Aside from the broad spectrum of music played on The Lion 90.7 FM, Penn State students have another reason to tune in -- the station has been nominated for an mtvU Radio Woodie award.
"The soundtrack to Penn State," was nominated for best campus radio station.
The sixth annual awards show will air on mtvU, MTV, MTV2 and music TV station Palladia on Dec. 4.
The Lion 90.7 FM ranked among the top 25 out of 300 nominees, radio president and general manager Zachary Zimbler said. The station did not make the top 5 category that will be specifically mentioned at the awards, but Zimbler (sophomore-division of undergraduate studies) said he is confident that the station has a good shot next year.
"Even if we don't get nominated again next year, we will still continue to make the station and our product better," Zimbler said.
The multi-format station, which features classic rock, modern rock, talk radio and sports coverage, is different from what you'd find at most colleges, promotions director Eleni Psaltis (senior-public relations and sociology) said.
The Radio Woodie honors 25 college radio stations committed to bringing students the latest independent and emerging music, according to the mtvU Web site. The top stations are picked based on accolades from CMJ College Radio acknowledgements, Princeton Review nominations, online votes and independent questionnaires completed by record labels. This year, mtvU utilized RateMyProfessors.com to let students vote online at the site.
The five stations that beat out The Lion in the Radio Woodie category are KCOU 88.1, University of Missouri; WPTS 92.1, University of Pittsburgh; Coyote Radio, California State University: San Bernardino; WCRD 91.3, Ball State University; and KUPS, University of Puget Sound, according to the mtvU Web site.
"This is such a great experience for the station because it's a huge honor, and a lot of people don't know that we broadcast from the HUB," Psaltis said. "We broadcast to Penn State students and all of the college world, and this shows our hard work has paid off."
The main goal of the Woodies is to listen to the college audience, Eric Conte, executive producer of the mtvU Woodie Awards, said -- and college students are great at predicting what's big in music, he said.
"The Woodies are unlike any other award show," Conte said. "There is a great vibe in the historic Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan -- it is a huge party with a room full of people who love music."
