WBAA (AM)
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WBAA (920 AM) and WBAA-FM (101.3  FM) are jointly operated
non-commercial educational A non-commercial educational station (NCE station) is a radio station or television station that does not accept on-air advertisements (television advertisement, TV ads or radio advertisement, radio ads), as defined in the United States by the Fed ...
radio stations Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio signal, 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 lan ...
licensed to
West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette ( ) is a city in Wabash and Tippecanoe Townships, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, approximately northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash ...
, United States, both serving the Lafayette metro area and the Indianapolis area with
public radio Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...
formats. The stations were founded by
Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...
, but in 2022, 100 years after WBAA's start, ownership was transferred to
Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Media Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Media, Inc. (MIPM) is a non-profit organization in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, that operates television station WFYI and radio station WFYI-FM, which are member stations of the Public Broadcasting Ser ...
, Inc. (MIPM), which also owns WFYI radio and
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
in Indianapolis. Both stations originate from studios in the Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music on the Purdue campus, with transmitter sites south of Lafayette at the Throckmorton Purdue Agricultural Center. WBAA, branded as "WBAA News", broadcasts a news-oriented format, with programming from
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
(NPR). WBAA is the oldest operating radio station in Indiana, beginning in 1922 and with several antecedents on the Purdue campus. Originally a service noted for its limited agricultural extension and educational programming as well as Purdue sports broadcasts, it gradually improved its facilities and expanded its output over its first 20 years on air. The station was one of NPR's charter members in 1971. WBAA-FM, branded as "WBAA Classical", features a mixture of NPR news and
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
. WBAA-FM began broadcasting in 1993. The station also transmits an HD2 digital subchannel, which is branded as "WBAA Jazz".


Programming


920 AM/105.9 FM

WBAA on AM carries a service of news and talk programs, with such key shows as ''
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 a ...
'', ''
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 ''
Marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...
'', as well as the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...
in overnight hours. Each Thursday, the local program ''Ask the Mayor'' features the leader of a community in west central Indiana.


101.3 FM

WBAA-FM offers a service of classical music with two locally hosted blocks;
Classical Music Indy Classical Music Indy is an American nonprofit organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, that produces and syndicates classical music radio programming. Classical Music Indy provides the classical music programs heard on WICR (88 ...
from Indianapolis in overnights; and ''
Performance Today ''Performance Today'' is a classical music radio program, first aired in 1987 and hosted since 2000 by Fred Child. It is the most listened-to daily classical music radio program in the United States, with 1.2 million listeners on 237 stations. ...
'' and other music shows. ''
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 a ...
'', ''
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 ''
Marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...
'' are also simulcast on FM. WBAA-FM's HD2 subchannel airs jazz music from the PubJazz service as well as a Saturday night block of several specialty shows.


History


Pre-broadcast radio at Purdue

Experimentation in radio—then commonly known as "wireless telegraphy"—at Purdue University dated back to at least 1910, but initial attempts to construct a transmitter capable of communicating with other stations had limited success. A more ambitious effort in 1916, based at the Electrical laboratory, had to be suspended in early 1917, when, with the entry of the United States into World War I, most civilian stations were ordered to shut down. During the war, Purdue conducted radio instruction for students and military personnel. After the end of the war, civilian radio stations were again permitted. In 1919, the university was issued a temporary authorization, followed by a "Technical and Training School" license which was originally given the call sign of 9YA, which was changed the next year to 9YB. 9YB's primary transmitter was a 2-kilowatt spark set, which transmitted on wavelengths of 200 meters (1500 kHz) and 375 meters (800 kHz) and could only send the dots-and-dashes of
Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...
. It was employed to send and receive messages between Purdue and other stations around the Midwest. The ''
Purdue Exponent The ''Purdue Exponent'' is an independent student newspaper that serves Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is published on Mondays and Thursdays during university semesters by the Purdue Student Publishing Foundation, and is India ...
'' newspaper used 9YB as part of a news service among Western Conference schools. For audio transmissions, the station added a small transmitter that had been constructed as a thesis assignment by R. H. Vehling, class of 1921.


