Departments
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Week of 13 March 1998 |
Vol. I, No. 23 |
Feature
Article
BU to establish Rhode Island's first public radio outlet
by Eric McHenry
Public radio is coming to Rhode Island for the first time, courtesy of Boston University. WBUR announced its acquisition of radio station WRCP 1290 AM at a March 6 press conference in Providence. Rechristened WRNI and bearing the slogan "Rhode Island's NPR News Station," the outlet will begin broadcasting WBUR's programming, augmented by local Rhode Island news and information, in late April. The noncommercial station, which will ultimately be supported by its regional listeners, cost BU $1,975,000.
"This is good community relations for the University," says Jane Christo, general manager of WBUR. "We're expanding its reach in a positive way -- bringing people the issues that are important to them."
Groundwork for the transac-tion was laid by representatives of the Foundation for Ocean State Public Radio, a group of Rhode Islanders representing various institutions who share an interest in introducing public broadcasting to the state. As WRNI begins to define itself, the Foundation will provide advice on the creation of local news programming, assist in a capital campaign that will help get the station up and running, and serve as a liaison to the community.
"Over the years, a number of local people and local organizations have approached us about getting public radio in Rhode Island," Christo says. "So it's something we've been thinking about and talking about for a long time." The idea began to take tangible form, she says, when WBUR found out that the Providence station was on the market. Boston University and the Foundation now face dual challenges: making technical improvements necessary to reach the new Rhode Island audience and building that audience.
"There are an awful lot of people down here who drive to high ground so that they can tune in to certain programs," says Eugene Mihaly, president of the Foundation and an adjunct professor at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business. "Those people will listen to WRNI from minute one. But it's going to be a long-term effort to get the public at large to realize the quality this has. In Boston, public radio is not an elite thing, it's a mass thing. But that's taken time to develop. We will see the same process here."
Since 1984 WBUR's audience has nearly doubled, from 200,000 to about 400,000. That popular success, Christo says, augurs well for the Rhode Island outlet. WRNI hopes to cultivate a following of 100,000 over the next five years.
"Providence is a smaller market than Boston, obviously," she says, "so we expect fewer total listeners, but we want the same proportion of listeners that we have in Boston."
"We haven't had anything to offer people thus far except the concept," says Mihaly, "and the response to the concept has been enormously positive. People here want that kind of programming to listen to, and many who are interested in public affairs here feel that the state suffers for not having this kind of news gener-ated from within the state. Not only is there no coverage of the kind that public radio gives -- of political issues, social issues, educational issues, art issues -- there's also no feed into the national network from Rhode Island."
Locally reported news will be a component of the station's format from the beginning, and such coverage will expand considerably during the first three years. Otherwise, WRNI will carry a schedule of programs identical to that of WBUR. That means many Rhode Islanders unable to receive the signals of NPR stations in other states will hear such programs as Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Car Talk, and Fresh Air, as well as WBUR's The Connection with Christopher Lydon, for the first time.
While Rhode Island reporting will be phased in gradually, WRNI hopes to enlarge its licensed coverage area immediately, both by strengthening its signal and by installing a repeater station in the Westerly, R.I., area.
"The southwestern corner of the state is not covered by the station right now," says Mihaly. "So we'll have to put in a little FM translator down there. And over time, not only is the transmitter going to have to be updated, but also all of the equipment in the station, the studios, and so on. Part of the capital campaign will focus on addressing those needs. The other part will be directed toward the creation of Rhode Island content for the station."
The Providence-based group from which BU purchased the station, Neto Communications, is working to locate a new venue for the Hispanic-language programming it currently carries.