WGBH (FM)
Encyclopedia
WGBH is a public radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 located in Boston, Massachusetts. WGBH is a member station of NPR and PRI
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...

. The license-holder is the WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...

 and WGBX-TV
WGBX-TV
WGBX-TV is a public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a sister station to PBS member station WGBH-TV, airing PBS programming not aired by WGBH as well as additional supplemental programming. Reruns of the previous night's programming either from WGBH-TV or from WGBX-TV...

.

The station, dubbed "Boston's NPR Station for News and Culture", broadcasts a news-and-information format during the daytime (including NPR News programs and PRI's The World
The World (radio program)
PRI's The World is a global news radio, audio and multi-platform program created by Public Radio International based on the program's congruence with PRI's mission, and in order to fulfill the critical need for more original global news created for and provided to Americans. This was partly a...

, which is a co-production of WGBH, PRI, and the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...

), and jazz music during the nighttime.

"GBH" stands for Great Blue Hill
Great Blue Hill
Great Blue Hill is a hill of 635 feet located within the Blue Hills Reservation in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts, 10 miles southwest of Boston. It is the highest point in Norfolk County...

, the location of WGBH's FM transmitter, as well as the original location of WGBH-TV's transmitter. Great Blue Hill in Milton, Massachusetts
Milton, Massachusetts
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of...

, has an elevation of 635 feet (193 m), is located within the Blue Hills Reservation, and is the highest point in the Boston area. (The late Mai Cramer, longtime host of the program Blues After Hours, jokingly maintained that the station's call sign stands for "We Got Blues Here!".)

Stations

WGBH also operates a separately-programmed service for the Cape Cod and Islands
Cape Cod and Islands
Cape Cod and the Islands is a common local name for the area of southeast Massachusetts including Barnstable , Dukes , and Nantucket Counties, and by some definitions including part or all of the towns of Plymouth and Wareham...

 area, with a full-time news-and-information format. This service is simulcast on three stations: WCAI (90.1 FM) Woods Hole
Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands...

, WNAN (91.1 FM) Nantucket
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket is an island south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the United States. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and the coterminous Nantucket County, which are consolidated. Part of the town is designated the Nantucket...

, and WZAI (94.3) Brewster
Brewster, Massachusetts
Brewster is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population of Brewster was 9,820 at the 2010 census.Brewster is twinned with the town of Budleigh Salterton in the United Kingdom....

.

WGBH also owns WCRB
WCRB
WCRB is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Lowell, Massachusetts and based in the Brighton area of Boston, which serves the Greater Boston area. It broadcasts a classical music format; it existed as a commercial station from the early 1950s until December 2009, and as a listener-supported...

 (99.5 FM), a classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 station. This service is simulcast by station WNCK (89.5 FM) in Nantucket.

Both WCAI and WCRB are also simulcast on HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...

 sidechannels of WGBH itself. The WCRB simulcast on WGBH-HD2 is also relayed by translator W242AA (96.3 FM) East Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

, as the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 regards it as a WGBH translator (from October 1991 until April 8, 2010, W242AA carried WGBH's main service).

WGBH, WCAI, and WCRB all webcast
Webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...

 their audio programming on the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

.

History

For more of a history of the Lowell Institute
Lowell Institute
The Lowell Institute is an educational foundation in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., providing for free public lectures, and endowed by the bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell, Jr., who died in 1836. Under the terms of his will 10% of the net income was to be added to the principal, which in...

 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
Lowell Institute
The Lowell Institute is an educational foundation in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., providing for free public lectures, and endowed by the bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell, Jr., who died in 1836. Under the terms of his will 10% of the net income was to be added to the principal, which in...

 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
1951 in radio
The year 1951 in radio involved some significant events.-Debuts:*1 January: The Archers begins its production run on BBC.*1 April: Paul Harvey News and Comment begins its 59-year-long run on the ABC Radio Network....

, with a live broadcast of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...

.

Programming

WGBH broadcasts news programming, generally from NPR or PRI
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...

, during the daytime hours, except for some weekend timeslots.

Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 music is broadcast on evenings and during the overnight hours. This occasionally includes in-studio live performances and interviews.

Saturday afternoon and evening programming is focused on Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

, followed by A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...

and Says You!
Says You!
Says You! is an American panel radio show distributed by Pipit & Finch in the United States. Although many NPR stations carry it, it is independently produced. It was created by host Richard Sher, and is produced in Boston, Massachusetts, by Pipit & Finch...

.

Programs originating from WGBH for the local market include:
  • The Emily Rooney
    Emily Rooney
    Emily Rooney is an American journalist, TV talk show and radio host and former news producer. Since 1997, Rooney has been the host, executive editor and creator of Greater Boston and the weekly Beat the Press on WGBH-TV, which are also later rebroadcast on the Boston-based WGBH radio station...

