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The Public's Radio
Broadcast areaRhode Island - Southeastern Massachusetts
FrequencyWNPN 89.3 FM Newport
WNPE 102.7 FM Narragansett Pier
W275DA 102.9 FM Providence
WPVD 1290 AM Providence
WNPW 89.5 FM Westerly
WNPH 90.7 FM Portsmouth
Programming
FormatPublic Radio - News - Talk
AffiliationsNational Public Radio
Public Radio Exchange
American Public Media
BBC World Service
Ownership
OwnerRhode Island PBS Foundation & The Public's Radio
History
First air date
May 1, 1998; 26 years ago (May 1, 1998)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitethepublicsradio.org

Rhode Island PBS Foundation and The Public's Radio, doing business as The Public's Radio, is a non-commercial, listener-supported, public radio network for the state of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. It carries news, talk and information programs on several FM frequencies and one AM station. It holds periodic on-air fundraisers and seeks donations on its website. The studios and offices are in the historic Union Station in Downtown Providence.

Programming

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Local news coverage

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RIPR has dedicated reporters covering specific beats, including Politics, Health Care, Education, the Environment, and Arts & Culture. RIPR also produces local segments including:

  • Political Roundtable with Ian Donnis every Friday morning.
  • Weekly Catch a half-hour weekly roundup of the top stories, every Friday afternoon.
  • Artscape, a weekly look at the arts & culture scene in Rhode Island.

In addition to the main studio at 1 Union Station in downtown Providence, TPR also operates three local news bureaus:

Each bureau has a permanently-assigned, full-time bureau reporter, and a fully-soundproofed recording booth for interviews, live broadcasts, and similar projects.

National shows

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The Public's Radio carries several popular weekday public radio programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, Marketplace, Think, On Point and from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Q. The BBC World Service runs overnight.

On weekends, RIPR airs one-hour public radio shows on a variety of topics, including This American Life, Planet Money, Latino USA, The New Yorker Radio Hour, Radiolab, The Moth Radio Hour, Freakonomics Radio, Reveal, Science Friday, On The Media, Sound Opinions and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Weekend evenings feature music programs exploring jazz, blues and soul music.

Broadcast stations

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The network's primary signal, WNPN (89.3 FM) in Newport, broadcasts from the old WLNE-TV tower in Tiverton and covers most of Rhode Island and the Massachusetts South Coast. It is the tallest active FM broadcast transmitter in Rhode Island (measured in height above sea level).

Smaller repeater signals provide additional coverage in Providence (W275DA, WPVD), Portsmouth (WNPH) and South County (WNPE).

From October 2011 until September 2021, RIPR's content was simulcast on WELH (88.1 FM) in Providence, RI.[1]

From April 2011 until April 2021, RIPR's content was simulcast on WCVY (91.5 FM) in Coventry, RI.[2]

Station Frequency City of license First
air date 		Facility ID Coordinates Meaning Former callsigns
WNPN 89.3 MHz
FM & HD 		Newport Originally
June 10, 2006[3]
-----
With RIPR
September 1, 2018[4] 		163899 41°35′48.4″N 71°11′22.2″W / 41.596778°N 71.189500°W / 41.596778; -71.189500 (WNPN) Newport
Providence
New Bedford 		WUMD
(2006–2017)
WXNI
(2017–2018)
W275DA 102.9 MHz
FM only 		Providence September 22, 2021[5] 202495 41°48′17″N 71°28′22″W / 41.80472°N 71.47278°W / 41.80472; -71.47278 (W275DA) (none) (none)
WNPE 102.7 MHz
FM only 		Narragansett Pier Originally
July 15, 1989[6]
-----
With RIPR
May 16, 2007[7] 		22874 41°25′26″N 71°28′32.1″W / 41.42389°N 71.475583°W / 41.42389; -71.475583 (WNPE) similar to WNPN WPJB
(1989–1997)
WAKX
(1997–2007)
WRNI-FM
(2007–2018)
WRNI
(2018)
WNPH 90.7 MHz
FM only 		Portsmouth Originally
1972
-----
With RIPR
November 26, 2021[8] 		53078 41°29′53.4″N 71°27′31.2″W / 41.498167°N 71.458667°W / 41.498167; -71.458667 (WNPH) similar to WNPN WJHD
(1972–2021)
WNPK
2022
WNPW 89.5 MHz
FM 		Westerly June 21, 2024[9] 768149 41°22′24.5″N 71°43′33.7″W / 41.373472°N 71.726028°W / 41.373472; -71.726028 (WNPW) similar to WNPN none
WNPO 88.9 MHz
FM 		Block Island Under Construction 768096 41°10′21.3″N 71°33′51″W / 41.172583°N 71.56417°W / 41.172583; -71.56417 (WNPO) similar to WNPN none
WNPK 91.9 MHz
FM 		Block Island Under Construction 768100 41°10′21.3″N 71°33′51″W / 41.172583°N 71.56417°W / 41.172583; -71.56417 (WNPK) similar to WNPN none
WPVD 1290 kHz
AM only 		Providence Originally
1947
-----
With RIPR
May 1, 1998[10] 		48308 41°51′22.86″N 71°26′42.21″W / 41.8563500°N 71.4450583°W / 41.8563500; -71.4450583 (WPVD) Providence WNAF
(1947–1949)
WDEM
(1949–1952)
WICE
(1952–1983)
WRCP
(1983–1998)
WRNI
(1998–2018)
WRPA
(2018–2020)
WPPB
(2020)

