WUTC 88.1 is a public radio station in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the United States. Since going on the air in 1979, it has been owned and operated by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and broadcasts from Cadek Hall on the UTC campus. The station is a member of National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and American Public Media, and broadcasts a variety of modern music, including alternative, rock and related genres. WUTC has a broadcast radius of approximately 100+ miles over four states, except to the west, being limited by Monteagle Mountain. WUTC began streaming its broadcast online in July 2002. In May 2006, WUTC became the first Chattanooga radio station to simulcast its broadcast in HD Radio format. Until 1988, WUTC rebroadcast the morning programming of WUOT-FM in Knoxville; afterward, WUTC obtained its own satellite downlink and was able to obtain nationally syndicated programming on its own. In October 1995, WUTC became the exclusive home in the Chattanooga market for several NPR programs, including Morning Edition,All Things Considered,Car Talk and Weekend Edition, when the nearby WSMC-FM dropped them due to conflicts with religious programming on its schedule . WUTC-FM maintains a mix of syndicated programming and local music shows in its weekday schedule, with a focus on syndicated shows almost exclusively on weekends. In March 2017, The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga fired WUTC reporter Jacqui Hulbert who interviewed state politicians about the transgender bathroom bill, after they suggested they did not know she was a journalist even though she was reportedly wearing headphones and a microphone with the WUTC logo. The dismissal came after state legislators complained to university officials. Station and university officials said that Hulbert breached journalistic ethics by not identifying herself as a journalist or giving the legislators a chance to comment before the story aired. However, critics claimed station and university officials overreacted out of fear that the legislature would reduce their funding.