     Show
    , a daily one-hour local public affairs talk show
  • The Callie Crossley Show, a daily one-hour local talk show
  • Greater Boston: Radio Edition, a radio adaptation of WGBH-TV's nightly public affairs program broadcast on Saturday afternoons
  • A Celtic Sojourn, a three-hour program of Celtic music
    Celtic music
    Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

     broadcast on Saturday afternoons
  • Arts and Ideas, a three-hour news and arts magazine broadcast on Sunday evenings


Programs originating from WGBH that are broadcast in other markets include:
  • Says You!
    Says You!
    Says You! is an American panel radio show distributed by Pipit & Finch in the United States. Although many NPR stations carry it, it is independently produced. It was created by host Richard Sher, and is produced in Boston, Massachusetts, by Pipit & Finch...

  • Sound & Spirit
  • The World
    The World (radio program)
    PRI's The World is a global news radio, audio and multi-platform program created by Public Radio International based on the program's congruence with PRI's mission, and in order to fulfill the critical need for more original global news created for and provided to Americans. This was partly a...

    (co-produced with the BBC World Service
    BBC World Service
    The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...

    )
  • The Changing World
  • From the Top
    From the Top
    From the Top is a national program and initiative to develop and showcase young classical musicians. It is best known for its NPR radio and PBS television programs hosted by pianist Christopher O'Riley, which celebrate the passion, dedication and personal stories of America's best young classical...



On January 8, 2010, a one-hour food-related program titled America's Test Kitchen Radio, hosted by Christopher Kimball
Christopher Kimball
Christopher Kimball is an American chef, editor, publisher, and radio/TV personality.- Education and career :Kimball was born and raised in Westchester County, New York. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and then Columbia University with a degree in Primitive Art. After graduating from...

 and Bridget Lancaster from the America's Test Kitchen
America's Test Kitchen
America's Test Kitchen is a half-hour cooking show distributed to public television stations in the United States, also airing in Canada...

 television show, began to air in the 2PM(eastern time) slot on Saturdays.

2009 format change

Until December 1, 2009, WGBH broadcast a variety of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 programming, mostly during the day on weekdays, weekend mornings, and Sunday afternoons. These broadcasts included (in addition to generally available recordings) recordings made by WGBH of regional chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

 and solo recital
Recital
A recital is a musical performance. It can highlight a single performer, sometimes accompanied by piano, or a performance of the works of a single composer.The invention of the solo piano recital has been attributed to Franz Liszt....

 performances, live in-studio performances and interviews, as well as live broadcasts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...

 from Symphony Hall
Symphony Hall, Boston
Symphony Hall is a concert hall located at 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by McKim, Mead and White, it was built in 1900 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which continues to make the hall its home. The hall was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1999...

 (on Friday afternoons when the orchestra is scheduled to play), and Tanglewood
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...

 (on Sunday afternoons in the summer).

In addition, WGBH's music programming also included folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 on Saturday afternoons and blues on Saturday evenings. News programming was limited to drive time
Drive time
Drive time is the daypart analog to prime time for radio broadcasting. It consists of the morning hours when listeners wake up, get ready, and/or head to work or school, and the afternoon hours when they are heading home and before their evening meal. These are the periods where the number of...

 (6-9AM and 4-8PM) on weekdays, and between 10AM and noon on weekends.

In September 2009, the WGBH Educational Foundation announced a deal to acquire WCRB
WCRB
WCRB is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Lowell, Massachusetts and based in the Brighton area of Boston, which serves the Greater Boston area. It broadcasts a classical music format; it existed as a commercial station from the early 1950s until December 2009, and as a listener-supported...

, a local classical music station. It consolidated all classical music programming on WCRB, and changed WGBH to an all-news and information format. A significant number of WGBH's traditional classical listeners were sacrificed in the transition, as WCRB transmits from the North Shore of Boston, and cannot be received reliably in areas to the south, including Cape Cod. In November 2009 the station announced that its long-running Saturday afternoon folk and Saturday evening blues programs would be discontinued in December, however A Celtic Sojourn and A Prairie Home Companion would remain.

Programming overlap

WGBH and WBUR
WBUR
WBUR refers to two radio stations in Massachusetts, WBUR AM and FM, both owned by Boston University. WBUR is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, Massachusetts, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM, and the only one to focus exclusively on news and talk...

are two large public radio stations serving the same geographic area and having the same format and some of the same programming sources; it is not yet clear yet whether coordination will be done to reduce the considerable expected overlap in national news and talk programming.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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