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Black Collegian News & Views
Howard Returns to "Total Blackness" with HD Radio Station
By Traver Riggins
Black College Wire
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| WHUR-World went on the air on
Nov. 16. HD Radio, an emerging digital service, allows FM
stations to program a second "station within the station." |
Isaac Hayes'
"Theme from 'Shaft,'" the song that launched Howard University's
WHUR-FM radio back in 1971, started up high definition radio WHUR-WORLD,
the university's venture into one of broadcasting's newest technologies,
in 2006.
The new station said it intends to return to WHUR's original concept,
"360 degree Total Blackness."
"We're taking it back to the future, so to speak," said Jim Watkins,
WHUR general manager.
The launch took place Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. In the Washington area, the
station will be available on HD radio sets by tuning to 96.3 and
switching to the FM2 wavelength. Via the Internet, it can be accessed at
whurworld.com.
HD Radio, an emerging digital service, allows FM stations to program
a second "station within the station," with different programming from
the main station, according to
Consumer Reports.
"Appropriating an acronym from high-definition TV, HD Radio promises
improved sound quality from both AM and FM radio bands," the magazine
said in its March issue. "HD Radio service is free—in contrast to the
$13-a-month tab for satellite radio. But as with satellite radio—and
HDTV—you need to buy new equipment. . . . By the end of this year, as
many as 1,200 stations will be broadcasting HD Radio, according to
Ibiquity Digital, the company that developed the technology."
The new station aims to educate and entertain with a community focus.
The intense music programming, which is slated to begin in January,
focuses on non-mainstream music, heavy on jazz with some blues thrown
in, without totally disregarding hip-hop.
"The nice thing about what we're doing is that musically we're not
just looking at modern music," Watkins said.
"In today's world of technology, [if] we're not looking at things
globally, we're kind of shortchanging ourselves," he added.
Watkins sees the station as being consistent with WHUR's original
"360 degree Total Blackness." WHUR left that path due to the inevitable
evolution of any business venture, but Watkins said he saw WORLD as a
chance to return to it.
Justin Thwaites, WORLD programmer, Howard alumnus and former general
manager at WHBC, the campus radio station, said, "It's not owned by a
big corporation. We can basically put together programming that relates
to Howard, to the African diaspora and to the world from jazz to even
hip-hop. No other station does that.
"The young generation really doesn't know about the black people
behind the scenes making things happen," he continued.
Thwaites said that black history is a "365-day-a-year" venture and
that his goal is to make sure he covers that for the global community.
Along with working up a number of black history vignettes for the
station, Thwaites is planning a four-hour tribute to Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. that is scheduled to air on the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday
holiday in January.
Another program on the lineup is "The Takeover," which is described
as "Hip-Hop 101."
Pizo Burney and Steve Robinson, both 2006 Howard graduates, are the
on-air personalities and programmers of the show, which airs on Fridays
and Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
"Every time you tune into the show, we want you to learn something
new. We're going to break down slang and use humor to educate," Burney
said.
"Hopefully they will discuss real hip-hop that's being put out today
like Lyfe [Jennings] and Lupe [Fiasco]," Ashley Shaw, a freshman
broadcast journalism major, said.
There will also be a news program hosted by Lorna Newton. Watkins
wants to use WORLD to give more accessible airtime to some of the shows
that air in awkward slots on WHUR.
The station also wants to give Howard students a chance to gain
professional experience. For this purpose, Judi Moore Latta, professor
of radio, TV and film, has been "loaned out" from the School of
Communications to organize those efforts as the director of WORLD.
"It's designed to really [create] an opportunity for students to do
production, to do programming and other aspects of professional radio,"
Latta said.
"There once was a time when FM radio was new and we didn't know much
about its possibilities and now of course it has taken off. HD is in a
similar place," she said.
Traver Riggins, a Howard University student,
writes for the Hilltop.
Posted Nov. 17, 2006 |
