WCHC streams student-run radio from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, mixing indie music, talk shows and campus coverage from a station that has been on air since 1948. It is free to listen right now, anywhere in the world, no account required.
Built From Navy Surplus Gear in a College Attic
WCHC first went on air on December 6, 1948, not as a licensed FM station but as a closed-circuit broadcast limited to the Holy Cross campus itself, running on 640 AM, according to Wikipedia's history of the station. The college launched it as a student activity under the guidance of Rev. John Kelly, S.J., who frequently took to the airwaves himself under the on-air name "Father Pseudo." The earliest broadcasts came out of a renovated attic storeroom on campus, built using leftover Navy surplus equipment rather than anything purpose-made for radio, a genuinely scrappy start for a station that would go on to outlast most of its contemporaries.
Fighting for Reach, One FCC Approval at a Time
By the 1970s, WCHC had grown into a 10-watt FM station broadcasting on 89.1, a modest signal that limited its reach well beyond campus. The station spent years petitioning the FCC for permission to boost its output, finally winning approval in 1988 to jump from 10 watts to 100 watts, a tenfold increase that let WCHC reach most of the city of Worcester for the first time. That power boost came with a catch: the frequency shift to 88.1 was required to avoid interfering with other stations across New England, the number the station still broadcasts on today.
Worcester's Strongest College Signal
Today WCHC describes itself as the only alternative radio source that has served Worcester continuously since 1948, and it remains the strongest college station in the city, with a signal reaching roughly a 15 mile radius. The station is run almost entirely by Holy Cross students, who bring their own tastes to the airwaves, resulting in a schedule that swings from rock to classical and everything in between, alongside talk programming covering sports, politics and campus life.
How to Listen
WCHC streams free on Radio Shuffle. Press play above for student-run college radio broadcasting out of Worcester since 1948.