WYPR

Last updated

WYPR
Broadcast area Baltimore, Maryland
Frequency 88.1 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding88.1 WYPR
Programming
Language(s) English
Format Public radio (News/Talk/Jazz)
Subchannels HD2: BBC World Service
HD3: Classical
Ownership
OwnerBaltimore Public Media
WTMD
History
First air date
1979(45 years ago) (1979) (originally carrier current 1945–1979) (as WJHU)
Former call signs
WJHU (1979–2002)
Call sign meaning
We're Your Public Radio
Technical information
Facility ID 65753
Class B1
ERP 15,500 watts
HAAT 129.6 meters
Repeater(s) 88.1 WYPF (Frederick)
106.9 WYPO (Ocean City)
Links
Webcast Listen Live
Listen Live (HD2)
Listen Live (HD3)
Website wypr.org

WYPR (88.1 FM) is a public radio station serving the Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area. Its studio is in the Charles Village neighborhood of northern Baltimore, while its transmitter is in Park Heights. The station is simulcast in the Frederick and Hagerstown area on WYPF (88.1 FM) and in the Ocean City area on WYPO (106.9 FM).

Contents

WYPR is Baltimore's flagship National Public Radio member station, carrying content from NPR, American Public Media (the distribution arm of Minnesota Public Radio), Public Radio Exchange and the BBC World Service (on HD2). WYPR also provides Classical 24 on its HD3 subchannel. In addition, WYPR produces several of its own shows, including the public affairs-focused programs Midday and On The Record, the award-winning, sonic-storytelling series Out of the Blocks as well as local news coverage and special newsroom series.

Starting in 2015, the Baltimore Magazine Reader's Poll has named WYPR the Best Radio Station in Baltimore three years in a row. The station also won Best Radio Show Host, and Best News Website in 2017.

History

The station signed on in 1979, as WJHU, a 10-watt student-run station owned by Johns Hopkins University. It took over from a carrier current station that had operated under the same calls on AM 830 since 1945. Originally a typical freeform college radio station, it boosted its power to 25,000 watts in 1985, allowing it at least secondary coverage of the entire Baltimore/Washington corridor. Soon after the power increase, Johns Hopkins converted the station into a full-time professional operation, allowing it to become Baltimore's NPR member station. [1] It originally aired a mix of classical music and NPR programming, but on June 23, 1995, switched to a primarily news/talk format.

Johns Hopkins put the station up for sale in 2000, due to the expense of maintaining it, as well as a change in focus that no longer included radio. [1] [2] In 2002, Your Public Radio Corp., a community group, bought the station and changed its calls to WYPR. In 2004, Your Public Radio Corp. bought religious broadcaster WJTM in Frederick, which became a relay of WYPR with the call letters of WYPF. WYPF's signal also covers Hagerstown. On July 30, 2007, Your Public Radio Corp. bought Ocean City, Maryland alternative rock station 106.9 WRXS, which began simulcasting WYPR starting September 10, 2007. That station was renamed WYPO on October 3, 2007. The three stations provide at least distant-grade coverage to almost two-thirds of Maryland.

For much of the time from the late 1990s to 2008, it operated at only 10,000 watts. While this provided a decent signal to Baltimore itself and most of its close-in suburbs, many of Baltimore's outer suburbs, including Annapolis, only got a grade B signal. In 2008, it increased its power to 15,500 watts, giving it a coverage area roughly comparable to the other major Baltimore stations. Two years earlier, University of Maryland student station WMUC in College Park, which at the time also broadcast at 88.1MHz, raised concerns about co-channel interference due to its class D license that does not protect it from interference, in contrast to WYPR's class A license. [3] [4]

In May 2021, WYPR announced plans to acquire Towson-based WTMD, an adult album alternative station owned by Towson University. The $3 million deal is contingent on Federal Communications Commission approval. [5] WTMD will retain its format and programming. The sale was closed on November 10, 2021, officially making WTMD a sister station to WYPR. [6]

In 2024, the stations' parent changed its name to Baltimore Public Media and introduced new sonic identities for both WYPR and WTMD. [7]

Repeaters

Call sign Frequency
(MHz)		 City of license ERP
W 		Class FCCFirst airdateFormer callsigns
WYPF88.1 Frederick, Maryland 1,000B1 FCC (WYPF) May 1991WFXM (1984–1986)
WJTM (1986–2004)
WYPO106.9 Ocean City, Maryland 4,500A FCC (WYPO) 1994WLGE (1993)
WRXS (1993–2007)

Programs

Newsroom Series

Events

WYPR is a media sponsor of the local Patterson Park Concert Series throughout the summer months. [10] In addition, the radio station is also a media partner of Stevenson University's Baltimore Speakers Series at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. [11]

Awards

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References

  1. 1 2 Rienzi, Greg (May 5, 2003). "On the Air Again: Radio station WJHU is reborn as a student-run Internet radio offering". The Gazette. Johns Hopkins University. Archived from the original on March 19, 2004. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  2. ↑ Folkenflik, David (July 14, 2001). "Steiner group moves closer to owning WJHU". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on July 24, 2001. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  3. ↑ Madigan, Nick (February 24, 2006). "UM radio station threatened". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 3, 2006. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  4. ↑ Fisher, Marc (March 3, 2006). "College Station's Faint Voice Could Soon Be Drowned Out". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  5. ↑ "WYPR To Acquire WTMD". WYPR. May 28, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  6. ↑ "WYPR Acquisition of WTMD Finalized on Public Radio Music Day". WYPR. November 10, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Two stations combine as Baltimore Public Media to serve the city and beyond". WYPR. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Archive recordings, The First Five Years". wypr.org. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Programs". wypr.org. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Concerts in Patterson Park". wypr.org. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Home". Baltimore Speakers Series. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  12. ↑ 2016 Chesapeake Associated Press Broadcasters Association Contest Winners at the Wayback Machine (archived 2016-10-26)
  13. ↑ "RTDNA - Radio Television Digital News Association". www.rtdna.org. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Best of Baltimore Readers' Poll Results 2017". Baltimore magazine. August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2017.

39°19′53″N76°39′28″W / 39.33139°N 76.65778°W / 39.33139; -76.65778

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