The Early Years / 1930s
How Radio at Brown Began
Business manager Louis M. Bloch '40 (left) and program director Vincent Lucas '42 check the Brown Network's programming and advertising schedules. Photo by George Woodruff, May 1940.
The first Brown broadcasting system didn't rely only on radio waves. It also used radiator pipes.
Students found that gas pipes and electrical wires could double as antenna for low-power radio frequency currents. Any radio within 100 feet of a heating pipe could pick up the broadcast.
Radio at Brown began in 1936 with the room-to-room communications and music-sharing of freshmen George Abraham and David Borst. When other students asked to be connected, wires were linked directly to their radios. As word of the broadcasting experiments spread, transmission lines were strung all over campus — through underground steam tunnels and over dormitory rooftops — and called "The Brown Network."
Vincent Lucas '42 and another station member repair the Brown Network's underground transmission lines on Brown's main green, 1941.
In the late 1930s, the University recognized the Brown Network as an official campus activity and granted the broadcasters space in Faunce House. David Borst and his engineers built sound-proof studios and a control room with thirty outlets across campus. Programs were carried over 30,000 feet of wire connecting dormitories and fraternities with transmitters built into their heating or lighting systems.
Because the low-power frequencies radiated such a short distance, the broadcasting system did not require a license from the Federal Communications Commission.
Bringing Sports Home
The original Brown Network showcased live coverage of Brown football, basketball, and baseball games. The station broadcast away games beginning with the Brown-Princeton football game on October 28, 1939. Related programming included "Bruin Up the Sports," a weekly review of college sports scores and events; interviews with athletes and coaches; and a sports quiz with prize giveaways.
Two Brown sports announcers broadcast live from the sidelines.
In the 1940s, the regular "Spotlight on Sports" program — game summaries and predictions — was extended to five nights a week. New technology increased the sports department's presence on airwaves, as tape recorders enabled sports games to be rebroadcast the following day.
WBRU's purchase of an FM license in the 1960s would affect the station's approach to sports. While WBRU-AM staff covered Brown sporting events geared to students, FM staff catered to listeners throughout New England by covering teams like the Boston Red Sox