WGBH (FM)

WGBH
City of license	Boston, Massachusetts
Broadcast area	Boston, Massachusetts
Branding	WGBH 89.7
Slogan	Boston's NPR Arts and Culture Station
Frequency	89.7 MHz (Also on HD Radio)
First air date	October 6, 1951
Format	public radio
ERP	98,000 watts (WGBH) 5 watts (W242AA)
Class	B
Facility ID	70510
Callsign meaning	W Great Blue Hill
Affiliations	NPR, PRI
Owner	WGBH Educational Foundation
Sister stations	WCAI, WGBH-TV, WGBX-TV
Webcast	WGBH-FM webstream
Website	www.wgbh.org

See also: WGBH-TV

WGBH (89.7 FM MHz) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member station of NPR and PRI. The license-holder is the WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns WGBH and WGBX-TV.

The station, dubbed "Boston's NPR, Arts and Culture Station" broadcasts a mixed-format of classical, jazz, folk, blues, Celtic music, NPR News programs and PRI's The World, which is a co-production of WGBH, PRI, and the BBC World Service.

"GBH" stands for Great Blue Hill, the location of WGBH's FM transmitter, as well as the original location of WGBH-TV's transmitter. Great Blue Hill in Milton, Massachusetts, has an elevation of 635 feet (193 m) and is the highest point in the Boston area.

Both WGBH and their all-classical music HD Radio sidechannel webcast their audio programming on the internet.

Stations

WGBH owns three stations in the Cape Cod and Islands area, licensed to Woods Hole (WCAI), Nantucket (WNAN), and Brewster (WZAI). All simulcast National Public Radio programming but are programmed separately from WGBH. A fourth station, WNCK, is owned by Nantucket Public Radio, but simulcasts WGBH's main programming.

WGBH also operates a translator in East Cambridge, W242AA (96.3 FM).

WGBH also programs an HD Radio sidechannel, featuring all-classical music programming. Both WGBH and the all-classical sidechannel webcast their audio programming on the internet.

History

For more of a history of the Lowell Institute Cooperative Broadcasting Council see the article on John Lowell, Jr.

WGBH Educational Foundation received its first broadcasting license (for radio) in 1951 under the auspices of the Lowell Institute Cooperative Broadcasting Council, a consortium of local universities and cultural institutions, whose collaboration stems from an 1836 bequest by textile manufacturer John Lowell, Jr. calling for free public lectures for the citizens of Boston.

WGBH signed on October 6, 1951, with a live broadcast of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Programming

WGBH-FM broadcasts news programming from NPR or PRI during drive time (6-9AM and 4-8PM) on weekdays, and between 10AM and noon on weekends.

The station broadcasts a variety of classical music programming, mostly during the day on weekdays, weekend mornings, and Sunday afternoons. These broadcasts include (in addition to generally available recordings) recordings made by WGBH of regional chamber music and solo recital performances, live in-studio performances and interviews, as well as live broadcasts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from Symphony Hall (on Friday afternoons when the orchestra is scheduled to play), and Tanglewood (on Sunday afternoons in the summer).

Jazz music is broadcast on evenings except Saturday and during the overnight hours. This occasionally includes in-studio live performances and interviews, as well as Riverwalk Jazz.

Saturday afternoon and evening program is focused on folk and celtic music, followed by Prairie Home Companion, Says You!, and blues programming.

Programs originating from WGBH-FM for the local market include:

• A Celtic Sojourn, a three-hour program of Celtic music broadcast on Saturday afternoons
• Arts and Ideas, a three-hour news and arts magazine broadcast on Sunday evenings

Programs originating from WGBH-FM that are broadcast in other markets include:

• Says You!
• Sound & Spirit
• The World (co-produced with the BBC World Service)
• The Changing World
• From the Top

External links

• WGBH official website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WGBH
• Radio Locator information on WGBH
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WGBH
• Query the FCC's FM station database for W242AA
• Radio Locator information on W242AA

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