The network's programming is also available on i3 Broadband Digital Cable channel 799 in Bristol, Warren and Barrington.

Technology

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WNPN transmits using a Nautel GV15 transmitter with 10,187 watts transmitter power output (TPO) to make 7,000 watts effective radiated power (ERP). A Shivley Labs 6016 four-panel antenna array is used; the antenna is fairly directional, with nulls to avoid prohibited interference to/from WQPH (89.3 FM) Shirley, Massachusetts, to the north-northwest, and to WPKT (89.1 FM) Norwich, Connecticut, to the west-southwest. An Omnia 9 FM/HD processor from The Telos Alliance is used to keep audio levels consistent. The station broadcasts in digital HD Radio, and the BBC World Service is transmitted on the HD2 of WNPN.[11] A 67 kHz subcarrier is transmitted for the Massachusetts Radio Reading Service Audible Local Ledger.

HD Radio

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WNPN broadcasts in HD Radio, simulcasting the analog signal on the HD1 channel.

WNPN 89.3-HD2 has broadcast the BBC World Service since March 2020.[11]

WNPH, WNPE, WNPW, WPVD and W275DA do not broadcast in HD Radio.

From March 2013 until February 2018, MVYradio leased the HD2 multicast channel of WNPE to broadcast a modified content stream of WMVY (88.7 FM) on Martha's Vineyard, which could also be heard on W243AI (96.5 FM), a lower powered FM translator transmitting from the roof of Newport Hospital.[12] Afterwards, WNPE discontinued the HD2 broadcast, but continued HD Radio operations for its main HD1 channel.

History

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Boston University

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In the 1990s, a group of Rhode Islanders formed the "Foundation for Ocean State Public Radio" to bring a local public radio station to the state. Clare Gregorian was described as the "driving force" behind the idea.[13] At the time, Rhode Island was the only state in New England (traditionally one of the bedrocks of support for NPR) and one of only two in the entire country (the other being Delaware) that did not have a full-service NPR station within its borders. Most of the state got at least a grade B signal from Boston's 89.7 WGBH and Providence is within WGBH's city-grade signal. Many in Rhode Island could also receive 90.9 WBUR. But both stations focus primarily on Boston and its suburbs.

After a few years of looking, they found a partner in Boston University, owner of WBUR. BU agreed to buy WRCP (1290 AM), a 5,000-watt station that had been on the air since 1947. The price tag was $1.9 million. The foundation conducted a statewide drive to help raise the funds. For many years, 1290 AM had been known as WICE, but switched to Portuguese language programming as WRCP in 1983.

WRNI and WXNI

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On May 1, 1998, WRCP's call sign changed to WRNI, and the license was officially transferred. The new owner was the "WRNI Foundation," a separate fundraising group set up by WBUR to handle local underwriting.

Even though BU doubled WRNI's transmission power to 10,000 watts, its signal was not strong enough to reach the southern and western portion of the state. Accordingly, in 1999, BU bought WERI (1230 AM) in Westerly, which had been on the air since 1949. BU changed WERI's call letters to WXNI, and made it a full-time satellite of WRNI. The station brought a city-grade NPR signal to southern Rhode Island for the first time.

