 | Parts of this article (those related to the station's operational status) need to beupdated. The reason given is: the station seems to be on the air underspecial temporary authority. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(October 2025) |
| Currently silent | |
|---|---|
| |
| Broadcast area | Newport, Rhode Island |
| Frequency | 90.7MHz |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WSBE-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | 1972; 53 years ago (1972) |
Former call signs |
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| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 53078 |
| Class | A |
| ERP | 360 watts |
| HAAT | 24 meters (79 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°36′6.3″N71°16′18.1″W / 41.601750°N 71.271694°W /41.601750; -71.271694 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
WNPH (90.7FM) is anon-commercial educational radio station licensed toPortsmouth, Rhode Island, United States, serving theAquidneck Island area. The station is owned byOcean State Media (OSM), the statewideNPR member station for Rhode Island, through licensee Ocean State Media Group.
OSM, as The Public's Radio (TPR), acquired the license in 2021 fromPortsmouth Abbey School, aBenedictine institution, which had established it as a classical music station under the WJHD call letters in 1972. After nearly 50 years, the station was taken off the air in 2021 and the license sold.
WNPH is currently operating at low power underspecial temporary authority from theFederal Communications Commission as OSM seeks to relocate to a new transmitter site off the Portsmouth Abbey School campus.
WJHD—named for John Hugh Diman, the founder of the Portsmouth Abbey School[2]—first went into service in early 1972, using only a 10-watt RCA BTE-10C exciter and transmitter, two AR turntables, and a Shure mixer. Father Geoffrey Chase served as the station trustee during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. In 1981, the station was approved to increase its effective radiated power to 360 watts.[3] During most of those years, the station was operational only nights and weekends, playing classical music.[citation needed]
In 1999, Father Edmund assumed responsibility for managing the staff and setting the operating hours. Debuting "The Blue Monk," Edmund's show played requests for faculty, parents, and members of theRhode Island State Police who were listening while on patrol.[citation needed]
Portsmouth Abbey School opted to remove terrestrial broadcasting from its curriculum in 2021. It surrendered WJHD's license to theFederal Communications Commission on August 16, 2021; it was cancelled the same day.[4] Later, in early September 2021, Portsmouth Abbey School rescinded its request, and the license was restored. The Public's Radio then purchased WJHD for $7,500 effective November 23, 2021.[5] An application is pending to relocate the transmitter site from the school and to new facilities inSouth Kingstown, Rhode Island, increasing coverage in the southern portion of the state; the WJHD call sign was changed to WNPK on January 4, 2022.
On December 8, 2022, the station's call sign was changed again, this time to WNPH.
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