Lancer Radio is College of Lake County’s student-run radio program, where classroom learning meets real-world broadcasting. Open to CLC students enrolled in at least a half-time course load, the program is offered at no additional cost. New members receive hands-on studio training and one-on-one guidance from the program advisor and broadcast engineer before stepping behind the mic. From there, student DJs design and host their own shows, which stream online and, through our partnership with WYML 99.9 FM, air on FM radio at select times. Many Lancer Radio alumni have gone on to use these skills in broadcasting, sports media, and digital content creation.
Explore the timeline below to see how Lancer Radio has grown and changed over the years.
Here is a chronological timeline of events that have taken place on Lancer Radio.
Click on the years below to expand the section for more detail.
October 3, 2014, 10 AM
After several days of review and rebuild, the student radio station is back on the air once again. Formerly called WCLC, WLC and CLC Radio, the station has been rebranded "Lancer Radio" with a back-from-the-dead theme to illustrate its rebirth. Taking control of the station for the first time is Wes Hampson, Evie Bennett, and Zoe Antonioni playing "Radio Radio" by Elvis Costello.
October 8, 2014
Daniel Phillip of Trident Deep performs his song, "Sway" live on air.
September 13, 2015
We have big news, for those who may not have heard yet!
Lancer Radio is going FM (part-time, anyway)! That's right — for the first time ever, CLC will have an actual FM
broadcast originating from the Lancer Radio studios with student hosts running the show, thanks to a partnership
with WRLR 98.3 FM!
From 9am–3pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, student DJs will be on FM. Tune in to 98.3 on your FM dial in
most of Lake County (and parts of McHenry County and southeast Wisconsin) and hear what Lancer Radio has to offer!
We go LIVE on FM starting Tuesday, September 22 at 9:00am!
– Mick Cullen
September 22, 2015
Lancer Radio DJ Victor Salgado is interviewed about being on Lancer Radio by the Chicago Tribune. In a piece titled "CLC Students hit the FM airwaves in Lake County," the Tribune tells the story about Lancer Radio partnering with WRLR-LP. Unfortunately the Tribune no longer has the article up on the website.
October 29, 2015
"It was fun while it lasted, but as they say, 'good things come to an end.'"
Lancer Radio, our staff and DJs wish to thank Rondaradio for the opportunity to broadcast our programming on WRLR-LP.
Today we are saddened to announce it is our last day of programming on 98.3.
This isn't the end for Lancer Radio, however — we are still streaming on the internet 24x7 all year round as we always have.
January 2016
It seemed like we had just gotten settled into the studio, and then we needed to clear the space to make way for CLC's new science building that extends outward from the main entrance of Building C into what was formerly a faculty parking lot. This construction continued into the C building and included the Student Activities area where our studio was. At this point, we moved into temporary spaces in the library basement.
October 2016
Lancer Radio resumes terrestrial broadcasting, this time on WYML-LP Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during live student shows between 8 AM and 5 PM. WYML is broadcast from the Prairie Grove government building in Prairie Grove, IL. WYML 99.9 FM covers eastern McHenry County and western Lake County.
February 13, 2017
To provide another way for listeners to tune in, Lancer Radio signs on with Nobex Partners to produce a smart device app for Lancer Radio. It is available in Apple, Android and BlackBerry app stores as a free download. The app allows users to listen live to the stream, send song requests or other notes to the DJs, and view our social media.
February 19, 2017
Nate Kordas and Wes Hampson assist our engineer in reconnecting some of the equipment in a small closet in the library basement.
March 31, 2017
CLC adds a new science wing and builds a new commons area. We move from our old spot in the C Wing to a brand new studio!
Because our studio was right where the remodeling was taking place, the college relocates the radio station to the new addition.
August 19, 2018
In August 2018, we move the Lancer Radio studio from an interior room inside the student activities space to a former conference room with a large window that overlooks "Student Street" right off the main entrance.
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2020
The College of Lake County campus is closed due to a worldwide pandemic. SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, coronavirus causes the world to quarantine for an extended period. CLC starts offering online classes in the meantime. Unfortunately, nobody can access the Lancer Radio studio, so no new DJs can be trained or shows produced. Due to firewall rules, Lancer Radio is unable to operate remotely unlike the rest of the college.
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October 2023
The AudioArts D16 console that has been in operation for more than 17 years finally signs off the air. The digital audio processing chip fails, resulting in the station going silent over break. The appliance was very reliable during its run. How many electronic devices can you think of that last much longer than their manufacturer’s warranty?
January 18, 2024
After finding our AudioArts D16 console dead, CLC approves Lancer Radio to replace the console with a similar unit with modern features. An AudioArts DMX16 console is installed and tested for broadcast. This console is an all-digital system that uses blade modules to interface. All the modules are connected using a modern protocol called "Audio over IP" (AoIP). This allows individual modules called "blades" to be incorporated into the system to provide nearly unlimited expansion.
Our system currently uses an AudioArts Mix Engine as the primary driver. It handles most of the audio mixing and inputs for CD players, turntables, telephone and two auxiliary microphones. A second blade includes microphone preamplifiers and processing for the four main studio microphones. It also has four USB connections for computer / laptop audio input/output.
This system can also utilize Dante audio over IP, where sound is sent via Ethernet through the system, eliminating the need for sound cards or other third-party interfaces. The control surface is the AudioArts DMX16 console that features 16 programmable faders that can be routed to any input on the system. Unlike traditional consoles, this is only a control surface — all the audio processing takes place on the connected blades.
May 28, 2025
Radio Milwaukee welcomes the 2025 Lancer Radio DJs for a tour of their broadcast facility at 220 E. Pittsburgh Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin.