Editor's Note: WSMR officials said Tuesday afternoon that due to technical difficulties, the station will not go online as expected Wednesday. Problems are expected to be resolved in the next few days, officials said.
SARASOTA — WUSF’s newly purchased radio station, Sarasota-based WSMR, will debut Wednesday with a new format of 24-hour classical music while work is underway on a $150,000 studio at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee.
When renovations are finished, WSMR will move from Sarasota to the USF campus, which is perched on the border between Manatee and Sarasota counties. But the new station will enjoy dual sites as it also will be run from its sister station in Tampa, said JoAnn Urofsky, general manager of WUSF Public Media.
The state-of-the-art performance studio at USF is designed for television, video and radio production and live performances. Construction began a couple of weeks ago, with completion expected in late December, Urofsky said, adding, “This is going to be a very big change.”
The station’s broadcast area will cover all of Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, DeSoto and Hardee counties and portions of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk and Lee counties. It will potentially reach an additional 500,000 listeners in the southern portion of WUSF’s broadcast area, Urofsky said.
The new station may foster new opportunities for students who want to study the arts, said Arthur Guilford, USF Sarasota-Manatee regional chancellor.
“I think it will make an enormous difference because it will take us into the arts area, which our current curriculum doesn’t really take us into,” he said.
“We can give something back to the community; the creation of WSMR will be just terrific for classical music,” he added.
USF officials plan to begin to look for opportunities for internships immediately, along with any other opportunities to partner with the radio station, Guilford said.
“What we’re hoping over time is having the studio here will enable us to help us think about developing a journalism, or radio, program, or more arts activities,” said Guilford. “I know our dean of the College of Arts and Sciences is very, very interested in enriching the arts community.”
At a price of $1.27 million, WUSF Public Media purchased the radio license of WSMR, which had been offering Christian broadcasting until it signed off recently. WSMR, at 89.1 on the radio dial, will switch to classical music beginning Wednesday.
WUSF, at 89.7, is the university’s venerable station based in Tampa. Wednesday it is slated to simultaneously change from its current classical format to all news and information with jazz overnight, officials said.
An HD radio station, WUSF 89.72, also will broadcast WSMR’s classical programming, officials said.
“Over the past several years, WUSF Public Media has been conducting research, seeking out the needs and preferences of our audience and the results have unequivocally indicated the desire for increased media choices, both in the areas of news and information and in the music we offer,” said Urofsky.
“The acquisition of WSMR 89.1 gave us the perfect opportunity to meet these needs,” she said.
WUSF was aided in the deal by Public Radio Capital, a national nonprofit organization that works to strengthen and expand public radio. The purchase will be paid for through a loan from the USF Foundation, which will be repaid over 10 years, officials said.
Sara Kennedy, Herald reporter, can be reached at (941) 745-7031.
