WYPR
 | This article needs to be updated. (November 2010) |
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| File:Wyprlogo.png | |
| Broadcast area | Baltimore, Maryland |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 88.1 (MHz) |
| Branding | 88.1 WYPR |
| Programming | |
| Format | Public radio (News/Talk/Jazz) HD2: BBC World Service HD3: Classical |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Your Public Radio Corp |
| History | |
First air date | 1979 (originally carrier current 1945-1979) |
Former call signs | WJHU (1979-2002) |
Call sign meaning | We're Your Public Radio |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 65753 |
| Class | B1 |
| ERP | 15,500 watts |
| HAAT | 129.6 meters |
| Repeater(s) | WYPF 88.1, Frederick WYPO 106.9, Ocean City |
| Links | |
| Website | wypr.org |
WYPR is a public radio station that services the Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area. The station broadcasts on 88.1 MHz on the FM band. Its studio is in the Charles Village section of Baltimore and its transmitter is westward in the Park Heights section. The station is simulcast in the Frederick and Hagerstown area on WYPF (88.1 FM) and in the Ocean City area on WYPO (106.9 FM). Surprisingly, the two stations on 88.1 are not synchronized. WYPF's sound is about 1/2 second behind WYPR, rendering WYPR almost unlistenable in some portions of Howard and Carroll counties.
WYPR is Baltimore's National Public Radio member station, carrying content from NPR, American Public Media (the distribution arm of Minnesota Public Radio), Public Radio International and the BBC World Service (on HD2). In addition, WYPR produces several of its own programs, many of which focus on local affairs. WYPR recently added a classical music format on its HD3 subchannel.
History
The station signed on in 1979 as WJHU, owned by Johns Hopkins University. It took over from a carrier current station that had operated under the same calls on AM 830 since 1945. It originally aired a mix of classical music and NPR programming. Over the years it progressively added more content from NPR and its partners, shifting to the format of news/talk in the daytime and overnight weekday hours, and music (mainly jazz) programming during evenings and nights. In the fall of 1998, then-WJHU added overnight coverage of World Radio Network (WRN), which provides English-language news programs from broadcasters around the world; today the station simulcasts the BBC World Service during the overnight. The station was sold by the university in early 2002 to Your Public Radio Corp., a locally based group of station talk hosts and listeners, and became WYPR. In 2004 Your Public Radio Corp. bought religious broadcaster WJTM in Frederick, which became a relay of WYPR with the call letters of WYPF. WYPF's signal also covers Hagersown. On July 30, 2007, Your Public Radio Corp. bought Ocean City, Maryland alternative rock station 106.9 WRXS, which began simulcasting WYPR starting September 10, 2007. That station was renamed WYPO on October 3, 2007.
For many years, the station operated at only 10,000 watts. While this provided a decent signal to Baltimore itself and most of its close-in suburbs, many of Baltimore's outer suburbs, including Annapolis, only got a grade B signal. In 2008, it increased its power to 15,500 watts, giving it a coverage area roughly comparable to the other major Baltimore stations. However, its signal is not as strong southwest of Baltimore because it must conform its signal to protect the University of Maryland's WMUC, which broadcasts on the same frequency. Due to its transmitter being located in northeastern Baltimore, some areas of Harford County get only a grade B signal.
External links
- WYPR official website
- WYPR in the FCC FM station database
- WYPR in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
- WYPF in the FCC FM station database
- WYPF in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
- WYPO in the FCC FM station database
- WYPO in Nielsen Audio's FM station database