Mission:
WBIM FM provides the Bridgewater Area with alternative programming as College Radio, giving everyone who listens new music first. 'BIM is located in the Rondileau Campus Center at Bridgewater State College. Any BSC student can be part of this student activity.
History:
WBIM FM, the 180-watt stereo voice of Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts was established in 1971 through the hard work and dedication of the late Dr. Henry Rosen, Chairman of the Bridgewater Instructional Media Department. Our call letters, WBIM, stood for "We're Bridgewater Instructional Media". Originally, WBIM was designed to supplement the curriculum of the Instructional Media Department. Since that time, WBIM-FM has expanded its' horizons and now strives to service all of the needs of Bridgewater State College and the Greater Bridgewater community.
WBIM-FM officially signed on the air on November 1, 1972 (after many months of testing) as a 10 watt, Class D, Non-commercial educational FM radio station. Our studios and transmitter have always been on the third floor of the Adrian Rondileau College Center (formerly the Student Union). The longest running show ever, "Club/91", started in 1976 as a disco show with Pete Pena. As disco faded out in the early 80's, "Club/91" changed to R&B/Dance format. It went off the air in 1993.
In 1978, FCC made the mandate that all 10-watt Class D FM stations must upgrade to at least 100 watts or risk losing their "protected status". With the help of many dedicated WBIM'ers, the technical expertise of engineering consultant Edward Perry (owner of WATD-FM/95.9 in Marshfield, MA) and the valued co-operation of first adjacent station WSHL-FM/91.3 at Stonehill College in Easton, MA, WBIM-FM made the move to Class A at 180 watts (effective radiated power) on April 2, 1982 at 3:00 PM. Yours' truly had the pleasure of "pulling the switch" that afternoon and Bridgewater radio has never been the same, ever since. Three months later on July 7, 1982 at 6:00 PM, WBIM-FM made another big change. Without any prior notice we switched to Stereo with the playing of Queen's, "Body Language". No explanation, it was just what happened to be on the turntable at that time. That evening we got quite a few phone callers to the station complimenting the new clean sound of WBIM-FM ("Stereo/91.5").
With the change to 180 watts in Stereo, another big change in the overall "sound" of WBIM-FM was in the works. While WBIM was originally a Pop-based formatted station for many years, college radio, on the whole, was gearing towards a more alternative sound. In September of 1982, WBIM-FM switched to a block formatted "Progressive" style of radio. Gone were the Top-40 hits of the day and in came the new music groups of the lesser-known artists. While Top-40 still had a place on WBIM during Specialty Shows, the station wanted to give new groups a chance to be heard amidst the commercial clutter found on the "big" stations.
In 1986 the station began playing CDs. In 1990 Pete Legace began "The Basement", classic rock, the longest running show currently on the air. Battle of the Bands has been a tradition since the mid 90's. WBIM-FM always works hard to bring in the new music, FIRST. College radio has always been an education unto itself. We, at WBIM, take great pride in bringing "Tommorow's Hits Today!" We went over the web, broadcasting live, in 1999.
For nearly thirty years, WBIM-FM has been the student operated radio voice of Bridgewater State College. We look forward to continue serving you, the audience, in the Greater Bridgewater area and on the World Wide Web. We always welcome your thoughts and criticisms about our operations. Thank you for stopping by.
Regards,
Peter Q. George, '84
Chief Engineer, WBIM-FM