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WYPR is a public radio station that services the Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area. The station broadcasts on 88.1 MHz on the FM band. 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). Surprisingly, the two stations on 88.1 are not synchronized. WYPF's sound is about 1/2 second behind WYPR, making listening nearly impossible in the area between the two cities.
WYPR is Baltimore's National Public Radio member station, carrying content from NPR, Minnesota Public Radio, Public Radio International and the BBC World Service. In addition, WYPR produces several of its own programs, many of which focus on local affairs.
[edit] History
Serving the metropolitan Baltimore area and the state of Maryland, the mission of Your Public Radio is to broadcast programs of intellectual integrity and cultural merit which enrich the minds and spirits of our listeners and ultimately strengthen the communities we serve. -- WYPR Mission Statement [1]
Starting operations in 1979 as WJHU, owned by Johns Hopkins University, the station had a classical format. Over the years it progressively added more content from NPR and its partners, shifting to the format of news/talk in the daytime and overnight weekday hours, and music (mainly jazz) programming during evenings and nights. In the fall of 1998, then-WJHU added overnight coverage of World Radio Network (WRN), which provides English-language news programs from broadcasters around the world; today the station simulcasts the BBC World Service during the overnight. The station was sold by the university in early 2002 to Your Public Radio Corp., a locally based group of station talk hosts and listeners, and became 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 Hagersown. 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.
Since the station's inception, it had been considerably hampered by a weak signal. For many years, 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. However, in 2008, it increased its power to 15,500 watts, giving it a coverage area roughly comparable to the other major Baltimore stations.
[edit] Weekday Schedule
[edit] The Marc Steiner Show
The Marc Steiner Show was hosted by Marc Steiner from 1993-2008 and was WYPR's flagship daily public affairs talk program. The Steiner show earned a reputation as the city's premier radio forum for discussion and debate of national and international political and cultural issues. Above all, the show provides a venue for conversation about local issues relating to the livelihood and well-being of the residents of Baltimore and Maryland. It featured a community of frequent callers and emailers, the most prominent one, arguably, being "Gerry from Pikesville".
The Marc Steiner show was cancelled by WYPR beginning February 1, 2008 in light of "sagging ratings". In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, Steiner, said that was "baloney." He insisted his firing was the result of philosophical and personality differences with WYPR President Anthony A. Brandon. Steiner, while acknowledging that his ratings had fallen, questioned whether a public radio station should be primarily concerned about ratings.Ironically, when the station was facing financial troubles in 2002, Steiner waged a campaign to purchase it, appealing for funds in an e-mail drive that raised $750,000.
On June 11, 2008, The Marc Steiner show resumed broadcasting, this time from 88.9 FM (WEAA).
[edit] Maryland Morning
Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast is a mix of interviews about news, the arts, politics, science, history. all the topics and people that make Maryland such an interesting place to live and work. From 9 to 10 a.m. every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, we reach from the Chesapeake Bay to the mountains for compelling conversations with people who make the news, and with people who cover it - including WYPR's own reporters. Maryland Morning is produced by Aimee Pohl, Jennifer Chang, and John Notarianni.
[edit] External links
