Thursday night usually signifies the crowding of students in a local bar to unwind after a long week of classes, but last Thursday, one Lansing bar was crowded for a different reason — to celebrate WDBM 88.9-FM’s birthday.
Twenty-five years ago, Impact existed as an AM radio station with a signal that could only be picked up by certain residence halls. Since then, the radio station has built a following for itself, had a tremendous group of alumni and students come through its doors and is continually trying to build its brand to be known as the top student radio station in the country.
Until early last week, damage to the station’s transmission line severely inhibited the reach of its broadcast. They’ve since fixed the issue.
To maintain Impact’s success throughout the next 25 years, station general manager Ed Glazer said they are working to improve three main areas.
The first, he said, is increasing Impact’s streaming capacity by creating mobile apps that would allow their audience to tune into program streams using their phones, iPads and other tablet devices.
As of now, Impact streams its main program and its other station, The Fix. In the future, however, Impact hopes to offer streams of different genres of music, such as an all-hip hop station and a sports station.
Another step that Impact officials hope to take in the future is making MSU a go-to place for bands to perform while they are touring nationwide.
“We also want to take the lead on campus to bring more live music (here) so that students don’t have to go to Detroit or Grand Rapids to catch a live show,” Glazer said.
Glazer said the radio station is an educational resource to students and he believes they’re becoming one of the best places on campus where students can practice what they’re learning.
“We’re looking to expand in terms of teaching social media practice so that when students leave MSU and Impact they are known through out the country as the top practitioners in their craft,” Glazer said.
The rock on Farm Lane, which was painted on Thursday in honor of Impact’s 25th birthday, displayed a new branding image. Although Impact’s previous image was recognizable, Glazer said they wanted to have something that was more modern and representative of what the radio station is today.
“We wanted to build into that logo that we are the MSU student radio station and we think it’s important to associate the idea of Impact with MSU students,” Glazer said.
On Thursday, Impact celebrated at Mac’s Bar with performances by The Soil & the Sun, Flint Eastwood and Kim Vi & The Siblings. Mac’s Bar bartender Craig Doepker said the lineup made for a fun celebration.
“They’re really awesome bands and we have pretty good turn outs, and it’s cool to have (The Soil & the Sun) back,” Doepker said.
Glazer said the station would not have become as successful without the help of its alumni.
“All the success that we have today is built on the hard work of the alumni and the people that came before us,” Glazer said. “We are really lucky to have such an amazing legacy of media here at MSU.”
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