WHYY-FM

WHYY-FM

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Broadcast area	Delaware Valley
Frequency	90.9 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	WHYY NPR
Programming
Format	Public radio
Affiliations	NPR Public Radio International American Public Media
Ownership
Owner	WHYY, Inc.
Sister stations	WHYY-TV
History
First air date	December 14, 1954
Former call signs	WUHY (1963–1983)
Call sign meaning	Wider Horizons for You and Yours (for his televIsion station)
Technical information
Facility ID	72336
Class	B
ERP	13,500 watts
HAAT	280 meters (920 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	40°2′30.40″N 75°14′22.60″W
Repeater(s)	See § New Jersey expansion and controversy
Links
Webcast	Listen live
Website	whyy.org/radio-podcasts/

WHYY-FM (90.9 FM, "91 FM") is a public FM radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its broadcast tower is located in the city's Roxborough neighborhood at (40°02′30.9″N 75°14′21.9″W) while its studios and offices are located on Independence Mall in Center City, Philadelphia. The station, owned by WHYY, Inc., is a charter member of National Public Radio (NPR) and contributes several programs to the national network.

History

WHYY signed on the air on December 14, 1954, owned by the Metropolitan Philadelphia Educational Radio and Television Corporation. It was the first educational station in Philadelphia. The transmitter, originally located at 17th and Sansom Streets in Philadelphia, was donated by Westinghouse Broadcasting. In 1957, it added a sister television station, WHYY-TV on channel 35.

In 1963, WHYY-TV moved from channel 35 in Philadelphia to the stronger channel 12 in Wilmington, Delaware. At the time, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations did not allow co-owned television and radio stations to share the same base callsign if they were licensed in different markets. Philadelphia and Wilmington, then as now, are separate radio markets (though 90.9, like most major Philadelphia stations, has long claimed Wilmington as part of its primary coverage area), though they have long been a single television market. As a result, the radio station was forced change its call sign to WUHY. 90.9 FM regained its original call sign in 1983 after the FCC eased this restriction.

When NPR was formed in 1970, the station became a charter member and was one of the 90 stations that carried the initial broadcast of All Things Considered.

Programs produced

Entrance to the WHYY building on 6th Street, across from Independence Mall and the National Constitution Center

• NPR: Fresh Air with Terry Gross, a Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. 5.3 million people listen to the broadcast on 640 National Public Radio stations across the country, as well as in Europe on the World Radio Network. The program originated in 1975 as a local show before going national in 1987.
• Radio Times With Marty Moss-Coane, a daily hour-long program that tackles a wide range of issues.
• You Bet Your Garden (1998-2018), an organic gardening call-in talk show hosted by Mike McGrath. Moved to WLVT.
• Voices in the Family with Dr. Dan Gottlieb, psychologist and family therapist, along with guest experts, opens the line to callers to discuss issues that affect individuals and society, with special focus on family issues. Its executive producer is Maiken Scott, WHYY's Behavioral Health Reporter.
• The Pulse is a show that focuses on stories at the heart of health, science and innovation in the Philadelphia region. The show is hosted by WHYY's Behavioral Health Reporter Maiken Scott and distributed on the Public Radio Exchange.

Format change

Until 1990, WHYY served the region as a non-commercial station with a format that featured mostly classical music with some jazz and folk music. The management decision to establish a news/talk radio format was a departure from the classical music that most public radio stations were programming. The format switch resulted in protests from many of the station's listening audience who were among WHYY's major contributors. Temple University's WRTI (90.1 FM) began programming classical music during the day to serve the displaced listeners.

CEO controversy

Controversy erupted in the summer of 2007 when station Chief Executive Officer Bill Marrazzo was cited by the watchdog group Charity Navigator as the highest paid CEO in all of public broadcasting.

In an August 2007 article, popular Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Karen Heller called for a boycott of WHYY. And in September 2007 an anonymous group of WHYY employees sent an open letter to Marrazzo, the Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia magazine, accusing him of "a serious lack of understanding when it comes to creating ... a healthy workplace" and assailing his salary as "excessive and inappropriate." The five-page letter concluded with a call for Marrazzo to resign.

New Jersey expansion and controversy

Dorrance Hamilton Media Commons, part of the WHYY building near Franklin Square

On June 6, 2011, the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority agreed to sell five FM stations in Southern New Jersey to WHYY. The purchase was made through an anonymous one-million dollar grant and a non-cash agreement that included scholarships for students and teachers. The five stations were previously the southern portion of the New Jersey Network's statewide radio service.

The transaction was announced by Governor Chris Christie, as part of his long-term goal to end state-subsidized public broadcasting. The governor's critics maintained that scrapping New Jersey Network effectively ended all non-commercial statewide news coverage. It was also noted that the sale eliminated a source of legislative oversight frequently critical of the Christie administration.

WHYY assumed control of the stations through a management agreement on July 1, 2011, pending FCC approval for the acquisition. At that point, the stations began to simulcast WHYY-FM programming. The five stations are:

Call sign	Frequency	City of license	Facility ID	ERP W	Height m (ft)	Class	Transmitter coordinates
WNJB-FM	89.3 FM	Bridgeton, New Jersey	48934	2,500 vert, 1 horiz	67 meters (220 ft)	A	39°27′35.40″N 75°09′26.70″W
WNJM	89.9 FM	Manahawkin, New Jersey	48460	250 vert, 1 horiz	69.5 meters (228 ft)	A	39°41′53.40″N 74°14′4.50″W
WNJN-FM	89.7 FM	Atlantic City, New Jersey	48483	6,000 vert, 25 horiz	84 meters (276 ft)	A	39°27′40.40″N 74°41′4.50″W
WNJS-FM	88.1 FM	Berlin, New Jersey	48486	80 vert, 1 horiz	287 meters (942 ft)	A	39°43′41.40″N 74°50′37.60″W
WNJZ	90.3 FM	Cape May Court House, New Jersey	48464	6,000	72 meters (236 ft)	A	39°06′18.40″N 74°48′4.60″W

The stations all operate at relatively low power due to the crowded state of the noncommercial end of the FM dial in the northeastern United States. They primarily served areas of southern New Jersey not covered by the main WHYY-FM signal, which itself operates at a relatively modest 13,500 watts. However, their combined footprint extends WHYY-FM's coverage from Berks County to the Jersey Shore.

See also

• WHYY-TV

External links

• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID WHYY ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

 ——— 

• Facility details for Facility ID WNJB-FM ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID WNJM ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID WNJN-FM ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID WNJS-FM ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID WNJZ ({{{2}}}) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• {{{2}}} in Nielsen Audio's FM station database