BU and WBUR had big plans for WRNI at first. It moved WRNI from its longtime studio on Douglas Avenue to a state-of-the-art facility at Union Station. It also started a daily two-hour local news magazine, One Union Station.[14] There were plans to set up a third station to fill the gaps in WXNI's 1,000-watt signal.[15]

However, budget problems brought on by the September 11, 2001 attacks forced One Union Station's cancellation. It was replaced with a one-hour news magazine but that was also canceled in 2004. At that point, WRNI's local operations were significantly cut back, with most of the station's staff either laid off or transferred to Boston. As a result, WRNI's schedule became almost identical to that of WBUR.

Controversy over sale of 1290 AM

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On September 17, 2004, with no advance warning, WBUR Group general manager Jane Christo announced that WRNI and WXNI were being put up for sale. She wouldn't give any specifics, only saying that it was time for Rhode Islanders to buy the stations if they wanted to keep NPR programming in the state.[14] WBUR claimed that it never planned to operate WRNI on a long-term basis, and had only intended to help develop it into a self-sustaining service.[15]

The reaction in Rhode Island was negative. In an editorial, The Providence Journal said that WBUR had made numerous long-term commitments to WRNI. The Journal claimed that if the station's local backers had to buy WRNI, it would be tantamount to buying the station twice.[16]

The announcement led Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch to open an investigation into WBUR and WRNI.[17]

On September 27, BU interim president Aram Chobanian delayed the sale of WRNI and WXNI, citing concerns raised by both Lynch and Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri. Memos obtained by The Boston Globe revealed that WBUR felt the Rhode Island stations were money bleeders, and had decided to either lease or sell the stations at the earliest opportunity.[18] The furor over the WRNI sale was one factor in Christo's resignation almost a month later.[19]

In June 2005, BU took WRNI and WXNI off the market. It promised to hire a full-time general manager based in Providence, and also stepped-up local news coverage. As a result, Lynch closed his investigation in November 2006.[17]

Independence from WBUR

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On March 21, 2007, WBUR announced that it was selling WRNI to "Rhode Island Public Radio" (formerly the Foundation for Ocean State Public Radio) for $2 million. Rhode Island Public Radio also announced it was buying WAKX (102.7 FM) in Narragansett Pier from the Davidson Media Group to serve as a repeater for WRNI in southern Rhode Island.[20] WAKX, which signed on in 1989, had been a smooth jazz station. As part of the sale agreement, BU agreed to provide engineering and programming assistance to RIPR for five years.

RIPR officially took control of WAKX on May 17, 2007. The call sign was changed to WRNI-FM. The addition of WRNI-FM made WXNI redundant, and BU sold that station separately to Diponti Communications, which renamed it WBLQ. RIPR took control of WRNI on September 1, 2008.

RIPR registered the domain name ripr.org on February 13, 2007; the site was live as of June 2007.

Migration to FM

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The Public's Radio Studio A, where local newscasts originate daily.

RIPR recognized the long-term challenges of public radio on the AM dial.[21] There was a general expectation by listeners that public radio stations transmit on the noncommercial end of the FM band (88.1-91.9 MHz). In 2011 WRNI began to expand into a statewide network of FM signals. Accordingly, it also began branding itself exclusively as "Rhode Island Public Radio".

July 2011 (WCVY): RIPR entered an agreement with WCVY (91.5 FM), which is owned and operated by Coventry High School and covers the Kent County region. Previously, because WCVY did not broadcast 24/7, they had been forced, under FCC rule 73.561(b), to "share-time" 16 hours per day of the frequency with the now-defunct religious station WRJI. After WRJI lost its license, RIPR assisted WCVY in "reclaiming" the frequency for 24/7 operation. With the 2011 agreement, WCVY aired its own student-created programming on weekdays from 2-8 p.m. when school is in session, and The Public's Radio filled the remainder of the time to avoid another "share-time" challenge.[22] The lease agreement ended in April 2021 and WCVY left the network.[23]

