WBFH

WBFH
City Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Broadcast area Detroit, Michigan
Branding The Biff
Slogan Hit Music, Hot Topics, Sports Talk
Frequency 88.1 MHz
First air date October 1, 1976
Format Hit Music, Hot Topics, Sports/Talk, High school station
ERP 360 watts
HAAT 55 meters
Class A
Callsign meaning Bloomfield Hills
Owner Bloomfield Hills School District
Website http://www.wbfh.fm/

WBFH, also known as The Biff, is a community radio station that has operated out of Bloomfield Hills High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan since October 1, 1976. The school district has merged their two high schools into one and has built a new high school on the site of what was Andover High School. The new school opened in September 2015. WBFH now has new studios in a highly visible area off the Commons and Main Street. The new studios have one on air room (Studio A), three production studios (Studios B, C and D), a work room and a storage room. WBFH broadcasts with 360 watts of power at 88.1 MHz on the FM dial. The signal is directional and can be heard throughout mid-Oakland County. The station can also be heard on 89.5 FM, WAHS, owned by the Avondale School District.

WBFH is licensed to the Bloomfield Hills School District and is open to all high school students. Students who want to be on the radio station must first take the prerequisite class entitled Exploring Electronic Media which is a one-semester class. After that, they can apply to be on the WBFH Staff. Due to time and space limitations, not all applicants are selected to be on the Staff. WBFH is run by General Manager/Electronic Media Teacher Pete Bowers who has been supervising the station and teaching the electronic media/radio classes since its inception in 1976. The other management team member is Assistant Manager/Technical Director Ron Wittebols who took over that position in January, 2013 but has a long relationship with the station. WBFH is on the air with live shows from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. school calendar days and 24/7/365 via the DADPro 32 automation system. The students use Adobe Audition for audio editing. Listeners can listen to WBFH online on the station's website www.wbfh.fm, on the Biff Radio app, the High School Radio app and the TuneIn app. WBFH is one of only a few high school radio stations with their own app.

WBFH has won more state and national awards than any other high school radio station in the State of Michigan. They won 1st Place, Best High School Radio Station in the nation in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2015 at the national competition entitled the John Drury High School Radio Awards. They were second place in 2009 and 2012 and third place in 2005.

WBFH has been named the High School Station of the Year in the State of Michigan by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation nine times: 2003, 2004*, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011*, 2013 and 2015.

In addition, the Michigan Association of Educational Broadcasters named WBFH its High School Station of the Year in 1990, 1995 and 2003, the last year the award was given.

The station has a Facebook fan page (search WBFH 88.1 FM, The Biff), a Twitter account (@TheBiff881) and a YouTube channel (TheBiff881).

WBFH is the host station for a national event entitled High School Radio Day (HSRD). HSRD was founded by Pete Bowers in 2012 with the inaugural event held on May 16, 2012. HSRD was created to bring awareness to high school radio stations around the country. The 5th Annual High School Radio Day is scheduled for April 20, 2016. Details about HSRD can be found on the website www.highschoolradioday.com. With his 39 years of experience with high school radio, Bowers has been asked to be a featured speaker at electronic media conferences in New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Orlando, Atlanta, San Antonio, Seattle, Lansing and Grand Rapids.

Notable alumni

WBFH has fostered many successful careers in radio and other media. A list of 90 Biff alumni can be found on the Notable Grads page on the station website:

Other former Biffer bios can be found on the Notable Grads page on the station's website: www.wbfh.fm.

Achievements

John Drury High School Radio Awards (North Central College, WONC, Naperville, IL)
Michigan Association of Broadcasters
Michigan Association of Educational Broadcasters

Bowers has won Best Radio Station Advisor at the John Drury High School Radio Awards in 2005 and 2011. He is the only advisor in the United States to have won that award twice.

The Biff has won many individual radio awards both in the state and nationally. Many wins have been in large part due to individual successes of station staff members. In 2006 Wade Fink won five national awards including four first places. Corey Berkowitz won four in 2007. Ryan Fishman also won five national awards in 2005. Fishman also won a record setting 25 state and national awards over the course of his Biff tenure. Josh Loney won 21 state and national awards during his time at WBFH.

Biffstock

Each April, the Biff holds an annual pledge drive and a benefit rock concert called Biffstock. Donors receive a donor announcement airing every day and a listing on the station's website. The 2014 Biffstock concert featured the pop/rock band Stereo Jane.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.michmab.com/MABF/hscolawards10.html

External links

Coordinates: 42°34′41″N 83°17′10″W / 42.578°N 83.286°W / 42.578; -83.286

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