WMSE

WMSE (91.7 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, playing a wide-ranging eclectic music format run by volunteer DJ's. The station is part of the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE).

History

Early history of MSOE stations

On July 22, 1922, a broadcasting license was issued jointly to the School of Engineering of Milwaukee and the daily evening newspaper, The Wisconsin News, which was owned by the Hearst Corporation. The call letters assigned (sequentially, they had no meaning) were WIAO. Since December 1, 1921, radio stations had been assigned two wavelengths: 360 meters (833 kHz) for "broadcasting news, concerts and such matter", and 485 meters (619 kHz) for "broadcasting crop reports and weather forecasts". As such, WIAO was licensed to broadcast on a wavelength of 360 meters (833.3 kHz). Although its license called for “unlimited” time at a power of 500 Watts, the fact that the three other Milwaukee stations: WAAK (Gimbel Brothers department store), WCAY (Kesselman O’Driscol Music Co.) and WHAD (Marquette University), were also licensed for the 360 meter band, meant that WIAO had to share time with them.