Billboard

WDBX wants to hear from local non-profit groups about your events and activities! Email information about Public Service Announcements on WDBX to wdbxpsa@gmail.com. Help us get the word out about your group's charitable work! Public Service Announcements are made without charge and all announcements are subject to review and edit and may not contain promotions for businesses of any type. Announcements about charitable events held at business locations are also not allowed.

Contact Information

WDBX Community Radio for Southern Illinois 91.1fm
224 N. Washington St.
Carbondale, IL 62901
Office: 618-529-5900
Studio: 618-457-3691 
E-mail: wdbx911@yahoo.com
Public Service Announcements: wdbxpsa@gmail.com
Studio: djs@wdbx.org

History

On a sunny, spring afternoon in 1992, Tom Egert drove home to Carbondale from St. Louis propelled by the sounds of reggae and salsa on his car radio. This enlivening musical mix broadcast by KDHX, St. Louis' community radio station, brought Tom happily within 20 miles of his home before he'd driven out of range of the station. Scanning the local radio dial, he could find no comparable musical programming and in that moment of frustration the idea of creating an invigorating, culturally diverse, community radio station in southern Illinois was born. Heterodyne Broadcasting Company, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization was founded in 1993 and ground for the station building was broken in the fall of 1995. The first Volunteer recruitment meetings were held February 6, 1996. Over 100 people attended the two meetings that day; from those, 40 completed training and began regular operations about two weeks later. At first the station was on the air from 4-10pm daily and grew quickly from there. Currently, over 100 volunteers produce more than 80 weekly programs. Several have been on the air from the very beginning. Our programming is a mirror of the diversity of our community, with music from across the street to around the world, as well as a vibrant section of local talk programming and more.

In August 2003, thanks to the efforts of our founder Tom Egert, the late US Senator Paul Simon, and the generous contributions of our listeners, we increased our broadcast power from 700 to 3,000 watts. WDBX now covers all of Jackson and Williamson counties, as well as most of Perry and Franklin, and parts of Union, Johnson and Saline counties. In all, our signal can reach over 100,000 southern Illinoisans. In December of 2005, thanks to the efforts of member James Throgmorton and Neon Internet, we began streaming live at wdbx.org. WDBX can now be heard around the world! Our stream is also available at shoutcast.com and radiotime.com.

Governance

WDBX is governed by a ten-member Board of Directors, made up of three members of the Board of Directors of Heterodyne Broadcasting Company, who are permanent members and seven directors elected from amongst our membership. Elected directors serve a two-year term with no term limit. Anyone may become a member of WDBX simply by making an annual membership contribution. Up to two members of the volunteer staff may also serve on the Board. The WDBX Board sets station policy and supervises the Station Manager, who operates the company and selects, trains and supervises the volunteer staff.

The WDBX Board of Directors:

John Hochheimer (Chair)
Gene Turk
Tom Egert
Navreet Kang
Tim Damian
Kathy Livingston
Jason Shoot
Jim Wall
Alex Paull