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| Broadcast area | Delaware Valley |
| Frequency | 90.9MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | WHYY NPR |
| Programming | |
| Format | Public radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | WHYY, Inc. |
| WHYY-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | December 14, 1954; 70 years ago (1954-12-14) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | "Wider Horizons for You and Yours" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 72336 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 13,500 watts |
| HAAT | 280 meters (920 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 40°2′30.4″N75°14′22.6″W / 40.041778°N 75.239611°W /40.041778; -75.239611 |
| Repeater | See § New Jersey expansion and controversy |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | whyy |
WHYY-FM (90.9MHz, "91 FM") is apublic radio station licensed to servePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. Its broadcast tower is located in the city'sRoxborough section of the city at (40°2′30.9″N75°14′21.9″W / 40.041917°N 75.239417°W /40.041917; -75.239417)[2] while its studios and offices are located onIndependence Mall inCenter City Philadelphia. The station, owned by WHYY, Inc., is a charter member ofNPR and contributes several programs to the national network.
WHYYsigned on the air on December 14, 1954, owned by the Metropolitan Philadelphia Educational Radio and Television Corporation.[3] It was the first educational station in Philadelphia. The transmitter, originally located at 17th and Sansom Streets in Philadelphia, was donated byWestinghouse Broadcasting.[4] 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 inWilmington, Delaware. At the time,Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations did not allow co-owned stations in different broadcast services to share the same base callsign if they did not have the same or adjoiningcity of license. Although Philadelphia and Wilmington are a single television market, then as now they are separate radio markets. As a result, the radio station was forced to change its call sign to WUHY-FM to match the renamedWUHY-TV on channel 35. The FCC removed this restriction in 1983 and the radio station was allowed to reclaim the WHYY-FM calls.[5]
When NPR was formed in 1970, the station (then still known as WUHY-FM) became a charter member and was one of the 90 stations that carried the initial broadcast ofAll Things Considered.
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Until 1990, WHYY served the region as a non-commercial station with a format that featured mostlyclassical music with somejazz andfolk music. The management decision to establish a news/talkradio format was a departure from the classical music that most public radio stations were programming. The format switch left the privately ownedWFLN as the only Philadelphia classical station and resulted in protests from many of the station's listening audience who were among WHYY's major contributors. After WFLN's new owners also abandoned the classical format in the late 1990s,Temple University'sWRTI (90.1 FM) began programming classical music during the day to serve the displaced listeners.
On June 6, 2011, the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority agreed to sell five FM stations inSouthern 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 theNew Jersey Network's statewide radio service.[26]
The transaction was announced byGovernorChris 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.[27]
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 tosimulcast WHYY-FM programming.[28] The five stations are:
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WNJB-FM[a] | 89.3 FM | Bridgeton, New Jersey | 48934 | 2,500 vert 1 horiz | 67 m (220 ft) | A | 39°27′35.4″N75°9′26.7″W / 39.459833°N 75.157417°W /39.459833; -75.157417 (WNJB-FM) | LMS |
| WNJM | 89.9 FM | Manahawkin, New Jersey | 48460 | 250 vert 1 horiz | 69.5 m (228 ft) | A | 39°41′53.4″N74°14′4.5″W / 39.698167°N 74.234583°W /39.698167; -74.234583 (WNJM) | LMS |
| WNJN-FM | 89.7 FM | Atlantic City, New Jersey | 48483 | 6,000 vert 25 horiz | 84 m (276 ft) | A | 39°27′40.4″N74°41′4.5″W / 39.461222°N 74.684583°W /39.461222; -74.684583 (WNJN-FM) | LMS |
| WNJS-FM[b] | 88.1 FM | Berlin, New Jersey | 48486 | 80 vert 1 horiz | 287 m (942 ft) | A | 39°43′41.4″N74°50′37.6″W / 39.728167°N 74.843778°W /39.728167; -74.843778 (WTHA) | LMS |
| WNJZ | 90.3 FM | Cape May Court House, New Jersey | 48464 | 6,000 | 72 m (236 ft) | A | 39°06′18.4″N74°48′4.6″W / 39.105111°N 74.801278°W /39.105111; -74.801278 (WNJZ) | LMS |
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 serve 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 fromBerks County to theJersey Shore.[31]
In November 2022, WHYY began to reduce its New Jersey radio footprint by announcing that it would sell WNJB-FM to non-profit Christian Broadcast, The Bridge of Hope, Inc., which ownsWKNZ in Harrington, Delaware.[29] The sale was approved by the FCC and was later completed in February 2023.[32]
In March 2023, WHYY also announced that it would sell WNJS-FM to the Bux-Mont Educational Radio Association which ownsWRDV for $110,000. The sale of the station was consummated on June 15, 2023.[30]
In April 2019, WHYY acquired local news website Billy Penn.[33][34] At its 2014 founding, the site was conceived as a "mobile-first" site packaging local news for millennials.[33] The purchase was compared to New York public radio stationWNYC buying theGothamist in February 2018.[34]
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