WBOI is an FM
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
located in
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
. The station operates on the
FM radio
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...
frequency of 89.1 MHz. It is a
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
member station, owned and operated by Northeast Indiana Public Radio, a non-profit organization. The station has studios and a 604-foot transmitter tower in Fort Wayne's Centennial Park.
Effective radiated power
Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...
is 34,000 watts, covering northeast Indiana, northwest Ohio and extreme southern Michigan.
History
Establishment
WBOI began broadcasting on June 5,
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
, as WIPU on the campus of
Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW) with a very limited schedule using university staff and students.
The station acquired enough of a following that by 1981, The Friends of WIPU was incorporated as a support organization.
In 1981,
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
, which held the license, announced that if new funding sources could not be found, it would have to close the station. The Friends of WIPU incorporated as Public Broadcasting of Northeast Indiana (now known as Northeast Indiana Public Radio), and bought the station in an effort to save public radio in the area. PBNI officially took control on March 16, 1982; changing the call letters to WBNI.
The day the call sign and ownership change took place, the WBNI studios at IPFW flooded. Within ten days, the station relocated to the historic
YWCA
The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries.
The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...
facility on North Wells Street. The schedule was gradually expanded and effective radiated power was also increased. Programming was mostly
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
, and
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
; in 1985, the station joined the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, ...
and added ''
A Prairie Home Companion
''A Prairie Home Companion'' is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed ''Live from He ...
'' and ''
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
'', with ''
Morning Edition
''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...
'' following in 1988.
The station began airing occasional tapes of local concerts, including the
Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra
The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The orchestra's primary concert venues are the Embassy Theatre and the Auer Performance Hall at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPF ...
.
In 1993, Northeast Indiana Public Radio's transmitter tower was erected in Centennial Park and effective radiated power was raised from 31,000 watts to 34,000 watts, greatly expanding the coverage area in northeast
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, southern
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, and northwest
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. A new broadcasting facility was dedicated in the spring of 1994. Programming remained much the same until early
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
, when a sister station,
WBOI
WBOI is an FM radio station located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The station operates on the FM radio frequency of 89.1 MHz. It is a National Public Radio member station, owned and operated by Northeast Indiana Public Radio, a non-profit organiz ...
, began broadcasting from the same building using WBNI's old tower in
Orland; a 10-watt translator was set up in Fort Wayne to repeat WBOI's programming at 88.7 FM.
Growth to two services
With WBOI's sign-on, it took all NPR news, jazz and folk music programming from WBNI, which became a 24-hour classical music station. In 2004, the two stations swapped frequencies, with WBOI moving to the stronger 89.1 and WBNI moving to 91.3, which allowed the classical music service to air uninterrupted without major NPR news programming.
In 2007, NIPR acquired
WCKZ (94.1 FM) in
Roanoke, then a commercial rock music station, and added it to the classical service. However, a downturn in financial support during the
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
prompted the station to announce in 2009 that it would sell off the Orland and Roanoke stations. In 2010, it sold the Orland station and Fort Wayne translator to Star Educational Radio Network, owner of Fort Wayne's
WLAB
WLAB (88.3 MHz) is a non-commercial, listener-supported FM radio station in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is owned by the Star Educational Media Network and broadcasts a Contemporary Christian radio format. It holds periodic on-air fundraisers to su ...
(88.3 FM). The Roanoke station was eventually pulled off the market; it was sold in 2021 to
Taylor University
Taylor University is a private, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the country.
The university is named after Bishop William ...
.
Some of WBOI's programs, especially the evening jazz programs, are produced by local, volunteer program hosts. The station carries ''
Morning Edition
''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...
'', ''
All Things Considered
''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
'' and other nationally broadcast public radio programs. There is a small, local news staff which covers local, state, and regional news.
The station operates 24 hours a day, utilizing some computer automation during the late night hours. Programs can be heard on the World Wide Web at www.wboi.org.
