for the defunct bank see washington mutual . wamu city washington d.c. broadcast area washington metropolitan area slogan the mind is our medium frequency 88.5 mhz also on hd radio translator s hd1 wrau 88.3 mhz ocean city hd2 w288bs 105.5 mhz reston first air date october 23 1961 originally carrier current 1951 1961 format public radio hd2 bluegrass hd3 public radio erp 50 000 watts haat 152 meters 499 ft class b facility id 65399 callsign meaning american university affiliations national public radio owner american university board of trustees of american university webcast live stream website wamu.org wamu is a public radio station that services the greater washington d.c. metropolitan area . the station broadcasts 24 hours a day on 88.5 fm online at wamu.org and on hd radio at 88.5 hd1 and hd2 . it is owned by american university and its studios are located near the campus in northwest washington . wamu s hd2 broadcasts the bluegrass country service which is also available at bluegrasscountry.org and on air in northern virginia at 105.5 fm . 1 contents 1 history 2 current programming 3 translators 4 references 5 external links history edit wamu began as a carrier current student radio station on july 28 1951 . its signal did not make it too far off the au campus . the station received a commercial fm license in late 1960 and made its first fm broadcast on october 23 1961 . 2 the student radio station is now wvau an internet only station . 3 from its inception wamu has provided public affairs and educational programming . beginning in 1961 wamu was granted a non commercial broadcast license and joined the national educational radio network a predecessor to npr . in 1971 it was a founding member of national public radio . 2 in 1967 wamu began programming bluegrass music which in its heyday on the main channel included the lee michael demsey show and the ray davis show and weekends included mountain stage from west virginia public radio . the station hosted an annual bluegrass concert at fairfax high school as well as the yearly pickin in the glen featuring performers such as alison krauss tony rice the gibson brothers the lewis family hot rize and red knuckles and the trailblazers . 4 the station changed its programming in 2002 transitioning its main channel to all news and public affairs and creating a separate bluegrass station online and on its hd2 channel through a grant from the national endowment for the arts . 2 in 2004 the prominent washington journalist ellen wadley roper left wamu a 250 000 bequest the largest gift in the station s history . 5 when fellow public radio station weta changed to an all classical music format in 2007 wamu became washington d.c. s only full time npr news station . 6 in december of 2015 wamu executives announced that diane rehm would be stepping down from her show following the 2016 presidential election representing a major shake up in wamu s lineup . rehm 79 stated that she wanted a younger voice to take her place at wamu . conversely kojo nnamdi 71 lost its second hour of broadcasting in 2015 showing a trend for easier to access media for younger consumers . 7 current programming edit wamu s main channel carries content from npr american public media public radio international public radio exchange and the bbc world service . news coverage is framed by npr news each hour as well as morning edition and all things considered . the diane rehm show is produced at wamu and heard by an estimated 2 million public radio listeners nationwide . local public affairs programs include the kojo nnamdi show which airs each weekday and metro connection which used to air each friday and saturday . 8 the station also airs several entertainment shows including the long running the big broadcast which originated in 1964 as recollections ; this program which airs for four hours each sunday night features rebroadcasts of drama comedy and variety shows from the golden age of radio including the jack benny show dragnet gunsmoke the great gildersleeve lux radio theater and philco radio time with bing crosby . ed walker himself a storied washington broadcaster served as the program s host from 1990 to 2015 . the station also produces hot jazz saturday night and airs a prairie home companion and this american life . wamu s bluegrass country produces live and original bluegrass music programs including the katy daley show the lee michael demsey show stained glass bluegrass and the ray davis show . translators edit wamu runs the following translators to increase its coverage area call sign frequency mhz city of license erp w class fcc info wrau 88.3 ocean city maryland 50 000 b fcc wyau 89.5 spotsylvania courthouse virginia 8 000 b1 fcc the following translator repeats bluegrass country call sign frequency mhz city of license erp w class fcc info w288bs 105.5 reston virginia 99 d fcc references edit http hdradio.com station guides widget.php id 8 hd radio guide for washington d.c. a b c wamu 88.5 history . retrieved 26 september 2014 . about wvau . retrieved 10 march 2014 . mission & history . retrieved 10 march 2014 . wamu 88.5 fm receives 250 000 bequest ; largest gift in station s history press release . washington d.c. american university . 8 april 2004 . retrieved 26 september 2014 . classical weta s official release . retrieved 10 march 2014 . wamu is making big changes . here s a look at its plans . washingtonian . retrieved 2016 04 01 . station schedules . retrieved 10 march 2014 . external links edit official site wamu bluegrass country website wamu hd channels programming change announcement query the fcc s fm station database for wamu radio locator information on wamu query nielsen audio s fm station database for wamu query the fcc s fm station database for wrau radio locator information on wrau query nielsen audio s fm station database for wrau query the fcc s fm station database for w288bs radio locator information on w288bs v t e radio stations in the washington d.c. market by am frequency washington d.c. 630 980 1120 1260 1340 1450 1500 maryland 540 570 900 950 1030 1050 1160 1540 1560 1580 1600 northern virginia 730 780 920 1190 1220 1250 1310 1390 1460 1480 by fm frequency washington d.c. 88.5 89.3 90.1 90.9 93.9 96.3 97.1 98.7 99.5 100.3 101.1 103.5 107.3 maryland 88.1 91.9 92.7 94.3 94.7 95.5 99.1 99.9 102.3 104.1 107.9 northern virginia 87.7 89.9 94.3 96.7 97.5 97.7 104.3 105.1 105.9 106.7 107.7 noaa weather radio 162.45 162.55 by callsign khb36 w249be waca wamu wash wava wava fm wbig fm wbqh wcrw wcsp fm wctn wdch fm wdcn lp wdct wera lp weta wfax wfed wfre wgop wgts whur fm wiad wiht wilc wjev lp wjfk wjfk fm wkdv wkik wkik fm wkys wlxe wlzl wmal wmal fm wmet wmmj wmuc fm wmzq fm wng736 wol wowd lp wper wpfw wpgc fm wprs fm wpwc wrcw wrqx wspz wtem wtnt wtop fm wura wust wwdc wwgb wwrc wwwt fm wwxt wwxx wycb wzhf defunct stations wcap wgms wtwp wwzz wgtb whfs fm satellite radio local traffic weather xm channel 214 sirius channel 152 washington d.c. metro markets frederick md fredericksburg va baltimore see also list of radio stations in washington d.c. list of radio stations in virginia list of radio stations in maryland v t e npr member stations in the district of columbia by callsign wamu weta by frequency 88.5 90.9 see also pbs district of columbia and list of npr stations see also adult contemporary classic hits college country news talk npr oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in district of columbia v t e american university washington d.c. schools school of professional & extended studies college of arts and sciences kogod school of business school of communication school of international service school of public affairs washington college of law research administrative law review center for congressional and presidential studies washington semester women and politics institute athletics american eagles men s basketball men s soccer bender arena media wamu the diane rehm show kojo nnamdi show people list of american university people places american university park camp american university camp leach katzen arts center harold and sylvia greenberg theatre american university museum tenley campus coordinates 38 56 10 n 77 05 31 w 38.936 n 77.092 w 38.936 ; 77.092 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wamu & oldid 744187469 categories hd radio stationsamerican universitybluegrass musicnpr member stationsradio stations in washington d.c.hidden categories coordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutschfran ais edit links this page was last modified on 13 october 2016 at 17 26 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view