History of WSIE
WSIE went on the air on September 4, 1970 as a National Public Radio affiliated station delivering NPR programming, light classical, and news programming while serving as an educational platform for SIUE Mass Communication students. The radio station was designed to be an integral part of the Mass Communications curriculum at SIUE. Students handled many of the responsibilities of the radio station, everything from news director to operations manager/production director, and traffic. The students did newscasts on air, they were board operators, and they did sports broadcasting. Essentially, they learned the business of broadcasting while doing broadcasting.
In the 1980’s, WSIE became known as “The Jazz Station,” featuring such broadcasters as Leo Chears, Ross Gentile, and Laverne Holiday. Leo Chears was known as “the man in the red vest.” He did overnights and was essentially a walking encyclopedia of jazz music. Had a great library of jazz music, which has been partially donated to the SIUE library in The Jazz Archives.
WSIE has also produced a long list of highly successful broadcasters including Dewayne Staats – graduated here 1975. He did the VERY first live sports broadcast on WSIE the week of Sept. 4, 1970.He has been the broadcast voice of Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, and new broadcast voice of Tampa Bay Rays.
On August 1, 2016, WSIE launched its new brand, 88-seven the Sound; providing listeners with a rich blend of jazz, smooth jazz, blues and R&B to create “the Sound.” The budget crisis in Illinois created a situation which called for the station to be self-sustaining. WSIE is a community supported radio station which must rely upon its listeners and underwriters to maintain operations.
Mass Communication graduate students were asked to develop a marketing plan, which resulted in re-branding The Jazz Station as “The Sound,” with a new name and a new logo.
WSIE has gone through several phases to arrive at what could be the most critical point in its history. We are ready with the help of our listeners and our sponsors to continue to evolve. Currently, the radio station is on solid programming footing right now. Certain identity. Clear brand. Format structured in such a way that it is appealing to a wider audience.
