WNPN (89.3 FM) is a

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 ...

broadcasting an NPR news/talk format. It is the flagship broadcast outlet for

The Public's Radio Rhode Island Public Radio, doing business as The Public's Radio, is the NPR member radio network for the state of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Its studios are in the historic Union Station in downtown Providence. The network airs ...

(formerly known as

Rhode Island Public Radio Rhode Island Public Radio, doing business as The Public's Radio, is the NPR member radio network for the state of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Its studios are in the historic Union Station in downtown Providence. The network airs ...

). Its official

community of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broa ...

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, but from a tall tower in Tiverton the signal covers most of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

and the South Coast of Massachusetts. It also has repeater stations

WNPE WNPE (102.7 FM) is a public radio station, providing programming from The Public's Radio (formerly known as Rhode Island Public Radio) to southern Rhode Island from its transmitter at Narragansett Pier. It was the first FM transmitter in the n ...

(102.7 FM) in

Narragansett Pier Narragansett Pier is an unincorporated village and a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Narragansett in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 3,409 at the 2010 census. Geography Narragansett Pier is locate ...

and

WPVD WPVD (1290 AM) is a public radio station in Providence, Rhode Island. It is owned by Rhode Island Public Radio. The station simulcasts WNPN 89.3 FM. WPVD transmits with 400 watts by day, 16 watts by night, using a one-tower omnidirectional a ...

(1290 AM and 102.9 FM) in

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

. The network provides the sole local public radio outlet for Rhode Island.

Technical information

WNPN transmits using a

Nautel Nautel Ltd. is a Canadian manufacturer of AM and FM radio broadcast transmitters, navigational radio beacons, Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) transmitters, NOAA weather radio transmitters, LF PNT/ eLORAN transmitters, SONAR high-pow ...

GV15 transmitter with 10,187 watts transmitter power output to make 7,000 watts effective radiated power. A Shively Labs 6016 four-panel antenna array is used. An Omnia 9 FM/HD processor from

The Telos Alliance Telos Alliance is an American corporation manufacturing audio products primarily for broadcast stations. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, the company is divided into six divisions: * Telos Systems manufactures talkshow systems, IP audio c ...

is used to keep audio levels consistent. A 67 kHz

subcarrier A subcarrier is a sideband of a radio frequency carrier wave, which is modulated to send additional information. Examples include the provision of colour in a black and white television system or the provision of stereo in a monophonic radio broa ...

is transmitted for the Massachusetts

Radio Reading Service A radio reading service or reading service for the blind is a public service of many universities, community groups and public radio stations, where a narrator reads books, newspapers and magazines aloud for the benefit of the blind and vision-imp ...

''Audible Local Ledger''. The station broadcasts in digital

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 ...

, with the HD2 channel devoted to a 24/7 feed of the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

History

The station signed on June 10, 2006, as WUMD, owned by the

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth or UMassD) is a public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly Southeastern Massachusetts Un ...

. WUMD served as a replacement for WSMU-FM, which began with 10 watts of power on 91.1 MHz as WUSM in September 1973. Its first studio was in the cafeteria basement. In the fall of 1974, WUSM moved its studio to the campus center and increased power. It remained a student-programmed station throughout the next three decades. The call letters changed to WSMU-FM in 1989. In June 2006, UMass Dartmouth sold the 91.1 frequency to the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...

, which relaunched it as WTKL; the programming that had been on WSMU-FM then moved to the new WUMD on 89.3.

Sale to Rhode Island Public Radio/The Public's Radio

On January 4, 2017, it was announced that UMass Dartmouth was selling WUMD to

for $1.5 million and $617,100 worth of underwriting for 10 years. RIPR intended to move WUMD to

Tiverton, Rhode Island Tiverton is a New England town, town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 16,359 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. Geography Tiverton is located on the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay, across the Sa ...

, to simulcast its programming. The

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

approved the transfer of the station license on May 1, 2017. WUMD signed off for the final time at noon on June 26, 2017, following the consummation of the purchase. Rhode Island Public Radio began broadcasting its NPR news/talk format on July 12, 2017, and the callsign changed to WXNI. An FCC

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

was sought and obtained to move 89.3 to the former tower of local

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

affiliate

WLNE-TV WLNE-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Providence, Rhode Island area. The station is owned by Standard Media, and maintains studios in the Orms Bu ...

in Tiverton, greatly increasing the area covered by the signal.Providence Journal; June 25, 2017 "WUMD-FM to go off air Monday as part of purchase with RI Public Radio". Retrieved June 27, 2017.
/ref> The designated community of license was also to change from North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, to

. On July 29, 2018, in preparation for the final move to Tiverton, the callsign was changed to WNPN. The FCC approval of the move to Newport was granted effective August 13, 2018. On paper, WNPN, like its predecessors, operated at relatively modest power for a full NPR member on the FM band. However, it now broadcast from the tallest active FM tower in Rhode Island, at 833 feet (only WLVO's auxiliary site in Johnston is taller). This added over 700,000 people in Rhode Island and the South Coast to its coverage area. As a result, it now provided at least secondary coverage to almost all of Rhode Island, and also brought a city-grade NPR signal to

New Bedford New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...

and most of the South Coast for the first time ever. Reflecting this increased coverage, two months after signing on WNPN from its new site, Rhode Island Public Radio rebranded itself as "The Public's Radio."

References

External links

* {{Providence Radio Dartmouth, Massachusetts Mass media in Bristol County, Massachusetts Radio stations established in 2006 2006 establishments in Massachusetts NPN News and talk radio stations in the United States Newport, Rhode Island