Early years of WBAA

Effective December 1, 1921, the
United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econ ...
, which regulated radio at this time, adopted regulations requiring that stations broadcasting to the general public had to have a Limited Commercial license. Two wavelengths were designated for use by broadcasting stations: 360 meters (833 kHz) for "entertainment" programs and 485 meters (619 kHz) for "market and weather" reports. In order to conform with the new regulations, the university applied for a broadcasting station license, which was issued on April 5, 1922, with the call letters WBAA, for operation on the 360-meter "entertainment" wavelength. 9YB continued in use for experimental and amateur transmissions. Although not the first Indiana station to receive a broadcasting license, WBAA is the oldest surviving one. (Another contender, WSBT in
South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...
, was not licensed until late June 1922.) WBAA was the fourth Indiana broadcasting station licensed under the December 1, 1921 broadcasting station regulations. The first three were: WLK, Indianapolis, licensed to the Hamilton Manufacturing Company (January 26, 1922-June 1, 1923); WOZ, Richmond, Palladium Printing Company (February 16, 1922-April 9, 1923); and WOH, Indianapolis, Hatfield Electric Company (February 18, 1922-February 14, 1923). WSBT received the state's ninth broadcasting station authorization, as WGAZ, on June 29, 1922, and is the state's second oldest surviving station. The WBAA call sign was randomly assigned from a sequential list of available
call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...
and was one of the first four-letter call signs issued to a broadcasting station, as most earlier stations had received three-letter assignments. The earliest reported broadcast as WBAA was made on April 21, 1922, of an
Arbor Day Arbor Day (or Arbour Day in some countries) is a Secularity, secular day of observance in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant trees. Today, many countries observe such a holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date v ...
message prepared by Secretary of Agriculture
Henry C. Wallace Henry Cantwell Wallace (May 11, 1866 – October 25, 1924) was an American farmer, journalist, and political activist who served as the secretary of agriculture from 1921 to 1924 under Republican presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidg ...
, that was read over numerous stations across the United States. Much of the output from WBAA in its early years consisted of talks from Purdue's
agricultural extension Agricultural extension is the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education. The field of 'extension' now encompasses a wider range of communication and learning activities organized for r ...
and engineering departments. These included such discussions as "The Hot School Dinner", "Home Canning of Meats", "Bread from Indiana Flour", and "Elimination of Smoke, Dust, and Fumes in Industrial Processes". Also broadcast by the station were livestock reports from Chicago's market and broadcasts of Purdue sports, such as the dedication ceremony of
Ross–Ade Stadium Ross–Ade Stadium is a stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, on the campus of Purdue University. It is the home field of Purdue Boilermakers football. History The stadium was built in 1924 to replace Stuart Field, which had been hosting Pur ...
in 1924 and Purdue–
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
basketball games. After more transmitting frequencies became available, WBAA was reassigned to 1060 kHz in 1924, which was changed the next year to 1100 kHz. By 1926, the station's broadcasting schedule was 7:15 to 8:15 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with test transmissions as experimental station 9XY after midnight on Saturdays. Power was raised to 500 watts, by which time the station was airing the full slate of Purdue home basketball games. The
Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by ...
(FRC), formed in 1927, downgraded the nighttime power of a
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...
station, WRM, from 1,000 to 500 watts, and ordered it to share WBAA's frequency. ( Guide to reading History Cards) On November 11, 1928, with the implementation of the FRC's
General Order 40 The Federal Radio Commission's (FRC) General Order 40, dated August 30, 1928, described the standards for a sweeping reorganization of radio broadcasting in the United States. This order grouped the AM radio band transmitting frequencies into thre ...
, WBAA was reassigned to 1400 kHz, sharing time with two other Indiana stations:
Culver Military Academy Culver Academies is a college preparatory boarding school in Culver, Indiana, which is composed of three entities: Culver Military Academy (CMA) for boys, Culver Girls Academy (CGA), and the Culver Summer Schools and Camps (CSSC). Culver Milita ...
's WCMA, and WKBF, a commercial station in
Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
. WKBF got a power boost to 500 watts, but now had to share air time with the other two stations, with WKBF allotted four-sevenths, two-sevenths assigned to WCMA, and the remaining seventh assigned to WBAA, primarily on Mondays and Fridays.


