Classical music began airing at midnight on the FM frequency 91.1. Nashville Public Radio has purchased WRVU, a station that got its start with a Vanderbilt student broadcasting big band and country music from his dorm room in 1951.
The station sold for $3.3 million. Vanderbilt Student Communications, WRVU’s owner, plans to put that money into an endowment. Still, dedicated listeners mounted a social media campaign to save WRVU after it went up for sale.
Mark Walleager is a Vanderbilt English professor and chair of the Student Communications board. He says the media industry is changing and students don’t listen to radio. They listen online.
“I understand people feeling a sense of loss and sadness. I understand that completely.”
DJ’s on WRVU were in the dark about the deal until Tuesday afternoon. Ron Slomowicz – known as DJ Ron – has hosted a gay-and-lesbian talk show called Out of the Closet for almost 20 years.
“I really think people in Nashville are gonna miss WRVU. And yeah, it wasn’t always the best music, it wasn’t always the best DJs, I cringed when I listen sometimes. But that’s the joy of college radio, and you just don’t get that anywhere else.”
College radio stations are being sold across the country. As recently as January, the University of San Francisco sold its frequency to a public radio organization, which converted the format from cutting edge rock to classical.
Kim Green contributed to this story.
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