Underwriter Info
WRWW, 92.3 FM UNDERWRITER/SPONSOR INFORMATION
WRWW, first licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2014, is a low-power (100 watt) FM radio station, basically covering the Lowell Area School district, and is owned and operated by Lowell Area Schools. It also webcasts (streams) worldwide from its website located at www.lowellradio.org The radio station studio, and most of the audio equipment, is located in room B208 at Lowell High School.
The transmitter is located in a secure City of Lowell building/tower site on Shepard Drive in the city of Lowell.
A for-credit class (Radio Broadcasting 101) is now offered to interested Lowell High School students.
The radio stations (FM & Webcasting) can be heard 24/7 /365.
WRWW plays a wide variety of 'clean' music.
Sometimes the radio station is referred to as "WRWW, 92.3, The Boat" in reference to the historical Lowell Showboat which started in 1931. That legacy continues today.
Over the past several years, many students (middle school & high school), and some adults, have seized on the opportunity to put together their own on-air shows. Some are aired weekly, some bi-weekly.
WRWW presently has approximately 46,000 songs in its Music Media Library, located on the computer hard drive, with most of those music tracks placed there from more than 3,300 cd's, most of them donated by our listeners.
The radio studio mixer 'board' has the ability to place as many as five individuals on-air at the same time. Vinyl record turntables and a CD player are also available for use.
WRWW, a non-commercial, educational, radio station, pays a total of approximately $2,500 per year in royalty fees to several royalty companies for the rights to play their clients (artists) music. We rely on our
underwriters/sponsors to help pay those royalty fees.
The following is how our underwriter/sponsor program works:
Underwriters/sponsors pay $10 per month, $120 per year. The underwriter/sponsor fiscal invoicing year starts on September 1st, and ends on August 31st. If a business, or individual, starts somewhere between those two dates, they are only invoiced for the number of months remaining in that fiscal invoicing year. For example; if ‘Speedy Printing’ became an underwriter/sponsor on January 1st, 2023 they would only be invoiced for eight months, January thru August, a total of $80.00; eight months @ $10 per month. The following are some of the benefits in becoming a WRWW underwriter/sponsor:
- You will receive at least 150 ‘spot’ announcements per year on both of the WRWW radio stations, FM and Webcasting (streaming). Because WRWW is a low power, non-commercial radio station, we are not allowed to advertise. The Federal Communications Commission maintains that those ‘spot’ announcements must generally be limited to the airing of the following: the name of your business, where your business is located (address), your phone number, what social media sites listeners can go to find out more about your business plus, in general terms, what your business involves. WRWW cannot air price information, calls to action, special inducements, or qualitative language. A ‘spot’ announcement should last from 15 to 20 seconds. Underwriting is for identification purposes only and not ‘promotion’.
- Your business card, or logo, will be placed on the www.lowellradio.org website. Visitors can ‘click’ on that business card/logo which will take them to your website for additional information.
- By virtue of becoming an underwriter/sponsor, listeners will know that you are ‘community oriented’ and partnering with Lowell Area Schools, WRWW, and students to provide worthwhile, ‘clean’ programming and ‘local’ content. 4. You will help to provide students with another great opportunity to become involved in an activity (radio) that builds upon their educational classes, band, choir, orchestra, sports, etc.
FACTS THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
Prior to turning over the sportscasting to Michigan Sports Radio, WRWW ‘aired’ more than 900 athletic contests over the past seventeen and one-half years.
More than 3,800 student on-air shows have been ‘aired’ since being offered several years ago.
More than 88,000 underwriter/sponsor ‘spot’ announcements have been aired in the daily rotations.
More than 2,200,000 music tracks have been played since the start (2004) of the webcasting, streaming radio station, followed by the addition of the low-power 92.3 FM radio station in 2014.
Many, many students have had the opportunity to be involved in the WRWW radio program as on-air
‘personalities’, sportscasters, and equipment technicians.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at any time.
Al Eckman – WRWW Station Manager 616-450-4332 aeckman@lowellschools.com
*Note* WRWW no longer airs Lowell High School sports events. Those sportscasts are now assigned to Michigan Sports Radio. Their website is located at michigansportsradio.com