1929 fire, rebuild, and full-time operation

On the afternoon of March 14, 1929, a fire erupted that destroyed the facilities of WBAA; it was reported to have started when a spark ignited hydrogen gas that was leaking from batteries. The blaze also caused smoke damage to the Electrical Engineering Building in which WBAA was located; some students had to be rescued from windowsills, where they had fled the advancing fire. Purdue immediately began planning to rebuild WBAA as a 1,000-watt station, but the FRC would only allow it to continue as a 500-watt outlet. Operations of WBAA resumed at the end of January 1930 after more than 10 months of silence; the facility was prepared to broadcast with 1,000 watts if the opportunity ever presented itself. Purdue also successfully applied to begin broadcasts with 1,000 watts during daylight hours. WCMA ceased broadcasts in 1932, with its time going to WKBF, which also purchased its assets. WKBF was allowed to use the frequency on a full-time basis from late May to October, when Purdue was on summer break. The station was rebuilt in 1933; all of the equipment was built on the Purdue campus. The large water-cooled transmitter, on the top floor of the Electrical Engineering Building, was in a space so inadequately ventilated that engineer Ralph Townsley wondered why it never burned up. In 1934, the FRC granted full time to WKBF and moved WBAA to a new frequency, 890 kHz, which it would share with
WILL Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
, the former WRM in Illinois. Broadcasting on the new dial position began that August. That fall, it broadcast for four and a half hours a day, six days a week. As early as 1937, Purdue filed to relocate the transmitter and increase daytime power to 5,000 watts. The first proposal involved relocating the transmitter to a more central location in the state and establishing a studio in Indianapolis, as well as converting WBAA into a partly commercial operation; this was vetoed by the Purdue board of trustees. The
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) approved in November 1940, setting up an eventful 1941 for the Purdue station. In February, the studios moved out of three rooms in the Electrical Engineering Building to the Elliott Hall of Music. The new transmitter site was not ready for several more months, but one last change was in store for the old one; on March 29, WBAA moved from 890 to 920 kHz, along with all stations on that frequency, as part of the frequency reorganization of
NARBA The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, ; ) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreements also addressed how frequency assignments were d ...
. Broadcasting began with the 5,000-watt facility on September 27; the site included three towers to support the directional antenna pattern used at night. WBAA's educational service was also increasing. In 1944, the station began to broadcast the "Purdue University School of the Air", radio school programming that by 1952 was being listened to by 275,000 schoolchildren in Indiana and neighboring states; this continued until 1968. There were adult education courses, coverage of Purdue and West Lafayette High School sporting events, and market reports, broadcast from a station with 16 staff and 35 student staffers. WBAA began to distribute tapes of its programming to other commercial and noncommercial broadcasters in the mid-1950s. In 1959, Purdue filed for and received a construction permit to expand its service to FM on 99.1 MHz. The university wanted to improve its nighttime service, which due to the nature of the AM operation was directional and had poor reception going any direction other than north from Lafayette. However, work was delayed on the project because Purdue engineering resources were diverted to the Stratovision program of the
Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction The Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction (MPATI) was a special broadcasting initiative designed to broadcast educational television programming to schools, especially in areas where local educational television stations are either ...
, which used flying TV transmitters to broadcast educational TV content over a wide area. Purdue ultimately forfeited the construction permit in 1962. The late 1960s also saw the station begin to do some of its own news reporting of demonstrations that were taking place on the campus; the times also inspired a series of new programs on race relations and birth control. However, its programming continued to focus on education and shows for the "mature, enriched adult", including classical music selections. Several early WBAA alumni went on to other broadcast roles, locally and nationally.
Durwood Kirby Homer Durward Kirby (August 24, 1911 – March 15, 2000; sometimes misspelled Dirwood Kirby or Durwood Kirby), was an American television host and announcer. He is best remembered for ''The Garry Moore Show'' in the 1950s and ''Candid Camera'' ...
's lengthy broadcasting and media career got its start at WBAA in the early 1930s. Dick Shively, who was a sportscaster in the late 1930s, owned television stations in several Midwestern states, including
WLFI-TV WLFI-TV (channel 18) is a television station in Lafayette, Indiana, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Allen Media Group, the station maintains studios on Yeager Road in West Lafayette; its transmitter is located on Co ...
in Lafayette.
Chris Schenkel Christopher Eugene Schenkel (August 21, 1923 – September 11, 2005) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and b ...
went on to a career as a radio and television sportscaster. Lew Wood later was the news anchor on ''
Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...
'' in 1975 and 1976, and actors
George Peppard George Peppard (October 1, 1928 – May 8, 1994) was an American actor. He secured a major role as struggling writer Paul Varjak when he starred alongside Audrey Hepburn in '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'' (1961), and later portrayed a character ...
and
Karen Black Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler; July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portr ...
also worked at WBAA while at Purdue.


