WTUL is a progressive/alternative FM radio outlet in New Orleans, Louisiana, operating at 91.5 MHz with an ERP of 1.5 kW and established in 1959. The station, operated primarily by students of Tulane University, offers a mix of cutting-edge progressive, electronica, classical, New Age, straight ahead jazz, folk, blues Latin, world reggae, show tunes, kid's show and an eclectic mix of a variety of genres.
The original broadcasting home of Jerry Springer, Ernie K-Doe and DJ Soul Sister, WTUL has a long tradition as the oldest non-commercial radio station in New Orleans with its show Reggae Roots and Branches being the longest running reggae show in America.
WTUL Won Editor’s Pick for Best Radio Station in The Gambit’s Best of New Orleans 2012 and was voted Radio Station of the year by OffBeat Magazine in 2010.
Additionally, the station was awarded Tulane’s Organization of the Year in 2011 as well as named Tulane’s Program of the Year for our work with Toyota and Free Yr Radio at Voodoo Music Festival in 2010 and 2011. Click here to read a profile on Spinning Indie and New York Magazine mentioned WTUL in their article The Urbanist’s New Orleans: What to Do.
WTUL went off the air on 28 August 2005 as Hurricane Katrina approached the New Orleans area. The Tulane campus building which housed the station (itself a temporary location due to the renovation of the University Center) was damaged by the resulting flood waters. On 15 December 2005 the station began broadcasting again, using donated studio space on the mezzanine of the Rue de la Course coffeehouse in the Carrollton neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans, about 10 blocks from the Tulane campus. The station kept its Internet broadcast running via donated bandwidth from CCRMA at Stanford University. The station resumed a limited broadcast until it moved to Uptown Square on the corner of Broadway Street and Leake Avenue. It is now broadcasting on a normal 24 hour schedule from a new studio in the basement of the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life on the Tulane campus. WTUL is volunteer-run, accepting DJs from across the Tulane and New Orleans community.