89.1 WXVU, the University’s student-run radio station, has partnered with Philadelphia’s award-winning Germantown Community Radio, 92.9 WGGT-LP, to provide more diverse, locally-oriented programming to the WXVU audience.

Student radio began at the University in 1947 when returning GIs built a closed circuit AM carrier current transmitter, located since 1955 in Dougherty Hall. The station’s original call letters were WWVU and later WKVU 640 AM. Sporadic attempts to “go FM” came to fruition with the birth of WXVU 89.1 FM in 1991.

WXVU will air “The (Not So) Hidden Agenda,” with host Stephanie Heck, “The Wake-Up Call” with host Janet Etzi, “Planet Philadelphia” with host Kay Wood, “The Volta Way” with Lois Volta, the Info Hub Radio Hour and “Q-The Mic.” These programs feature discussion of local issues and affairs, including interviews with local artists, authors, actors, politicians and activists about their work in the local community and beyond.

The collaboration between the two stations will allow WXVU to offer a more diverse programming palette, with an emphasis on bringing awareness of topics relevant to the greater Philadelphia Area. 

Recently, Germantown Community Radio was awarded a significant grant from Philadelphia’s COVID-19 Community Information Fund as a reflection of its impact. This partnership amplifies Germantown Community Radio’s reach into the Main Line through WXVU’s over-the-air signal at 89.1 FM, as well as with WXVU’s worldwide reach from streaming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online.

89.1 WXVU shares the frequency with Cabrini College’s 89.1 WYBF, though from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic through August, WXVU broadcasted on the frequency continuously, sharing timely news updates along with music programming.

WXVU’s fall programming lineup currently features 34 student-run shows. WXVU’s 100-watt FM signal on 89.1 covers a 15-mile radius in portions of Delaware, Montgomery, Chester and Philadelphia counties, including Radnor, Lower Merion, Plymouth, Broomall, Havertown and Conshohocken, and can be heard Tuesdays, Thursday, Saturdays and Sundays.