Rhode Island's public radio station is being sold.

[Skynet74]

PROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island's public radio station is being sold.

Boston University-owned WBUR-FM said it's selling WRNI for $2 million to a local nonprofit called Rhode Island Public Radio.

[EDIT]


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http://www.eyewitnessnewstv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6267283&nav=menu20_3

 

[webcastboy]

Interesting. Good to hear they're recognizing WRNI/WXNI's horrible signal at night and immediately moving to purchase 102.7FM. That won't solve the problem across RI...but it'll help a great deal.

The FCC also just this week announced that a new NCE filing window will open this fall. That means that WBUR/WRNI's old application for a 91.3FM station in the Wakefield-Peacedale area will be addressed at some point before then. I wonder if they'll still go through with applying and building it if they get the CP? It certainly wouldn't hurt for WBUR to have a repeater of 90.9 down there now that WCNI is on 90.9 as well.

 

[DToTheJ]

So will WRNI now broadcast 8 hours a day, like its new counterpart, WSBE/36 (what a joke)?

 

[webcastboy]

Nah, their programming won't change much. The transition of WBUR's influence will be very gradual; they'll provide programming and engineering help for the next five years.

I'm sure we'll see subtle changes relatively quickly...things like local news anchors, and maybe the revival of One Union Station in at least a limited form. Over time the programming schedule will evolve independent to WBUR - but I'd imagine it'll always look relatively similar since they're both NPR news/talk stations like any other NPR news/talk station across the country.

 

[CCsux]

i guess this nixes violet's & layman's plans for buying wale

 

[raccoonradio]

According to Fybush: ". (102.7 is...) currently LMA'd out with a smooth jazz format, which will continue to be heard on Davidson's WALE 990 Greenville, at least when that station's on the air - it's been off again for a few days, we're told.)"

 

[AKLes]

I've been away a few days and may have missed something....

It seems the 1230 signal in Westerly (WXRI) is not part of the deal and will somehow be sold separately.

I believe it continued to be a commercial license at 1kW with that self-supporting tower in the middle of the marina and God-knows-what for a transmitter. Is there any studio facility to speak of?

Anything rumbling about who or what might be interested in buying it? If so, for what?

I rather suspect the tower may be on leased ground...and if so, when the lease one day runs out???

 

[DG02816]

Les,

I remember 1230 in Westerly; my first engineering job. Learned the ropes under the retiring Chief, Chuck Austin, W1INN. He's probably long gone now. At that time(1977)they were running a Collins 20V2. Base Z was real low as the base current daytime was around 6 amps.


Dave Gardiner

WVCH 740/WNWR 1540

Philadelphia

 

[AKLes]

.....Learned the ropes under the retiring Chief, Chuck Austin, W1INN. He's probably long gone now. At that time(1977)they were running a Collins 20V2. Base Z was real low as the base current daytime was around 6 amps.

Chuck was CE when I was there in 1959-1960 and he seemed old even then. Augie Cavallaro had him doing a Sunday morning air shift in addition to engineering. His attitude was so dour that folks thought it was an act! They still had the 150-Watt Raytheon at the time and, just after I left, bought a used RCA that I think was intended to run at 5 kW but was held back to 1-kW when all the 250's got an upgrade. Never saw the Collins. Tower used to be in open field off Margin Street but recent pictures suggest the marina has grown up to entirely surround it. Makes one wonder what, if anything, is left of the ground system under all that stuff. Tower was not the greatest in terms of stability at the time and that was not enhanced when the Andrews Hi-V FM antenna was hung on it. Yes, I was party to that fiasco and The Great Channel 12 Wipeout!

Small world!

Remember Pat Donahue from WERI? He went over to SUB and, a couple of years ago I heard he got of radio and into submarine building at Quonset before he passed on at a ripe old age. I worked with Pat around 1958-59 at the original WALE.