WETA (FM)

WETA/WGMS

City	WETA: Washington, D.C. WGMS: Hagerstown, Maryland W205BL: Frederick, Maryland
Broadcast area	Washington, D.C.
Branding	Classical WETA 90.9 FM
Frequency	WETA: 90.9 MHz (also on HD Radio) 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: 200 watts
HAAT	WETA: 186 meters WGMS: 408 meters W205BL: -16.2 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 Live Stream
Website	weta.org/fm/

WETA (90.9 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to serve Washington, DC broadcasting a classical music format. Its studios are located in Arlington, Virginia and its broadcast tower is located near Arlington at (38°53′30.0″N 77°07′54.0″W / 38.891667°N 77.131667°W / 38.891667; -77.131667).^[1] The station covers the Washington metro area with the highest effective radiated power of any FM station in the area with 75,000 watts, which exceeds the current limit set by the Federal Communications Commission for Class B FM radio stations.^[2] It has an HD Radio simulcast at 90.9 FM HD ^[3]and operates simulcasting stations WGMS/89.1 in Hagerstown, Maryland and at W205BL/88.9 in Frederick, Maryland.

Past formats and format changes

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.

Current format

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 and is licensed to Baltimore, Maryland.

Other services

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.

Management

Daniel C. DeVany, Vice President and General Manager, Radio
Jim Allison, Program Director, Radio
Michael Byrnes, Chief Engineer, Radio

Stations

One full-power station is licensed to simulcast the programming of WETA:

Call sign	Frequency	City of license	Facility ID	ERP/Power W	Height m (ft)	Class	Transmitter coordinates	Notes
WGMS	89.1 FM	Hagerstown, MD	25103	900	408 m (1,339 ft)	B1	39°41′47.3″N 77°30′49.0″W / 39.696472°N 77.513611°W / 39.696472; -77.513611 (WGMS)

Translators

WETA programming is broadcast on the following translator:

Call sign	Frequency (MHz)	City of license	Facility ID	ERP W	Height m (ft)	Class	Transmitter coordinates	FCC info
W205BL	88.9	Frederick, Maryland	90076	200	−16.2 m (−53 ft)	D	39°25′5″N 77°24′11″W / 39.41806°N 77.40306°W / 39.41806; -77.40306 (W205BL)	FCC

References

↑ "FM Query Results for WETA, Federal Communications Commission". Retrieved 2014-08-12.
↑ "FM Broadcast Station Classes and Service Contours". Retrieved 2014-08-03.
↑ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=100 HD Radio Guide for Washington D.C.

External links

Query the FCC's FM station database for WETA

Radio-Locator information on WETA

Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for WETA

Query the FCC's FM station database for WGMS

Radio-Locator information on WGMS

Radio stations in the Washington, D.C. market

By AM frequency	Washington, D.C. 630 980 1120 1260 1340 1450 1500 Maryland 540 570 900 950 1030 1050 1160 1540 1560 1580 1600 Northern Virginia 730 780 920 1190 1220 1250 1310 1390 1460 1480

By FM frequency	Washington, D.C. 88.5 89.3 90.1 90.9 93.9 96.3 97.1 98.7 99.5 100.3 101.1 103.5 107.3 Maryland 88.1 91.9 92.7 94.3♦ 94.7 95.5 99.1 99.9 102.3 104.1 107.9 Northern Virginia 87.7 89.9 94.3 96.7 97.5 97.7 104.3 105.1 105.9 106.7 107.7

NOAA Weather Radio	162.45 162.55

By callsign	KHB36 W249BE WACA WAMU WASH WAVA WAVA-FM WBIG-FM WBQH WCRW WCSP WCTN WDCN-LP WDCT WERA-LP WETA WFAX WFED WFRE WGOP WGTS WHUR-FM WIAD WIHT WILC WJEV-LP WJFK WJFK-FM WKDV WKIK WKIK-FM WKYS WLXE WLZL WMAL WMAL-FM WMET WMMJ WMUC WMZQ-FM WNEW-FM WNG736 WOL WOWD-LP♦ WPER WPFW WPGC-FM WPRS-FM WPWC WRCW WRQX WSPZ WTEM WTNT WTOP-FM WURA WUST WWDC WWGB WWRC WWWT-FM WWXT WWXX WYCB WZHF