In July 2016, Peter Dominowski announced that Northeast Indiana Public Radio had purchased a two-story building on Jefferson Boulevard in downtown Fort Wayne to serve as the future headquarters for WBOI. Fundraising would continue to cover the costs of major renovations. Dominowski said it would probably be two to three years before the building could be occupied. However, the move to the downtown building is currently "on hold."
General manager Terra Brantley announced on May 19, 2022, that a new classical music program, "Classical Connection," would begin airing on June 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. on WBOI. This program is heard on Saturday evenings on WBOI. It is hosted by longtime WBNI announcer Rob Nylund, who has produced the "Classical Mornings" and "Symphonically Yours" programs on WBNI.
HD Radio programming
On October 13, 2005, WBOI became the first FM station in northeast Indiana to broadcast using the
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
format and the first public radio station in Indiana to offer multicasting on a digital signal. With an HD Radio tuned to 89.1 FM, three program services are available:
*WBOI-HD1 ---
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
News and Jazz Music (simulcast of WBOI's analog signal)
*WBOI-HD2 --- The Audio Reading Service from the
Allen County Public Library
The Allen County Public Library (ACPL) is a public library system located in Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1895 as the Fort Wayne Public Library, the library served residents with 3,606 books out of a single room ...
The classical music service primarily featured programming from ClassicalWorks in
Bloomington and Classical Music Indy from
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
. Classical music on WBNI ended on June 25, 2022 with the sale of WBNI to Taylor University.
Management and finances
The station is supported entirely by contributions from corporations, businesses, foundations and listeners. There are pledge drives each year in spring and fall.
In 2008, Joan Baumgartner Brown was selected as president and general manager of Northeast Indiana Public Radio (NIPR). The veteran local nonprofit leader oversaw operations at WBOI and WBNI. Brown replaced Bruce Haines beginning August 4, 2008. Haines became the president and general manager of
WFWA
WFWA (channel 39) is a PBS member television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. Owned by Fort Wayne Public Television, Inc., the station maintains studios at the Dr. Rudy and Rhonda Kachmann Teleplex on the campus of Purdue Universi ...
, Fort Wayne's
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
television station.
On January 20, 2009, in a letter to NIPR members, Brown announced that the board had decided to sell WBNI's three analog signals as soon as possible. Financial concerns, caused by the "weak economy" and insufficient contributions from underwriters and members failed to cover the substantial costs of acquiring and upgrading the transmitter towers in Orland and Roanoke. WBNI's programming, however, continued at 94.1 on the Roanoke tower (which was withdrawn from sale), on WBOI-HD2 and over the Internet at www.nipr.fm.
In November 2010, Brown resigned as president and general manager, prompting a search for a new NIPR executive. On December 10, 2010, NIPR announced that Will Murphy, who had been general manager of
WFHB
WFHB 91.3 FM is a community radio FM station in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. The station has three translators serving southern Indiana: 98.1 in Bloomington, 100.7 in Nashville and 106.3 in Ellettsville.
WFHB has a small paid staff a ...
in
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...
, would become NIPR's president and general manager in January 2011. Murphy resigned in December 2012; a search for a new general manager was begun and on January 29, 2013, NIPR's board announced the selection of Peter Dominowski as president and general manager of NIPR. He has four decades of experience in broadcasting, mostly in public radio.
In December 2021, NIPR announced that its new president and general manager would be
Terra Brantley, a former news anchor for
WANE-TV
WANE-TV (channel 15) is a television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios and transmitter are located on West State Boulevard in the Tower Heights section of th ...
. Peter Dominowski retired at the end of 2021. Terra Brantley resigned in November 2022 to return to television as a news anchor on
WFFT, beginning December 12, 2022.
[https://www.wfft.com/news/anchor-terra-brantley-joins-wfft-fox-55-news-team/article_3fcb5524-73d7-11ed-a55f-bbe6ac1e6def.html] A search began for a new president and general manager for WBOI.
References
External sources
*
{{coord, 41.104, N, 85.179, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title
NPR member stations
BOI
Radio stations established in 1978
1978 establishments in Indiana