In 2014, it was given the accolade “Best College Station in the Nation,” a plaque that proudly hangs on the wall of Gannon University’s radio station, 90.5 WERG.
The station has been live on-air since 1942 and every year adds more awards to its collection. Just last year it received the award of “Best PSA” for the “Relay for Life” from College Broadcasters, Inc. and the station was a finalist again for “Best College Radio Station (Under 10,000 students)” from Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, a conference WERG staff members attend every year in March.
The radio station has had several homes, including the basement of the Zurn Science Center, but was moved to the second floor of the Center for Communication and the Arts several years ago.
Gannon’s radio station plays a wide variety of artists, with the main genre of music being rock alternative, such as artists Alt-J, Panic! At the Disco, The Aces and Thirty Seconds To Mars.
“Listening to the station always puts me in a good mood because the music is all stuff you can jam out to with your friends,” said sophomore pre-medicine student, Camryn Grey, who also serves as the co-director of social media for the station.
WERG is live on-air with student and guest DJs all week long for the morning drive, afternoon drive and even polka music on Sundays for those who are fans.
Attention has also been gained for things such as best promotion, best manager and accolades other than the selection of music.
The station has its many aspects besides being live on-air for those that do not want to be, the team works around-the-clock working on promotions, production, social media, news, programming and music to bring the Erie community a premier college radio station.
Students are not just on-air at WERG, “The behind the scenes aspects of WERG are just as essential as on-air talent,” said senior theatre communications student and general manager, Molly Cooke.
“Without someone programming, or a music director, we wouldn’t have anything to play,” she said. “And without production and promotions there is no way we could be a tool to connect listeners to events. It’s how listeners, community, and campus can benefit from each other.”
Another huge aspect of WERG is the amount of specialty shows that allow students the opportunity to share their passion on a large platform in the form of talk shows and specialty music shows.
Prime Time Sports Guys has been on the air for a number of years. This group will get together every Thursday at 6 p.m. to talk about everything from professional major and minor league sports to college sports.
The other contenders on WERG are Tuesday Night’s Top 30 hosted by Andy Drew followed by Record Surfing hosted by Allan Collins, you can listen to the most eclectic collection of music from some local artists.
Listen from 9 p.m. to midnight on Fridays to hear a change in genre with Radio Roulette. Some DJs will have themes to their radio roulette’s such as ‘80s music, Justin Timberlake or even the best in country.
There are two new shows this year on WERG, the first being International Masterminds on Mondays at 8 p.m. hosted by Sydney Oyatta playing all kinds of music of different cultures.
The second show is The VIP, which will be on Monday’s at 6 p.m. where the hosts will talk about the latest in music, movies and TV shows. They are even slotted to talk about Halloween movies, D.C. vs. Marvel comics, and the best Panic! At The Disco album.
“The most exciting part about making my own speciality show is getting an opportunity to make people happy and bring them the best content possible simply by being myself and talking about the things I love and am most passionate about,” said Nicolis Franz, sophomore digitial media student and co-host of the VIP.
There is something for everyone on WERG. To get involved at the station, contact training director, Brian Bowersox at [email protected].
AMY BENKOVICH
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