WSYC to be ‘Up All Night’

Shippensburg University’s campus radio station, WSYC 88.7 FM, will be on air for 24 hours nonstop from 8 a.m. April 21 to 8 a.m. April 22, for its fourth “Up All Night” broadcast event.

The idea of “Up All Night” was pitched as a public relations project in 2012 to promote an increase in listenership for WSYC over the 24-hour period. According to WYSC General Manager Samuel Fritz it has been a tradition that has stuck with the station ever since.

“So many students say to me — wait we have a radio station?” Fritz said. “This event allows us to remind students that there is a campus radio station, because a lot of people seem to forget.”

Unlike last year’s, “Up All Night” event in which half of the broadcast was held in the Ceddia Union Building (CUB) Multipurpose Room (MPR), this year it will be broadcasted solely from the WSYC studio.

“We will be focusing on 24 quality hours on air,” Fritz said.

According to Fritz, centralizing the broadcast will also give the station a better chance to rebuild by doing a really good in-studio broadcast.

Throughout the night numerous student DJ’s will take shifts in the studio, giving listeners a well-mixed musical variety. More than $3,000 worth of prizes will also be given away to lucky student listeners every hour on air.

“The prizes have definitely gone up in value this year,” Fritz said.

Some of the prizes that will be given away during “Up All Night” include gift cards to places such as Wendy’s and Sheetz, tickets to music festivals and concerts and Bluetooth speakers. However, WSYC is still finalizing the details for some potential prizes.

“Don’t expect to just call in and win,” Fritz confessed. “It’s up to the on-air DJ as to how the prizes will be given away, but prepare to be adventurous for the prize. I might say to meet me outside of the CUB and the first one there gets the prize.”

This year’s WSYC “Up All Night” broadcast will also run through WSYC and The Slate’s 60th anniversary celebration on April 21. With student-media alumni on campus, WSYC hopes to recruit some alumni to come into the studio to DJ a few songs and share their stories with listeners.

“Up All Night” is something that WSYC anticipates every year because it gives the station a chance to show listeners, who may not typically tune in to 88.7 FM, that WSYC takes their work just as seriously as other well-known local stations.

“Listenership doubles, if not triples during ‘Up All Night’ because we advertise it and give away prizes,” Fritz said. “Last year the phones were ringing off the hook, and that never happens.”

Fritz encourages all students to tune into WSYC during “Up All Night” for good music, stories and what he thinks should sell everyone — free stuff.

“A 24-hour radio broadcast is an experience that just about every college campus has the ability to do,” Fritz said. “But what makes WSYC different from the rest, is that we actually do it.”