The vacated 88.5 WCUG Lumpkin has been taken over by Columbus State University as “Cougar Radio 88.5“.

The new student-run station will fully-ramp up programming once the fall semester starts as well as adding news and sports programming.

Columbus State University went live today with its first radio station, thanks to a local contribution. Just after midnight, 88.5 WCUG-FM Cougar Radio signed on and inaugurated a new era in student broadcasting opportunities for CSU.

Housed in CSU’s Department of Communication on the RiverPark campus and operated by students under the direction of department faculty and staff, WCUG-FM enables university faculty and students to produce and broadcast original content over the 22,000-watt station, 24 hours a day. In addition to original content, the station will offer a broadcast schedule of music and other programming to fit diverse tastes and interests.

“The CSU Department of Communication is growing in number of majors and in classroom and community opportunities for students to gain practical experience in many areas of the industry said Danna Gibson, chair of the department. “We are excited to launch the station and provide opportunities for communication students to learn all aspects of running a radio station. We are grateful for this gift that will enhance not only our communication studies, public relations and integrated media concentrations but also will open opportunities for all CSU students.”

For now, the music on 88.5 will not change much. But that will change soon. The station plans a limited schedule of programming in the first few months of operation, according to Gibson. The schedule will expand in fall with additional original programming and news, as well as music and sports. “We look to faculty and students to tell us what they want to hear on WCUG,” she said. “This is a great learning lab for our students, but it also is a new alternative in radio listening for our university and the community. I invite you to listen to us as we grow,” she added.

Original Report 6/29: A few Columbus, GA stations are on the move to new locations on Wednesday, July 1.

Christian AC “88.5 The Truth” WBOJ Lumpkin will move its programming to PMB Broadcasting’s 107.7 W299AX Columbus/103.7 WLTC-HD3 as “107.7 The Truth“. That move will displace Spanish CHR “Unidos 107.7” to 1270 WZCG as “Unidos 1270“. PMB had intended to drop the Spanish format from 107.7 at the end of 2014, but that move never took place. 1270 had been running the national Fox Sports Radio feed.

The non-commercial WBOJ, owned by 88.5 The Truth, Inc. shares some common ownership and management with PMB Broadcasting. No word yet on what programming will appear on that frequency come Wednesday, but it will do so under the WCUG call letters. WBOJ will be parked on 1270 replacing WZCG.