In 1975, a group of radio enthusiasts, artists, and community minded individuals worked together to realize the potential of bringing a variety of programming and people together behind one frequency. Rather than being limited to the strictures of what Studs Terkel called “narrowcasting”, the founders of WEFT made the commitment to cast it’s net much wider, in the spirit of true broad-casting.

The call letters came from a retired navy ship radio station. The concept was to take the word weft, a weaving term (the weft, the warp, and and the weave), to unite the distinct and varied threads of culture and views from listening community, to be reflected in the on-air programming.

By 1980, WEFT was one step closer to the airwaves, as it began broadcasting first as a cable FM station in 1980, based at it’s only home, 113 N. Market St., in the heart of downtown Champaign. After six years of fund raising, organizing and paper chasing, WEFT transmitted its first official broadcast signal at 90.1FM on September 26, 1981. With a transmitter towering over the rooftop of the old Inman Hotel just around the corner from the station, that first signal had a power of just fewer than 1,000 watts.

By 1988, WEFT had an opportunity to make increase its power from 1,000 to 10,000 watts of stereo. This expansion enlarged the coverage area bordering on several adjacent counties, broadcasting to several towns and villages throughout East Central Illinois.

During the 1990s, WEFT built its volunteer staff and enhanced its programming capabilities. In 1992, the station purchased the building that has housed the WEFT studios since the beginning. In 1993, WEFT went to a 24-hour format, increasing the need for volunteers but also allowing more community members to have a voice on the airwaves. By the mid-late 1990s, efforts were made to expand the station’s promotional efforts into the community, and replace some aging equipment.

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