October 2011 (WELH): RIPR signed a 10-year lease with The Wheeler School, a K-12 private day school and owner of WELH (88.1 FM).[24] RIPR's content would be heard 24/7 on 88.1 in Providence except for a student-produced sports talk program midnight-3 Saturday mornings. The remainder of Wheeler's student media was migrated to internet radio and, more recently, to internet video projects. As part of this new lease, the previous lease tenants on 88.1, Brown Student Radio, and Latino Public Radio, each broadcasting a limited number of hours each day, were displaced:

  • BSR began an internet radio station "BSRlive" and, in January 2015, was granted an FCC license for an LPFM station, WBRU-LP, on 101.1 FM in Providence, in conjunction with Providence Community Radio and AS220.[25][26]
  • Latino Public Radio signed a lease with RIPR to broadcast on RIPR's 1290 AM signal, WRNI,[27][28] and moved to 1290 AM the same day RIPR moved to 88.1 FM. In addition to allowing LPR to broadcast 24/7, it also gave them a larger signal.[29]

In part because of W275DA coming on the air, RIPR elected not to renew the 10-year lease of WELH upon its expiration. On September 30, 2021, WELH reverted to Wheeler School-created programming.

July 2017 (WXNI): RIPR announced a deal in January 2017 with the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth to purchase WUMD (89.3 FM).[30][31][32][33] The deal included a move and expansion of the existing signal from the UMass Dartmouth campus to a taller tower in Tiverton. The station's FCC city of license was changed from North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, to Newport, Rhode Island. While not quite a "statewide" signal, the new 89.3 will provide one, single frequency that all the Narragansett Bay and South Coast communities can tune to hear the network. On June 26, 2017, "WUMD" ended at noon and transitioned to an online-only station; the 89.3 signal went dark for two weeks to add new studio/transmitter link equipment. 89.3 returned to the airwaves at 10 p.m. on July 11, 2017, as "WXNI", simulcasting RIPR programming.

September 2018 (WNPN): Construction quickly began to expand 89.3 by refurbishing the old WLNE tower,[34] and a "license to cover" was applied for with the FCC on August 2, 2018[35] indicating imminent operation from the new facility. On September 1, 2018, WNPN began transmitting full-time from the Tiverton facility. The move roughly doubles the coverage of the original facility, adding 700,000 new listeners in Rhode Island and the South Coast.

September 2021 (WNPH): after the Portsmouth Abbey School returned the license for WJHD to the FCC, RIPR asked them to rescind the license deletion and purchased it on November 26, 2021, for $7500 plus technical assistance in their "podcast studio". The call letters were changed to WNPK and an application filed[36] to move 90.7 off-campus to a tower in South Kingstownnear the University of Rhode Island, greatly expanding the signal. At the moment, the now-WNPH operates at a low power while waiting for the FCC to approve its application to move to a new tower in and greatly expand the signal.

October 2021 (W275DA): at the end of September, repeater station W275DA begins broadcasting on 102.9FM in Providence from high atop the WPRO-FM tower on Neutaconkanut Hill. Concordantly, the lease on WELH is not renewed.

December 2021 (WPVD): to avoid significant looming infrastructure repair costs and ongoing operating expenses, WPVD 1290AM is modified from 10,000 watts directional (4 towers) to 400 watts day / 16 watts night (1 tower).

Rebranding to The Public's Radio

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In October 2018, to reflect its expanded audience, the network rebranded as The Public's Radio. According to CEO Torey Malatia, branding as merely a Rhode Island service was no longer accurate since it now served Massachusetts as well. After seriously considering rebranding to "Southern New England Public Radio", the network decided it was best to choose an identity "based on what we do as opposed to our zip code."[37] However, the corporate name remains Rhode Island Public Radio.

Merger with Rhode Island PBS TV

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On November 9, 2023, The Public's Radio announced its intention to merge with WSBE-TV, Rhode Island's PBS station.[38]

The merger was approved in April 2024 and finalized in June 2024.[39]

Subsequent to the merger, new CEO Pam Johnston was announced on July 16, 2024.[40] She formerly took office in August. She is the third leader of independent radio operations in Rhode Island, following Torey Malatia and Joe O'Connor.

