Clint Dantinne.com
as told by Clint Dantinne employed 1993-2010
Page 1 of 2 with APPENDAGE and SCRAPBOOK
Mount Pleasant Schools Background
Click HERE to see my historical page for the school system.
Radio Station Background
WMPH 91.7 FM radio station serves the three high school of the Brandywine School
District; Brandywine, Concord, and Mount Pleasant.
Unrelated to the conception of WMPH radio station, Mount Pleasant had a radio
and TV club according to the 1956 Green Leaf yearbook. This club focused more on
the engineering aspects of broadcast technology.
The idea for a high school radio station at Mount Pleasant High School was
conceived by the student council Class of 1968.
Note: Until 1978,
this was the Mount Pleasant Special School District. With desegregation,
the New Castle County School District was formed. This new district was
just too large. As a result, four smaller school districts were born in
1981. Mount Pleasant High School now resides within the Brandywine School
District.
After much hard work and approval from the Federal Communications Commission, WMPH at Mount Pleasant High became a reality in
October 1969.
During the formative years of the radio station, it was mainly utilized as an
after school club. Many students benefited from this unique club; the only high
school radio station in the State of Delaware.
As the culture of our community changed, so did the radio station. Due to
unsupervised activities in the radio studios, deviant behavior resulted. The
Brandywine School District Board of Education, established in 1981, became the owner of the radio
station FCC license. Several years later in 1990, the decision of the school was to shut
down the radio station.
During the years WMPH was dark (meaning off the air), the school district
forfeited
the rights of the broadcast license. As an alumnus with radio experience, I gave a written
proposal to the superintendent of the Brandywine School District. The school
district hired me to resurrect the defunct radio station.
Note: I was on the radio station from July 1987 through January 1988 while in high school. Then a student DJ myself, I hosted as Colonel C. I imagined taking WMPH to new heights even then. After graduating Mount Pleasant High School in 1988, I visited a year later. Click HERE for my journal entry.
It was a struggle to again obtain a broadcast license from the Federal
Communications Commission. West Chester University, about 12 miles away,
had applied for the frequency of 91.7 FM during the time WMPH was dark. After negotiations, compromises
were
reached.
WMPH returned to the air on March 1, 1993.
Only two years later, the entire building of Mount Pleasant High School was
completely renovated. For the 1995-1996 school year, the operation of the school
was moved to an alternate location. WMPH was relocated to a trailer four
miles away in Claymont. A dedicated line sent our broadcast audio from the WMPH temporary location
to the original transmitter site. I personally was responsible for moving then reinstalling all broadcast equipment.
The new radio facilities at the high school were designed by me after meeting with an architect. I also
supervised the construction project throughout the year I later moved then again reinstalled all broadcast equipment to the new studios. In the summer of 1996, WMPH returned to Mount
Pleasant High School and a modern studio.
In 2003, another minor renovation took place as new windows were installed
throughout the school. The radio station remained on-air during this
construction project.
Radio Station Programming
The programming of WMPH has always been source of debate since its inception. In
the early 1970s, WMPH was primarily a rock station. It later became an open
format. The station remained an open format when I reinstated the station in
1993. After careful consideration to resolve content and personnel problems, the programming on WMPH was changed to a
dance music format.
When we say ‘open format’, we are referring to an anything goes station.
Provided the content is free of obscenities, the disc jockey has total control
of the music choice. The student DJs like freedom to play whatever they wish,
but the station as a whole would have few regular listeners.
During this time, WMPH allowed adults in the community to have shows late nights
and weekends. Variety shows consisted of Latin (salsa & merengue), Christian
modern rock & ska, jazz, reggae, world music, oldies, heavy metal, rap, punk,
talk, and sports.
With a dedicated music format such as dance, listeners know what to expect. An
actual identity is created and many more people listen regularly.
It is important that a radio station establish an identity with its community
and prospective listening audience. No single radio station can effectively be
‘all things to all people’ as proven by broadcast ratings and radio advertising
sales.
Why dance music? Dance music is radio friendly, meaning clean lyrics. Dance
music is known for ‘feel good’ socially positive messages. And, the dance music
industry is growing substantially in the U.S. and worldwide. The largest high
school radio station in the United States, based in Seattle, adopts the dance
music format.
Note: Clint Dantinne wrote a blueprint for growth within the dance music industry in 2007 titled the Declaration of Dance.
Today’s dance music is combination of original music from both aspiring and
established industry artists, remixes of retro dance songs, and remixes of
current popular hit music.
Dance music reaches a very large demographic which includes a mixed sampling of
all cultures, races, and ages. Dance music almost equally appeals to men and
women.
Dance music is commonly played by disc jockeys at nightclubs, radio stations,
raves, and parties. Mobile DJs play dance music to entertain at wedding
receptions and other special events.
WMPH does all of our own programming each day. Everything you hear, each song
and announcement, is generated at the WMPH studios.
Broadcast Learning Center
WMPH was a catalyst for the Broadcast Learning Center of the Brandywine School
District. As the Broadcast Learning Center founder and educator, I supervise all
forms of communication at the school including radio, television, film,
recording, puppets, and the radio and school web sites.
I am also responsible for collaborating with the Afterschool Alliance, an
advocacy group of public, private, and nonprofit organizations committed to raising awareness
and expanding resources for afterschool programs.
Radio - WMPH 91.7 FM
WMPH 91.7 FM radio station is the primary component of the Broadcast Learning Center.