Public radio

WBAA was one of the charter members of NPR and carried its inaugural broadcast, the first edition of ''
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 ...
'', on May 1, 1971. The addition of NPR to WBAA helped increase interest in the radio station among the general audience. It also rounded out a station that was in its 50th year of providing a varied service: courses for Purdue University credit, a late evening rock show, educational programming syndicated to dozens of stations nationwide, and the origination of Purdue football broadcasts to 13 commercial stations across Indiana. The football games continued on the station through the 1989 season, making WBAA the last university radio station in the
Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...
to still carry its team's games; in 1990, syndicator
Raycom Sports Raycom Sports is a Charlotte, North Carolina–based producer of sports television programs owned by Gray Media. It was founded in 1979 by husband and wife, Rick and Dee Ray. In the 1980s, Raycom Sports established a prominent joint venture wi ...
dropped WBAA from the network in order to give it increased flexibility with commercial inventory. However, WBAA continued to air smaller sports events, such as women's basketball. A 1982 windstorm toppled one of the three towers used at night and twisted another requiring the station to temporarily broadcast with reduced power after sunset; all three masts were replaced. Thirty years after its first attempt, Purdue filed again in 1989 to build a new radio station on the FM band in West Lafayette, with another channel allocated to the area at the university's request. The FCC approved the application for WBAA-FM in 1991, with the intention to create a musically oriented FM service and a news- and talk-focused AM station. A fundraising drive was led by Purdue's class of 1942 to finance construction. WBAA-FM went into operation on February 1, 1993, providing a mostly automated classical music service. The Hall of Music studios were also remodeled to support the second station.


Dropping NPR

In September 1992, WBAA announced it would cease to broadcast programs distributed by NPR because of a 20 percent increase in subscription fees to NPR for 1993. It replaced NPR fare with shows from other public radio distributors, such as
American Public Radio Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmin ...
and the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...
. The decision generated significant pushback from listeners; WILL in Illinois began to woo disaffected WBAA listeners seeking their favorite NPR shows, going as far as to run newspaper ads in Lafayette. In 1995, local listeners began to receive some NPR programming again when
WVXU WVXU (91.7 FM) is a public radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is owned by Cincinnati Public Radio (CPRI), which also operates station WGUC and WMUB. It airs public radio news and talk syndicated programming from NPR, American P ...
in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
acquired WNDY, a silent commercial station licensed to Crawfordsville, and relaunched it as WVXI; however, WVXI only aired ''
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 a ...
'' and not ''All Things Considered''. Purdue officials began approaching the local business community in 1996, seeking financial support to return NPR output to the WBAA stations. The simultaneous threat of federal cuts to public broadcasting led WBAA to start its first-ever pledge drive that fall. In June 1997, Purdue received enough financial support from listeners to return WBAA to NPR after nearly five years away.


WBAA in the 21st century

24-hour broadcasting began on FM in 1994 and on AM in 1998. Internet streaming of the WBAA stations began in 2000. That year, a $1.5 million expansion of the studios was approved by Purdue's board of trustees in lieu of relocating them to the South Campus where a fine arts center was being built. In 2008, the FM station was approved to increase power to the present 14,000 watts. The change came as an equipment renovation was already planned; the AM station began broadcasting in
HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...
that December, and after the FM upgrade in 2009, WBAA-FM also debuted HD Radio, initially using an HD2 subchannel to rebroadcast
WXPN WXPN (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format sh ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. The most recent signal improvement came in 2016, when the AM station added an FM translator at 105.9 MHz, a 220-watt facility that enables FM reception of the AM service in the immediate Lafayette area and within campus buildings where AM signals had been poorly received. In 2016, WBAA announced it planned to remove ''
This American Life ''This American Life'' is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is ...
'' from its schedule after the show announced plans to add
Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god cooperated by giving her unique gifts. Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground '' ky ...
as a distributor, a decision general manager Mike Savage panned as unprincipled and troubling for public radio. The announcement met with poor reception from listeners, and WBAA dropped the plan within days.


Sale to Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Media

In July 2021, Purdue University announced plans to transfer WBAA management to
Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Media Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Media, Inc. (MIPM) is a non-profit organization in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, that operates television station WFYI and radio station WFYI-FM, which are member stations of the Public Broadcasting Ser ...
(MIPM), the owner of WFYI radio and television in Indianapolis, pending approval by the Purdue board of trustees and subsequently by the FCC. In February 2022, the deal was filed with the FCC; the stations would be sold to MIPM along with a $500,000 commitment over two years for initial operating costs, while MIPM would give Purdue $700,000 in underwriting announcements over a 10-year period and $300,000 in paid student internships to Purdue students as well as nominal lease fees for WBAA's studios and transmission facilities. Integration with the WFYI stations would come in the form of some WBAA programs being broadcast to WFYI listeners as well as WBAA members gaining access to
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
Passport from WFYI TV. The sale was finalized on June 30, 2022.


See also

*
List of initial AM-band station grants in the United States List of initial AM-band station grants in the United States reviews the first standard radio broadcasting stations that were authorized in the United States. This review begins with the introduction of the broadcasting service in the United S ...


Notes


References


External links

Joint * WBAA * ( Guide to reading History Cards) (covering 1927–1980) * * WBAA-FM * {{Authority control BAA NPR member stations Radio stations established in 1922 Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana 1922 establishments in Indiana