Public radio station in Baltimore, Maryland
WYPR (88.1 FM) is a public radio station serving the Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area. Its studio is in the Charles Village neighborhood of northern Baltimore, while its transmitter is in Park Heights. The station is simulcast in the Frederick and Hagerstown area on WYPF (88.1 FM) and in the Ocean City area on WYPO (106.9 FM).
WYPR is Baltimore's flagship National Public Radio member station, carrying content from NPR, American Public Media (the distribution arm of Minnesota Public Radio), Public Radio Exchange and the BBC World Service (on HD2). WYPR also provides Classical 24 on its HD3 subchannel. In addition, WYPR produces several of its own shows, including the public affairs-focused programs Midday and On The Record, the award-winning, sonic-storytelling series Out of the Blocks as well as local news coverage and special newsroom series.
Starting in 2015, the Baltimore Magazine Reader's Poll has named WYPR the Best Radio Station in Baltimore three years in a row. The station also won Best Radio Show Host, and Best News Website in 2017.
History
The station signed on in 1979 as WJHU, a 10-watt student-run station owned by Johns Hopkins University. It took over from a carrier current station that had operated under the same calls on AM 830 since 1945. Originally a typical freeform college radio station, it boosted its power to 25,000 watts in 1985, allowing it at least secondary coverage of the entire Baltimore/Washington corridor. Soon after the power increase, Johns Hopkins converted the station into a full-time professional operation, allowing it to become Baltimore's NPR member station.[1] It originally aired a mix of classical music and NPR programming, but on June 23, 1995, switched to a primarily news/talk format.
Johns Hopkins put the station up for sale in 2000 due to the expense of maintaining it, as well as a change in focus that no longer included radio.[1][2] In 2002, Your Public Radio Corp., a community group, bought the station and changed its calls to WYPR. In 2004 Your Public Radio Corp. bought religious broadcaster WJTM in Frederick, which became a relay of WYPR with the call letters of WYPF. WYPF's signal also covers Hagerstown. On July 30, 2007, Your Public Radio Corp. bought Ocean City, Maryland alternative rock station 106.9 WRXS, which began simulcasting WYPR starting September 10, 2007. That station was renamed WYPO on October 3, 2007. The three stations provide at least distant-grade coverage to almost two-thirds of Maryland.
For much of the time from the late 1990s to 2008, it operated at only 10,000 watts. While this provided a decent signal to Baltimore itself and most of its close-in suburbs, many of Baltimore's outer suburbs, including Annapolis, only got a grade B signal. In 2008, it increased its power to 15,500 watts, giving it a coverage area roughly comparable to the other major Baltimore stations. Two years earlier, University of Maryland student station WMUC in College Park, which at the time also broadcast at 88.1 MHz, raised concerns about co-channel interference due to its class D license that does not protect it from interference, in contrast to WYPR's class A license.[3][4]
In May 2021, WYPR announced plans to acquire Towson-based WTMD, an adult album alternative station owned by Towson University. The $3 million deal is contingent on Federal Communications Commission approval.[5] WTMD will retain its format and programming. The sale was closed on November 10, 2021, officially making WTMD a sister station to WYPR.[6]
In 2024, the stations' parent changed its name to Baltimore Public Media and introduced new sonic identities for both WYPR and WTMD.[7]
Repeaters
Events
WYPR is a media sponsor of the local Patterson Park Concert Series throughout the summer months.[9] In addition, the radio station is also a media partner of Stevenson University's Baltimore Speakers Series at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore.[10]
