About WORT

Recent History

The Recent History of WORT

WORT Celebrates Twenty Years Of Community Radio In Madison, Wisconsin

From NFCB News, October 1995

When a small group of community activists and radiophiles got together in the earlier 1970's, they had no idea their notion of a small community-controlled radio station would, twenty years later, be a major fixture on the dial for all of south-central Wisconsin. Back Porch Radio Broadcasting, Inc. was incorporated in 1973, and at 8:00 pm on December 1st, 1975 went on the air with 4000 watts of power from a small studio on Madison's eastside, however, three days later the transmitter burned up and the station was down to 50 watts.

Today WORT has its own building, and serves about 25,000 at 89.9 on the FM dial with 2000 watts of power and a strong signal over a 50 mile radius. WORT went to 24 hours a day in the late 1980's, and installed a microwave studio-to- transmitter link (STL) in 1992.

Today's WORT is different in many ways from the early days. Programming is much more structured, moving from a freeform schedule to what some of us have come to call "stratified block programming" (strips of blocks) where five different hosts do programming in a similar genre at the same time of day throughout the week. This style allows for all of the best things in community radio (diversity of hosts and styles) while learning the lesson from commercial radio that people like predictability in the day's schedule. This approach has allowed WORT to build strong listenership in parts of the day not normally considered "prime time" by radio experts. (One example of this is the noontime public affairs call-in programming.)

However WORT has kept many of the ideas of its founders alive and strong through a commitment to diversity and access. WORT's mission statement calls on the station to challenge the intellectual and cultural assumptions of its listeners and provide a voice for those under-represented by other media. This commitment to community involvement and participation at WORT has helped the station build a strong base of support in the community it serves.

WORT is currently operated by a collective of five fulltime and four parttime paid staff; a very active nine member Board of Directors, whose combined years of experience in both business and community organizations would be invaluable to any organization; and most important of all over 200 volunteers doing a wide variety of tasks ranging from answering phones and stuffing envelopes to unique on-air programs of words and music.

Programming on WORT seeks to be as diverse as the listening community itself with over eighty different programs of folk, jazz, rock, blues, soul, gospel, and classical music; news and public affairs shows including a women's news and information program called "Her Turn"; a literature show featuring local authors; and a program of news from a Third World perspective entitled "Third World View." In addition special programs serve Madison's Hmong community with a Hmong language community news and music program; a Spanish language program for Madison's Chicano community; a program of women in music called "Her Infinite Variety";and three different programs of tropical rhythms, salsa, and latin jazz.

While the primary focus is on locally produced shows, WORT also airs some satellite programming including BBC News and Pacifica Radio News. Other satellite shows include the gay and lesbian magazine show "This Way Out", and "Second Opinion" which originated at WORT.

WORT, like other community stations across the country is always concerned about funding. About 60% of the total operating budget of $280,000, comes from listener donations, about 25% from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the rest from smaller grants and underwriting. Cuts to CPB funding will definitely impact the station, but the Board and staff are already developing plans and strategies to deal with these almost certain reductions of government support.

This year is WORT's twentieth anniversary and a special "Platinum Anniversary Committee" has been assembled to help commemorate the event. The committee is looking for past WORT staff and volunteers to share their memories of the early days, if you are one of those, or know someone who is, call or write us at

WORT
118 S. Bedford Street
Madison, WI 53703

(608) 256-2001
or e-mail to wort(at)wort-fm.org.