Defunct Stations	WCAP WGMS WTWP WWZZ WGTB WHFS (FM)

Satellite radio local traffic/weather XM Channel 214 Sirius Channel 152 Washington, D.C. metro markets Frederick, MD Fredericksburg, VA Baltimore See also List of radio stations in Washington, D.C. List of radio stations in Virginia List of radio stations in Maryland ♦WOWD-LP is a planned low-power station with a Summer 2016 launch date.

Radio stations in the Hagerstown–Chambersburg–Waynesboro–Martinsburg market

By FM frequency	88.1 88.7 88.7 89.1 90.5 92.1 93.3 93.5 94.3 95.1 95.9 96.7 97.5 99.9 101.5 102.9 103.7 104.7 106.9

By AM frequency	800 820 930 1240 1380 1410 1490 1590

By callsign	WARK WAYZ WBHB-FM WCBG WCHA WCRH WDLD WEEO-FM WFMD WFRE WFSI WGMS WHAG WHGT WICL WIKZ WJEJ WLTF WNUZ WQCM WRZO-LP WSYC-FM WWCF WWEG WWFD WYPF WYPM

Maryland radio markets Baltimore Frederick Hagerstown Salisbury–Ocean City Other Maryland radio regions Cumberland Northern Neck Oakland Pennsylvania radio markets Allentown–Bethlehem Altoona Bradford–Coudersport Chambersburg–Waynesboro Erie Harrisburg–Lebanon–Carlisle Lancaster Montrose New Castle Philadelphia Pittsburgh Reading Sayre–Towanda–Mansfield–Wellsboro Wilkes-Barre–Scranton Williamsport York Other Pennsylvania radio regions Bedford Indiana Johnstown Lewistown–Mifflintown Meadville–Franklin Punxsutawney–DuBois St. Marys–Emporium–Kane State College Stroudsburg Sunbury–Selinsgrove–Lewisburg Warren See also List of radio stations in Maryland List of radio stations in Pennsylvania

NPR member stations in the District of Columbia

By callsign	WAMU WETA

By frequency	88.5 90.9

See also PBS District of Columbia and List of NPR stations

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in District of Columbia

NPR member stations in the state of Maryland

Stations	Baltimore WEAA Baltimore WYPR Frederick WYPF Frostburg WFWM Hagerstown WGMS Ocean City WRAU Ocean City WSDL Ocean City WYPO Princess Anne WESM Salisbury WSCL Towson WTMD Worton WKHS

See also List of NPR stations

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Maryland

NPR member stations in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Allegheny Mountain Radio stations	Hot Springs WCHG Monterey WVLS

WCVE stations	Richmond WCVE Chase City WMVE Heathsville WCNV

Radio IQ stations	Charlottesville WVTW Christiansburg WWVT-AM Ferrum WFFC Lexington WRIQ Spotsylvania WQIQ

WVTF Stations	Roanoke WVTF Wise WISE-FM Charlottesville WVTU Marion WVTR

WHRO stations	Norfolk WHRO Belle Haven WHRF Gloucester Courthouse WHRJ

WMRA stations	Harrisonburg WMRA Crozet WMRY Lexington WMRL Harrisonburg WEMC

WHRV stations	Norfolk WHRV Eastville WHRE Emporia WHRL Gloucester Point WHRG Nassawadox WHRX

Other stations	Arlington WETA Emory WEHC Farmville WMLU Lexington WLUR Radford WVRU Spotsylvania WYAU

See also List of NPR stations

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Virginia

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