The WSC Radio Station “91.9 the Cat,” roared to life on air with new and improved equipment on Oct. 26 after receiving it the day before. 

The radio station has been in tremendous need of updated equipment because the old equipment purchased in 2006 just hasn’t been performing like it used to.  While the computers were replaced as recently as 2017, John Dunning, Wayne State College Vice President, said.

“The existing system no longer reflected the kind of experience our students will encounter in the workplace,” Dunning said.

According to Dunning, the computers were last replaced in 2017, and were out of date.

“Additionally, it was prone to problems due to its age, had challenges with being secure, and limited in its ability to operate the radio station without being physically present in the studio,” Dunning said.

 The faculty and staff had partnered with NATS to propose new forms that will replace the old system. After careful consideration, the team agreed on Radio Computing Services (RCS), which is well known as the market leading industry in the Midwest.  The new equipment was paid for by a variety of different contributions including school funds, federal funds and server and storage capacity that the team had set in place. 

 The new acquired equipment is made up of new on-air computers and new recording studio computers as well as the newly installed software that partners with the new equipment.

“It has built in remote management features that will allow the station to continue to be operated remotely in an emergency situation,” Chad Smith, lead of department of infrastructure and enterprises, said.

While concepts could be taught using the old software; the older equipment didn’t have the new programs that are shared by other radio stations such as Sirius XM and IHeartMedia. The Mass Communication students will have a better understanding of the marketing side of the radio field as well as become familiar with a program that will help them become better assets when it comes to future employers. Listeners to the radio will enjoy listening to their favorite songs with the new editions to the station.

“The new system is much more secure overall, we now have two OnAir systems that play music simultaneously so if one system were to crash or otherwise fail, the other one takes over and nobody should notice,” Smith said.

With a new set of equipment at their disposal, The Cat radio station will have unlimited new possibilities to broadcast to their audience.