WAER
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| Broadcast area | Central New York |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 88.3 (MHz) (HD Radio) |
| Programming | |
| Format | Jazz/News/Sports |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Syracuse University |
| History | |
First air date | April 1, 1947 |
| Technical information | |
| Class | 202B |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
| Links | |
| Website | waer.org |
WAER is a radio station in Syracuse, New York at 88.3 on the FM dial. It is located on the campus of Syracuse University, and is an auxiliary service of the school. The station features a jazz music and National Public Radio format, with a news and music staff providing programming around the clock. It is best known, however, for its sports staff, which has produced the likes of Bob Costas, Marv Albert, Mike Tirico, Sean McDonough, Ian Eagle, Dick Stockton and many others. Lou Reed also hosted a free-format show on WAER during his time at Syracuse University; this free-format radio tradition at Syracuse is carried on by WERW.
Student Sports Staff
The WAER sports staff is made up entirely of students. It provides daily sports updates as well as play by play for Syracuse University football, men's basketball, and men's lacrosse. During the summer, WAER also broadcasts Saturday night home games for the International League's Syracuse Chiefs, the AAA affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.
- Training Process
Students learn the sports radio craft in a unique way. All training is conducted by students, with only casual supervision provided by the news director. Every fall, the process begins with a recruitment meeting, where students (mostly freshman) fill out applications and submit broadcast writing samples to the directors of the sports staff. Typically, there are anywhere from 30 to 50 applicants. This number is whittled down to 20, using the applications and personal interviews as guidelines. The new members, called writers, then begin their training process.
It starts with each writer being assigned one morning a week to come in and hand write a sportscast and voice it onto a portable recording device. After each 'cast, the writer meets with his or her assigned personnel director, who is responsible for critiquing the cast and telling the writer what he or she needs to improve upon. The process continues week after week, until such time as the personnel director deems the writer ready to advance, or decides the writer has not progressed enough and needs to be let go. On average, writers take anywhere from two to four semesters to be cleared for air. Though the initial class starts with 20 members, the average class size on the WAER sports staff is about 7 to 9.
The current sports director at WAER is Dan Wolfgang.
Talk Show staff
The WAER talk show staff is student-run and puts on two types of show. One, the Express Sales Lincoln Mercury Double Overtime, airs after every football, basketball, and lacrosse game. This is a post-game call-in show that also includes a reporter, who explains what the coaches and players said to the media after the games. Some callers include former SU lacrosse All-American Ric Beardsley, as well as current SU basketball player Eric Devendorf.
In addition, SportsNight airs every Saturday at 8pm. This show is a magazine style format, similar to "Outside the Lines" on ESPN. The show examines issues such as gambling and sports, violence in athletics, and the growth of commercialism. SportsNight is also known for its yearly previews of the three main Syracuse sports teams, the MLB and NFL seasons, and also the NFL Draft. Previous guests on SportsNight have included SU graduates Bob Costas, Jim Brown, Floyd Little, Ian Eagle, Sean McDonough, Jayson Stark (ESPN.com), Tyler Kepner (New York Times) and Mike Tirico (voice of Monday Night Football). NBA Hall of Famer David Robinson, Sal Paolantonio, a US Congressman, MLB hall of fame member Stan “The Man” Musial and dozens of columnists and writers from around the country. The program has been awarded many awards over the past 11 years.