Awards

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RIPR has won over 30 Associated Press Awards for news coverage, seven Public Radio News Directors Inc Awards, and seven RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards.[41]

References

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  1. ^ "New Signal on 102.9FM". thepublicsradio.org. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  2. ^ "End of an Era on WCVY". thepublicsradio.org. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  3. ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2009 (PDF). 2009. p. D-273. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  4. ^ "New 89.3FM Signal is On the Air". thepublicsradio.org. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  5. ^ "TheEC New Signal on 102.9FM in Providence". thepublicsradio.org. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  6. ^ 1996 Providence Journal Almanac
  7. ^ "NPR available to Jamestown listeners starting today". jamestownpress.com. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  8. ^ "Notification of Consumation". fcc.gov. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  9. ^ "Mastodon post". journa.host. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  10. ^ "Don't Touch that Dial". rimonthly.com. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  11. ^ a b "BBC World Service on 89.3HD2". The Engineer's Corner from The Public's Radio. March 23, 2020.
  12. ^ RIPR & MVYradio Leverage HD Radio for FM Translators
  13. ^ "Clare Gregorian, driving force behind RIPR, dies at 80".
  14. ^ a b NorthEast Radio Watch by Scott Fybush
  15. ^ a b "Current.org | Struggle over WBUR's Rhode Island stations, 2004". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
  16. ^ "Editorial: Broadcast betrayal". Providence Journal. September 19, 2004. Archived from the original on March 1, 2008.
  17. ^ a b Peoples, Steve (November 20, 2006). "Attorney general closes WBUR investigation". Providence Journal. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  18. ^ Jurkowitz, Mark (September 28, 2004). "BU delays sale of R.I. radio stations". The Boston Globe.
  19. ^ "Current.org | Christo resigns at WBUR, 2004". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
  20. ^ Smith, Andy (March 23, 2007). "R.I. group to buy WRNI". Providence Journal.
  21. ^ "Is AM Radio Still Relevant?" Radio World, August 30, 2009
  22. ^ Fybush, Scott (July 11, 2011). "Merlin Drops 101.9 Clues". NorthEast Radio Watch. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  23. ^ "TheEC: End of an Era on WCVY". The Engineer's Corner from The Public's Radio. April 8, 2021.
  24. ^ "The Wheeler School to Lease FM Airwaves to Rhode Island Public Radio" Jennifer Waits, Radio Survivor, August 22, 2011
  25. ^ Ahlquist, Steve (November 13, 2015). "New low-power FM community radio station coming to Providence". RIfuture.org. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  26. ^ "AS220: 101.1 FM Community Radio!" November 9, 2015
  27. ^ Ziner, Karen Lee (October 7, 2011). "R.I. Latino radio station going 24/7 in new place". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  28. ^ Harrison, Elisabeth (October 10, 2011). "Changes ahead for radio in Rhode Island". WRNI.org. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  29. ^ Until late 2010, WELH was only a 150-watt signal, much smaller than the 4,000-watt signal it is today. See "FCCdata.org file on WELH" and "FCCdata.org file on WRNI-AM" for comparison.
  30. ^ "RI Public Radio Acquiring UMass-Dartmouth Radio Station" Ian Donnis, RIPR.org, January 4, 2017
  31. ^ "UMass Dartmouth and Rhode Island Public Radio create new collaboration" UMass Dartmouth Office of Public Affairs, January 4, 2017
  32. ^ "UMass Dartmouth Plans to Sell License for College Radio Station WUMD to Rhode Island Public Radio" Jennifer Waits, RadioSurvivor, January 4, 2017
  33. ^ "R.I. Public Radio in deal to get UMass Dartmouth broadcast license" Aimee Chisvaroll, The Standard-Times, January 4, 2017
  34. ^ "Tweets showing construction for WXNI/WNPN"
  35. ^ "FCC CDBS application BLED-20180801AAS"
  36. ^ "FCC LMS application file 0000161410"
  37. ^ "Rhode Island Public Radio Rebrands As The Public's Radio". RadioInsight. October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  38. ^ Donnis, Ian (November 9, 2023). "The Public's Radio and Rhode Island PBS plan to merge". The Public's Radio. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  39. ^ Donnis, Ian (April 23, 2024). "Attorney general approves merger of The Public's Radio and Rhode Island PBS". The Public's Radio. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  40. ^ Donnis, Ian (July 16, 2024). "GBH, Frontline veteran named CEO for public media in RI". The Public's Radio. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  41. ^ RIPR Awards page. Page retrieved December 11, 2013.
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