WGVU FM 95.3

An NPR member station owned by Grand Valley State University, serving the West Michigan region with a talk radio and jazz format. The primary broadcast frequency is 88.5 MHz, licensed to Allendale, the Grand Rapids suburb that is home to Grand Valley State's main campus, with a simulcast on WGVS-FM at 95.3 MHz in Whitehall, serving the Muskegon area. A translator at W237CZ 95.3 FM in Grand Rapids proper supplements coverage in the city's core. The station began broadcasting on July 17, 1983, as WGVC-FM, tracing its roots to student-run WSRX, which operated from 1974 to 1982 with an alternative rock format. It was the first locally-focused NPR station in Grand Rapids. The transmitter operates at 4,000 effective radiated watts near Coopersville — a modest power level that provides a marginal signal to much of central Grand Rapids. WGVS-FM at 95.3 in Whitehall has its own separate history, beginning as a Top 40 station and later adopted urban contemporary and rock formats before being donated by owners Robert Jewell and Daniel Thill to Grand Valley State in 1995. After passing briefly through WLC Broadcasting, the stations were returned to Grand Valley in November 1998. News programming reflects local Grand Rapids affairs alongside NPR national content.