The radio station operates 24 hours each day year-round. Being the manager and designated chief operator, I was on call 24/7.
Click HERE to listen to a 5 minute 30 second MP3 sample of WMPH archived voices during my administration. From 1993-2010, many thousands of announcements were recorded for WMPH with a variety of voices including personal drops from the artists themselves.
The purpose of our radio station is about people. We teach our students the
importance of public service and interaction with diverse aspects of our
community.
Our students are trained in a professional environment with the latest resources
in broadcast technology.
Guests are frequently interviewed by our student radio hosts either live in the
studios or via telephone.
Students learn not only the technical skills to succeed, but what to say on the
air and how to say it.
Many well recognized personalities have visited our radio studios including
politicians, Miss Delaware USA...
...sports stars including the Harlem Globetrotters, and numerous musicians.
We teach the art of radio voice tracking and...
...non-linear recording and editing.
WMPH broadcasts live from many community events. We have a 100 square foot
customized canopy for remote broadcasts.
The radio students often remotely DJ from school dances and other special
events.
We have participated in many community expos including this one for the annual New
Castle County Chamber of Commerce Women's Expo at the Dupont Country Club.
Our students have gathered news from press conferences and regional events such as the Delaware State Fair.
We broadcast from local carnivals and festivals...
...and, of course, our school functions including homecoming.
Although a not-for-profit organization, WMPH is a member of the New Castle
County Chamber of Commerce.
We have hosted our own concerts with performers of the dance
music industry and organized special live events.
Since its’ conception in the late 1960s, WMPH is no stranger to local news.
Throughout my own tenure with the school, our radio station has appeared many
times in the local press. I have been interviewed on local television and news
radio stations.
I was also a guest on the WPVI-6 ABC weekly television show Puerto Rican Panorama, hosted by Diego Castellanos, discussing Latino radio issues. At the time, WMPH had several hours each weekend dedicated to Hispanic programming. Separately, I had appeared as a guest on local community access television shows. WMPH was also featured on First State News televised broadcast.
In June of 2009, WMPH was recognized nationally for standing up against a
proposed performance tax. We boycotted the artists that unfairly demand radio stations
pay them for playing their music. On June 10, this Associated Press story went
all over the United States in every major newspaper. Notice the line "A
Delaware radio station boycotted all artists affiliated with musicFIRST for an
entire month." This refers directly to the WMPH 91.7 FM boycott of 2007.
On June 16 of 2009, the News Journal ran a front page story on the WMPH boycott of 2007
and our ongoing stand against a performance tax.
Then on June 28, Philadelphia’s channel 6 Action News featured WMPH on their
televised news for leading a protest against a music performance tax.
Like any other radio station, the WMPH brand appears on T-shirts, bumper
stickers, and other
merchandise. We have also been listed in the Yellow Pages.
WMPH has appeared on billboards, magazine and newspaper ads, and community
access television.
The technology powering the operation of WMPH is first-rate. We have a
sophisticated automation and computer network, RDS input to our transmitter, and
remote broadcasting system. Our satellite antenna is capable of receiving
syndicated network feeds. In addition to our FM stereo broadcast, WMPH was heard for
several years on the second audio program of Comcast channel 8.
WMPH has always been independent of the school district’s technology support
system. We build our own computers and servers, supply our own broadband
internet, and utilize our own video surveillance system.
** During the summer of 2010, WMPH will be running new audio and video cables to
various remote locations on the property of Mount Pleasant High School. We will
then have the opportunity to not only broadcast live events on our radio
station, but on television as well.
On our FM frequency of 91.7 megahertz, WMPH reaches over a half million
potential listeners in northern Delaware including portions of Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, and Maryland.
Listeners are informed of weather, traffic, local news, and school closings.
WMPH airs a series of educational features, public service announcements, and
community updates.
According to the Dale Carnegie quote, “There are four ways, and only four ways,
in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by
these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say and how we say it.”
We teach our student disc jockeys how to prepare content for their weekly scheduled radio
shift.
WMPH gives great experience for students interested in being a DJ, radio host,
television personality, public speaker, news journalist, sports announcer, or
music promoter. Some of our students have pursued a career in teaching.
They later remarked the valuable communication skills learned at our radio
station.
Our radio students learn how to operate all broadcast equipment, communicate to
a LIVE radio audience, develop a weekly radio show, and follow the rules and
regulations of the (FCC) Federal Communications Commission.
Our radio workshops have definitive Goals, Action Plans, Vision, Purpose, and
Strategies.
After approval by the Delaware Department of Education, a new career pathway
of courses was introduced at the school based on the radio and TV program.
Mount Pleasant High School wrote the standards for these classes.
Students following this pathway have a series of courses pertaining to
communications technology, mass media, and broadcast journalism.
Many hundreds of students have participated with the radio station since its’
first broadcast day in 1969. We are proud of our many alumni that have pursued
broadcasting, public relations, and mass media communications as their career
choice.
WMPH celebrated our 40th anniversary of broadcasting in October 2009. The
founders of WMPH were students, not faculty or administrators. Jess Morris, student
council president for the Class of 1968, had the vision for a high school radio station.
His fellow classmate, Bob Huber, performed most of the logistical work to make
this dream a reality.
WMPH radio station serves three vital roles in our community: the educational
development of students, the promotional needs of our school district, and the
entertaining and informative desires of our listening audience.
Internet Radio - WMPH 2
WMPH was the catalyst for the Broadcast Learning Center of the Brandywine School
District. We also have a completely separate radio facility broadcasting on the
internet.
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