Michigan Radio

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Michigan Radio is a service of Michigan Public Media, the public broadcasting company at the University of Michigan. Michigan Radio is:

  • WUOM 91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit
  • WVGR 104.1 Grand Rapids
  • WFUM-FM 91.1 Flint
The stations of Michigan Radio are licensed to the Regents of the University of Michigan.

Radio began at the University of Michigan in the early 1920s, when the University began producing programs for WWJ in Detroit. The University's strategy at the time wasn't to own stations, but to produce programs for other stations throughout the state. By the early 1940s, the University changed direction and tried to apply for an AM frequency. All AM frequencies were unavailable, so in 1944, Michigan applied for a station at 43.1 MHz in the experimental FM band. The Federal Communications Commission eventually granted a license to Michigan for 91.7 in the newly-designated FM band and WUOM began broadcasting from Angell Hall on the Michigan campus in 1948. The station moved into its new home in the LS&A Building in 1949, where it stayed until 2003.

WVGR began broadcasting in December, 1961. WFUM-FM followed in 1985, serving the Flint area. (There was an earlier version of WFUM in Flint for a few years in the 1950's, repeating WUOM from Ann Arbor.)

Michigan Radio was a pioneer in educational broadcasting, producing programs in the 1950s and '60s that were heard throughout the country on educational, and some commercial, stations. The station was a charter member of NPR in 1971.

From its first days on the air, Michigan Radio's program service consisted of music, news, discussion programs, lectures, dramas and documentaries, most of which were produced in the station's four large studios at the LS&A Building. On July 1st, 1996, Michigan Radio inaugurated a new era, entering its second half-century of broadcasting with a news/talk format. Since then, Michigan Radio has grown to become one of the largest public radio stations in the country, with 451,000 weekly listeners to the stations (Fall 2005).

Series

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1 Piece

The Environment Report's Rebecca Williams traveled to Isle Royale to meet the researchers who have been watching how wolves and moose interact for 54 years. The research project is the longest continuous study of any predator-prey system in the world.

Caption: State of Opportunity from Michigan Radio
105 Pieces

What can be done to break the cycle of poverty and improve opportunities for the most disadvantaged children?


Latest Pieces

Caption: Guerra calls Coach Jimmie Knight the "King of Second Chances.", Credit: ANDREA CLAIRE MAIO
Cody High School is on Detroit’s west side, in a neighborhood that struggles with blight, drugs and gangs. As Cody football coach Jimmie Knight say...

  • Added: May 01, 2015
  • Length: 48:53
Caption: Battle Creek Fire Captain Michael Fleisher says before signing a military contract, recruits should think hard about the job they want to do in the military and once they get out., Credit: SARAH ALVAREZ / MICHIGAN RADIO
Not all young people find success in high school. Others just aren’t sure college is worth the money. State of Opportunity's Sarah Alvarez has been...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, Delta College Public Radio, and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: May 01, 2015
  • Length: 03:44
  • Purchases: 3
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Michigan’s foster care system was sued more than eight years ago because of the number of kids who were left with abusive families or harmed once t...

  • Added: Apr 24, 2015
  • Length: 03:16
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The State of Opportunity project reports on issues facing low-income families. One of our goals for the project is to help us all understand povert...

  • Added: Apr 17, 2015
  • Length: 49:03
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You see it on your local TV news every few weeks. Or maybe a small article in the paper. Another fire. Another bust. Another story about meth. The ...

Bought by Delta College Public Radio


  • Added: Apr 17, 2015
  • Length: 03:07
  • Purchases: 1
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America is becoming less equal. That much is now widely acknowledged. But what can be done to improve things for the next generation?

Bought by Delta College Public Radio and PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 10, 2015
  • Length: 03:19
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Amber Persons and Yamaka Bracey in class at Davenport University's College of Urban Education., Credit: DUSTIN DWYER MICHIGAN RADIO
One of the challenges for teachers just coming out of college is that the schools they enter are not all created equal. Some teaching approaches mi...

Bought by Delta College Public Radio


  • Added: Apr 03, 2015
  • Length: 03:36
  • Purchases: 1
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We’ve reported often on State of Opportunity about how race can affect children’s lives – that minority groups, on average face worse odds as they ...

  • Added: Mar 27, 2015
  • Length: 03:46
Caption: Students gather for a poetry slam organized by The Diatribe, Credit: COURTESY OF THE DIATRIBE
Most Mondays, a group of poets has taken over a classroom in an alternative high school at Kelloggsville Public Schools in Wyoming. The poets are p...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Mar 27, 2015
  • Length: 06:36
  • Purchases: 1
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People who spend time around kids might have heard themselves say “You’re going to pay for that.” It’s one way of saying behavior has consequences....

Bought by Delta College Public Radio


  • Added: Mar 20, 2015
  • Length: 05:30
  • Purchases: 1