Wednesday, Sept. 24, Beloit College radio station manager Finn Waterman’26 announced the school is retiring its FM signal, sparking students’ disappointment with administration and uncertainty for the future of those involved with WBCR. After 118 years of broadcasting, WBCR is no longer available on stations in cars, transmitters, and other physical signals. WBCR is now streaming exclusively on its website.
Though the announcement seems sudden, Waterman said the station has been struggling for a while. “We’ve been having problems pretty consistently once a semester, every semester since I’ve become a station manager.” According to Waterman, the FM transmitter has been in danger since 2023. After an outage in the summer of 2025, the cost of repairs and fees was too much for the school to justify. Waterman was unable to share exact numbers, but according to the Federal Communications Commission website, an FM construction permit alone is $4,545. Along with license renewal, community licensing, and other fees, repairing the signal would cost the college well over $10,000.
Beloit administration previously mentioned the possibility of retiring the signal along with many other changes. Waterman emphasized the importance of taking part in these discussions. “I need to be involved because I know that if I weren’t involved, they would make decisions that weren’t in the best interests of the station and probably end up killing it.” This concern and apprehension is shared by other student DJs.
DJ Kaila Nork’26 is concerned that this change is one more move in a continuing effort to make Beloit more STEM-focused. “ I feel like things are just dwindling and dwindling in terms of the arts, with part being moved to Hendrix and this maybe being shut down entirely or moved to CELEB,” Nork said. DJ Jasmine Kingsbury’28 is worried for her creative future at Beloit. “With losing the FM signal and space, we are losing some of the authenticity and history of the arts here.”
The possibility of moving the station from its current home on the third floor of Pearsons is still “a work in progress,” according to Waterman. However, he made it clear that if WBCR were to move, it would not be at CELEB or the Henricks Center. He said that he was very vocally opposed to moving anywhere downtown and that is “the fastest way to kill a club or org.” As station manager, Finn Waterman wants the students of Beloit to know that WBCR, no matter how it gets to the public, will remain a by-students-for-students organization.
Featured image: Wikipedia
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