WNPR

Connecticut Public RadioFlagship Station
Meriden, Connecticut United States
Broadcast area	Connecticut Western Massachusetts Eastern Long Island
Frequency	90.5MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	Connecticut Public Radio
Programming
Languages	English
Format	News/Talk (Public radio)
Affiliations	American Public Media NPR Public Radio Exchange
Ownership
Owner	Connecticut Public Broadcasting
Sister stations	Connecticut Public Television
History
First air date	June 1978; 46 years ago (1978-06)
Former call signs	WPBH (1978–1984) WPKT (1984–2011)[1]
Call sign meaning	"Norwich Public Radio"[2] National Public Radio (alternate)
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	13627
Class	B
ERP	18,500 watts
HAAT	251 meters (823 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	41°33′42.3″N72°50′39.3″W / 41.561750°N 72.844250°W /41.561750; -72.844250 (WNPR)
Translator(s)	See§ Translators
Repeater(s)	See§ Repeaters
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live
Website	www.ctpublic.org

Connecticut Public Radio, commonly known asWNPR, is a network ofpublic radio stations in the state ofConnecticut,western Massachusetts, andeastern Long Island, affiliated withNPR (National Public Radio). It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, which also ownsConnecticut Public Television (CPTV).

The radio network airs primarily news and talk from NPR along with several locally produced programs. It is headquartered with CPTV inHartford, and operates an additional studio inNew Haven.

In the early 1970s,WTIC in Hartford dropped its longtime classical music format in favor ofadult contemporary music, and sold its library to CPTV. Looking for a way to put the library to use, CPTV decided to get into radio. At the time, while Hartford got a fairly decent signal fromWFCR inAmherst, Massachusetts, and much of southwestern Connecticut was covered byWNYC in New York City, most of the rest of the state did not even get a grade B signal from an NPR station. New Haven, for instance, had to content itself with a translator of WFCR on 90.5 FM. Finding available frequencies proved difficult, however. In addition to the crowded state of the noncommercial end of the FM dial in the Northeast, there was a considerable glut of 10-watt stations in the state. Ultimately, CPTV bought the 90.5 frequency from the Friends of WFCR, the New Haven group that owned the WFCR translator, and used it as the linchpin for what would become Connecticut Public Radio.^[4]

The network's first station, WPBH,^[1] signed on in June 1978.^[5] The station was licensed toMeriden, halfway between Hartford and New Haven, to serve both cities (Hartford and New Haven, then as now, are separate radio markets). CPBI originally wanted the WNPR calls, but the FCC turned it down due to objections fromWPLR in New Haven, which claimed the calls sounded too similar.^{[citation needed]} It became WPKT in 1984^[1] after board chairmanHomer D. Babbidge Jr. requested the FCC change the call letters to honor CPBN headPaul K. Taff.

WNPR (89.1 FM) in Norwich followed in 1981,^[6] WEDW-FM (88.5 FM) in Stamford in 1985^[7] and WRLI-FM (91.3 FM) on Long Island in 1993.^[8]

On September 15, 2011, WPKT and WNPR swapped call signs.^[1][6] Although 90.5 FM has always been theflagship station, the network had been using WNPR as its on-air name since the 1990s.

For the first 20 years of its existence, the network broadcast a mix of classical music, jazz and NPR talk. However, starting in the late 1990s, WNPR began gradually increasing the news programming on its schedule. One of the first casualties of this change was the popular classical music programMorning pro musica, which was fed fromWGBH-FM inBoston. The program had aired on WNPR as part of the terms by which the Friends of WFCR sold the 90.5 frequency to CPBI. However, by the late 1990s, this resulted in WNPR only being able to run the first hour ofMorning Edition. Ultimately, WNPR decided to cancelMorning pro musica, even though network executives knew it would cause a major loss in funding. However, the increased willingness of NPR member stations to focus on news, especially after theSeptember 11 attacks occurred, made the format change palatable.^[4] Ultimately, in 2006, WNPR dropped classical music altogether in favor of a full-time news and information format. In 2013, the station launched a new online service, WNPR News.

From 2011 to 2016, Connecticut Public Radio operated WAIC (91.9 FM), the college radio station ofAmerican International College inSpringfield, Massachusetts. WAIC first went on air in February 1967, going stereo in 1985. Initially programmed from American International College (at various points programmingtop 40 andadult hits), it became a full-time relay of Connecticut Public Radio on November 1, 2011.^[9] This ended in 2016, when WNPR turned over operation of WAIC toWFCR, the NPR member for Western Massachusetts. WFCR made WAIC a satellite of its all-news network.^[10]

Connecticut Public Radio features the programsWhere We Live,The Colin McEnroe Show, Audacious with Chion Wolf, Seasoned, and Disrupted with Khaliah Brown-Dean, all based in Hartford. The station also syndicates NPR programming.^[11] Connecticut Public Radio also produces the regional news showNext with theNew England News Collaborative.

From 1982 to 2019,Faith Middleton hosted various shows out of the New Haven studio. She hostedThe Faith Middleton Show andThe Faith Middleton Food Schmooze, until she retired in 2019.^[12]

In 2020, The Wheelhouse, a Wednesday weekly political round table talk show was absorbed into Where We Live's schedule on Wednesday mornings, and still with a focus on local and national politics.

In the aftermath ofHurricane Maria which hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, WNPR produced a documentary entitled "The Island Next Door", focused on the impact of the storm on the island and the links between New England and Puerto Rico. The documentary was released in late 2018 to coincide with the one year mark since the storm ravaged Puerto Rico.

WNPR has received many awards over the past few decades. It has received twoGeorge Foster Peabody Awards, five Ohio State Awards and twoGracie Allen Awards. It has also gotten over 60Associated Press Awards, which include eightMark Twain Awards for Overall Station Excellence.

Faith Middleton has been voted Best Radio Talk-Show Host byConnecticut Magazine readers for the past 10 years.^[13]

• WECS (90.1 FM)Windham:Eastern Connecticut State University's campus station simulcasts the network's feeds ofMorning Edition,All Things Considered andCar Talk.
• WVOF (88.5 FM)Fairfield:Fairfield University's campus station simulcasts the network's feeds ofMorning Edition,All Things Considered,Where We Live,Car Talk,Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me,Living on Earth,Speaking of Faith,Studio 360. and theBBC World Service.^[5]

• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 13627 (WNPR) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• WNPR inNielsen Audio's FM station database

• HD Radio stations
• Radio stations in Connecticut
• Radio stations in New York (state)
• American International College
• Mass media in Hartford, Connecticut
• Mass media in Suffolk County, New York
• NPR member networks
• NPR member stations
• 1978 establishments in Connecticut
• Radio stations established in 1978

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from April 2024
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Articles using infobox radio station
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from May 2023
• Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia