kobland and won New York state AP Press Association award in 2019.[19][26][27]
Formerly a component of the auxiliary services department, the station became part of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in July 2021.[16] The station continues to be housed at Haft Hall, 795 Ostrom Ave, where it has been located since 2003.[11]
The WAER sports staff is made up entirely of students,[34] who report on home and away games.[35] It provides daily sports updates as well as play-by-play for Syracuse University football, men's basketball, and men's lacrosse. A pregame show begins 30 minutes before each broadcast (Countdown to Kickoff, Tipoff, or Faceoff) with a halftime segment (Orange at the Half) and a postgame wrap-up (Orange Overtime). The Double Overtime, a full-length postgame talk show, airs after every football, basketball, and lacrosse game. Sports Nite airs weekly on Friday nights.[36]
The music department is organized by Eric Cohen, multiple-time winner of National Jazz Programmer of the Year.[28][29] Larry Hoyt is the longtime voice of Common Threads on WAER. Cora Thomas is the office supervisor and runs gospel music programming, as she maintains a Sunday morning show on WAER airing from 6-8AM.
Since February 2010, WAER has partnered with Syracuse University's WERW 1570. WERW is a student-run, free-format station, which returned to the air in 2017 after six years of only being available through iTunes radio.[37] The partnership has resulted in a weekly, 3-hour show, called Real College Radio on WAER, which is hosted by alternating reps of a select cohort of WERW DJs. The genre is adult album alternative (AAA), and each DJ brings their own new flavor to the WAER offerings.
^ ab"Syracuse's Infant FM Radio Industry Rapidly Growing into Lusty Giant". The Post-Standard. Syracuse, New York. December 7, 1947. p. 69. Retrieved October 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Serving as a practical workshop for Syracuse university radio students, FM Station WAER is a non-commercial station located on the campus of Syracuse university and is managed by Larry Myers. Broadcasting on an assigned frequency of 88.1. mc, WAER has a power output of two and a half watts, which not only covers the campus, but a radius of about three miles.
^"It began in 1932 for TV-Radio at SU". The Post-Standard. Syracuse, New York. May 31, 1974. p. 6. Retrieved November 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. The following year [after 1946], the campus radio station, WAER, was founded
^"Radio Station Offering Good Music Listed". The Post-Standard. Syracuse, New York. April 9, 1955. p. 4. Retrieved October 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. The exception, of course, is our own Syracuse University FM station. WAER. at 88.1 on the dial. They give us much of the music of the great masters...
^"About". City Limits. WAER. September 23, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
^Intaglietta, Mary Kate (January 26, 2021). "WAER 88.3 FM Welcomes New Sports Director". SU News. Retrieved January 27, 2021. As sports director, May will be responsible for leading a team of students in the tradition of providing high-quality sports broadcasts and coverage to...
