OUR VIEWS Consensus Opinion

Tech's very own student radio station, WREK, was named the Best Overall Radio Station in Atlanta by Creative Loafing last week. This is a major accomplishment for the radio station, which appeared at risk of undergoing some major changes only a year ago.

The station's victory over established commercial competitors like 99X, Project 96.1 and Dave FM came as a surprise even to the staff, let alone to the student body. This is an indicator of an unfortunate fact: Despite the fact that the station is run by students for students, much of the student body never tunes in to 91.1 FM.

The award indicates that WREK does have a number of active listeners off-campus, however. The unusual and varied musical selections draw a diverse crowd of fans.

Variety is the key distinction that separates WREK from its competition, but it has a number of drawbacks. Very few people listen to WREK consistently, as hardly anyone has a taste eclectic enough to encompass the entire range of its musical selections. Unless one remembers the station's entire schedule, or at least when his or her favorite shows come on, they may find themselves listening to one of the more esoteric programs in its portfolio.

Despite this, it is unquestionable that the diverse programming is the station's top strength. WREK is unlike nearly every other station in the market because it actually makes a conscious effort not to repeat the same song multiple times within the span of a few days, even on similarly-themed shows.

Though listeners might not hear music they like all the time played by the station, WREK provides a fantastic 7-day online archive that allows listeners to catch up on anything they missed. This is a highly uncommon feature for most radio stations, and one that makes the station much more enjoyable.

It is also important to note that a major reason for WREK's success is the quality of the students who run each of the shows. The students are experts in their musical fields, and this expertise shows in the playlists of each show as well as the commentary alongside them.

The station must not rest on its laurels, however. We hope the award will inspire the station to focus on refining some of the minor details, like creating more interesting advertisements for its shows, and help WREK in its quest to improve its hardware and upgrade to broadcasting HD radio.

Meanwhile, we as students should take pride in our award-winning radio station and support them by tuning in-the frequency, in case you haven't listened lately, is FM 91.1.