WBUR
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| WBUR & WBUR-FM | |
| City of license | Boston, Massachusetts (FM) West Yarmouth, Massachusetts (AM) |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Boston (FM) Cape Cod, Massachusetts (AM) |
| Branding | "WBUR" |
| Slogan | "Boston's NPR News Station" |
| Frequency | FM: 90.9 (MHz) (Also on HD Radio) AM: 1240 (kHz) |
| First air date | 1950 |
| Format | Talk/News |
| ERP | FM: 12,000 watts AM: 1,000 watts |
| HAAT | FM: 305 meters |
| Class | FM: B AM: C |
| Facility ID | FM: 68241 AM: 6251 |
| Callsign meaning | We're Boston University Radio |
| Owner | Boston University |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www.wbur.org |
WBUR are the calls of two stations in Massachusetts, WBUR AM and FM, both owned by Boston University. It is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, Massachusetts. It produces several nationally distributed programs, including Car Talk, Here and Now, Only a Game, and On Point. It previously produced The Connection (which was canceled on August 5, 2005).
The station is owned by Boston University and identifies itself as "Boston's NPR news station." It was embroiled in a management scandal which resulted in the departure of longtime station manager Jane Christo in 2004. Christo had overseen WBUR's conversion to an all-news format, and had ousted WGBH-FM from its longtime place as Boston's flagship NPR station. Despite a weaker signal than WGBH (12,000 watts to WGBH's 100,000), WBUR has been ahead of WGBH in the ratings by a substantial margin for over a decade.
WBUR carries its programming on two other stations on Cape Cod-- WCCT, 90.3 MHz in Harwich and WSDH, 91.5 MHz in Sandwich--via local marketing agreements. In 1998, the station helped launch WRNI in Providence, Rhode Island--the first NPR station within Rhode Island's borders. However, it has agreed to sell the station to a local group; the sale should close some time in late 2007.
WBUR programs Here and Now, On Point, and Only a Game are carried nationwide in the US on XM Radio's public radio station, XM Public Radio. The 3-minute comedy sketch program 11 Central Ave, aired on WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, is recorded at WBUR.
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[edit] Era as a music station
Initially, most of WBUR-FM's staff were students at Boston University, and the station also broadcast a number of sporting events of that school. By the 1970s, WBUR-FM began to receive funding from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, and became a "public radio" station with a professional staff.
During the 1970s and 1980s the station had several jazz music and classical music programs. The disk jockeys demonstrated much knowledge of composers, performers, and the execution of jazz. Namely, they were familiar with matters such as improvisation; and they shared this on-air with listeners. [1] [2] Noteworthy jazz and classical disk jockeys:
- Dennis Boyer, classical: FM in the PM
- Steve Elman, jazz: Spaces
- Tony Cennamo, jazz: New Morning and subsequently, a night-time show
- James Isaacs, jazz
- Jose Masso, Latin: Con Salsa
[edit] Transition To News And Information
By the end of the 1980s, WBUR began replacing many of its music programs with news and information programming from NPR, Public Radio International and the BBC.
By tht early 1990s, with the exception of Con Salsa, WBUR had become an around-the-clock news and information format.
Numerous NPR member stations have since followed WBUR's lead and have eliminated music programming in favor of news and information programming.
[edit] WBUR and the Middle East Conflict
Since 2001, WBUR has lost more than $1 million in contributions due to a boycott launched by donors and underwriters who say NPR's coverage of the Middle East tilts against Israel.[1] The boycott started in October, 2001, when two Boston-area businesses ended contracts: WordsWorth Books (now defunct) in Cambridge, MA, and Cognex Corp. in nearby Natick, MA. The two businesses are reportedly tied with the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), a persistent critic of NPR's coverage for almost a decade. [2] This group, CAMERA, has demonstrated outside National Public Radio (NPR) stations in 33 cities in the United States.
[edit] References
- ^ A Beautiful Friendship?, Washington Post, July 16, 2006
- ^ NPR's pro-Israel critics punish WBUR, Current.org, June 3, 2006
[edit] External links
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WBUR
- Radio Locator information on WBUR
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WBUR
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WBUR
- Radio Locator Information on WBUR
- Query Arbitron's AM station database for WBUR
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WCCT
- Radio Locator information on WCCT
- Query Arbitron's FM station database for WCCT
- Query the FCC's AM station database for WSDH
- Radio Locator Information on WSDH
- Query Arbitron's AM station database for WSDH
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