Milligan student radio station to premiere BBC Introducing in America Friday
MILLIGAN, Tenn. (December 3, 2025) – WUMC, Milligan University’s award-winning student radio station, will join eight other Tennessee college radio stations to launch BBC Introducing in America this Friday, December 5, with a new show airing on the first Friday of every month at 6 p.m.
WUMC will air the program on 90.5 FM and stream at milliganradio.com.
Each show will feature a college radio station, and Milligan’s WUMC is set to be the featured station on January 2, 2026.
“Working with the BBC and the College Radio Foundation is a great partnership for WUMC and a terrific opportunity for our students,” said Professor Simon J. Dahlman, chair of the Performing, Visual and Communicative Arts Area. “The WUMC staff has been preparing for this groundbreaking program for about a year, and Milligan is proud of their efforts. We’re all excited about collaborating with other college stations and the BBC to introduce emerging musical talent from our community.”
The new program will see BBC Introducing join forces with college radio stations, initially in Tennessee, to support upcoming artists and their music, with the intention of expanding to more states across America in the future.
“BBC Introducing in America is a great opportunity for our station to connect our listeners with emerging, talented artists from across the state,” said Michal Curlej, the student station manager of WUMC. “It reflects our mission to support local artists by sharing their work with our listeners. We are all very excited to be able to take part in this amazing project.”
New musicians and artists from Northeast Tennessee will be able to submit their music to milliganradio.com/music to have a chance to get their track played on the radio. Artists in other parts of the state can submit songs to the College Radio Foundation’s site, collegeradio.org.
Introducing in America will be hosted from 90.3 FM WUTK “THE ROCK” at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Along with spotlighting local, independent artists from Tennessee, each Introducing in America show will also feature an artist from the UK, giving up-and-coming UK acts a platform in the US. The first UK artist to be spotlighted on BBC Introducing in America will be Nectar Woode, who was first supported by BBC Introducing in 2022 and performed on the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury in 2025.
Since its inception in 2007, BBC Introducing has seen a continual growth of independent artists submitting their music to the BBC Introducing Uploader. BBC Introducing in America will offer the opportunity to support new and undiscovered talent on an international level, responding to the rise of independent musicians from across the globe, as well as continuing to promote and support artists from the UK, offering a new global platform for their music.
Kelly Betts, Editor of BBC Introducing, says: “From helping to launch one of the original BBC Introducing shows on BBC Three Countries Radio to championing stars like Olivia Dean, Lewis Capaldi and Tom Grennan at the start of their career, I’m pleased to announce Introducing’s next chapter, BBC Introducing in America with the College Radio Foundation.
“Nurturing and spotlighting new music from across the UK has been one of the highlights of my life and I’m so excited to take Introducing across the pond to see who we can uncover and support in the US and what opportunities this brings to UK and US artists alike.”
Rob Quicke, Founder of the College Radio Foundation says: “College radio in the USA continues to play an important role in discovering and championing new music, so partnering with BBC Introducing in America is an excellent and exciting opportunity for us. It will give our student presenters an incredible, unprecedented experience!”
BBC Introducing in America will be available to listen to from Friday, December 5, at collegeradio.org.
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Notes to Editors
The list of stations supporting BBC Introducing in America, Tennessee include:
- WUMC 90.5 FM – Milligan University – 6 p.m.
- WUTK 90.3 FM – University of Tennessee at Knoxville – 5 p.m.
- WRVU – Vanderbilt University – 7 p.m.
- WMTS 88.3 FM – Middle Tennessee State University – 6 p.m.
- WVCP 88.5 FM – Volunteer State Community College – 6 p.m.
- WTTU 88.5 FM – Tennessee Tech University – 2 p.m.
- WETS-FM 89.5 FM – East Tennessee State University – 7 p.m.
- WUTM 90.3 FM – University of Tennessee at Martin
- The Perch – University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
About WUMC
WUMC is Milligan University’s award-winning student radio station. Founded by students in 1996, WUMC has won several national and international awards, most-recently its second Spirit of College Radio Award. Through the station’s brand “The Home of New, Indie & Local Music First,” WUMC students feature independent local artists mixed with new music from top mainstream acts. The station can be heard on 90.5 FM within a 5- to 10-mile radius of the Milligan University campus and worldwide via livestream at milliganradio.com.
About BBC Introducing
BBC Introducing supports new musical talent across the UK. There are over 1,000,000 original tracks uploaded to the BBC Introducing uploader and over 300,000 artists registered.
BBC Introducing provides a platform to propel new artists onto the national stage through Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 6 Music, Asian Network and Radio 3. It gives up-and-coming artists broadcast opportunities on BBC radio, television and online alongside the chance to perform at major festivals and showcases. Big name artists including Ed Sheeran, Florence + the Machine, Lewis Capaldi, Raye, Sam Fender, Aitch, Olivia Dean, Myles Smith, Nia Archives and Tom Grennan all received BBC Introducing support at the start of their careers.
BBC Introducing offers new musicians the chance to get played on national day-time radio, to record their own Maida Vale sessions and perform at some of the biggest festivals in the UK and internationally, including Glastonbury, Radio 1’s Big Weekend, TRNSMT, Reading and Leeds, and The Great Escape.
About College Radio Foundation
The College Radio Foundation is a nonprofit organization with a mission to raise the profile of college radio stations around the world and to encourage increased student participation in the medium of college radio through World College Radio Day, Vinylthon, and the College Radio Fund. Over 1100 radio stations in 58 countries have participated in their events.
About BBC Sounds
BBC Sounds is available to listeners around the world. For those living outside of the UK, all BBC radio stations are available at BBC.com/audio.
About Milligan University
Milligan University is a premier Christian liberal arts university in Johnson City, Tennessee, committed to offering excellent academic programs that are rooted in biblical truth and designed to empower young men and women to lead and serve. The university offers more than 100 majors, minors, pre-professional degrees and concentrations in a variety of fields, along with graduate and adult degree completion programs. To learn more, visit www.milligan.edu or call 423.461.8700.