| City of license | WETA: Washington, D.C. WGMS: Hagerstown, Maryland W205BL: Frederick, Maryland |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Washington, D.C. |
| Branding | Classical WETA 90.9FM |
| Frequency |
WETA: 90.9 (MHz) WGMS: 89.1 (MHz) |
| Translator(s) | W205BL (88.9 MHz) |
| First air date | 1970 |
| Format | Classical/NPR News |
| ERP | WETA: 75,000 watts WGMS: 900 watts W205BL: 10 watts |
| HAAT | WETA: 186 meters WGMS: 408 meters W205BL: 352 meters |
| Class | WETA: B WGMS: B1 W205BL: D |
| Facility ID | WETA: 65669 WGMS: 25103 |
| Callsign meaning | WETA: Washington Educational Telecommunications Association WGMS: Washington's Good Music Station |
| Owner | Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association |
| Webcast | WETA-FM Live Stream |
| Website | www.weta.org/fm/ |
WETA is a non-commercial, public radio station in Washington, DC broadcasting a classical music radio format on 90.9 FM. Its studios are located in Arlington, Virginia. The station covers the Washington metro area with the highest effective radiated power of any FM station in the area at 75,000 watts. It has an HD Radio simulcast at 90.9 FM HD and operates simulcasting stations WGMS-FM 89.1 in Hagerstown, Maryland and at W205BL-FM 88.9 in Frederick, Maryland.
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From 1970 through early 2005, WETA featured a mixed radio format of classical music, folk music, jazz, and news. It switched to a predominantly news and talk radio format from February 28, 2005 until January 22, 2007, when it switched to its current all-classical radio format. The switch was part of an unusual deal between the public radio station and commercial station WGMS (FM), which abandoned the classical music format it had aired for decades after an attempt to sell WGMS to Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder failed. The FCC subsequently granted WETA permission to use the WGMS call letters for its Hagerstown, Maryland, repeater station, formerly known as WETH.
WETA changed to a classical music format on January 22, 2007, at 8 p.m. EST, with classical music now offered for more of the broadcast day than ever before in the station’s history. Its current classical format is primarily mainstream orchestral, with a smattering of early and baroque music and chamber music. Aside from Saturday afternoon opera, very few vocal performances are aired on WETA.
As of April 2007 WETA reduced the number of hourly NPR newscasts, which had continued to be heard every hour since the change to the classical music format. Newscasts are now heard on the hour during drive time and at selected hours at other times. WETA also airs audio from the PBS NewsHour Monday through Friday evenings, for the benefit of area commuters unable to arrive home in time to view the program on television.
WETA airs opera programming on Saturday afternoons, including the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts during the Met's regular December–April broadcast season. They inherited from WGMS an all-vocal classical music format branded, "VivaLaVoce, the station that sings", on HD2.
WETA's only competition in the market area is WBJC (91.5 FM), also a non-commercial station, which broadcasts a classical music format from Baltimore, Maryland.
For many years, WETA has provided a sub-carrier channel for The Metropolitan Washington Ear, Inc., which offers news for the blind and visually impaired. Listeners tune in to the service using special receivers provided free to qualifying individuals and can receive audio from more than 200 current publications, including newspapers, magazines, and bestselling books.
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