1:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 26, 1958, at 91.5 FM, from purpose-built studios in the basement of Pettigrew Hall. Despite its technical superiority, FM radio had yet to come into mass acceptance. Since so few people owned FM-capable radios in 1958, FM-to-AM converters were initially installed at strategic locations around the Bates College campus to rebroadcast the signal at 800 AM. However, these converters soon either broke down, or were shut down due to issues with off-campus interference. As a result, WRJR found itself broadcasting to slim audiences, both on campus and off. 1970s and 1980s In the early 1970s, WRJR moved from its purpose-built studio in the basement of Pettigrew to its present quarters in the basement of The Office of Career Services at 31 Frye Street. The new basement location offered multiple studios which have since converted to office space. The station's transmitting antenna was also moved to its present location behind its current studios. Though the call letters WRJR had been with the station for many years, they were not immediately interpretable as being related to Bates College. Station managers, including Jonathan Hall - now a television news anchor in Boston - had tried for a number of combinations, including WBCR (Bates College Radio) and WVBC (Voice of Bates College). Then in the late 1970s, an all-news AM station in Jackson, Mississippi, with the call letters WRBC. went silent. The station applied to the FCC for a new call sign, and on April 5, 1981 (the 126th anniversary of Bates' founding), the small college station formally became known as WRBC ("Radio Bates College"). In 1982, WRBC increased its power output from 10 watts to the present 120 watts. This increased the station's listening area greatly. Previously the station could only be heard on campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods of Lewiston. Although previously licensed to transmit at up to 10 watts, a measurement made in 1974 recorded only 3 watts of actual output from the antenna. After the upgrade the station could now be picked up for about a 10- to 15-mile radius around the Bates campus. The station commenced 24-hour operation in the early 1980s. Students would work 3-hour shifts, and it was no problem finding people willing to do 3–6 am during the week. WRBC also featured news from the ABC radio network during this period, through an agreement with local station WLAM. 1990s and