WPLN-FM

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WPLN-FM

City of license	Nashville, Tennessee
Broadcast area	Nashville, Tennessee
Branding	Nashville Public Radio
First air date	December 17, 1962
Frequency	90.3 (MHz)
Format	NPR, Classical, Public
Power	80,000 watts
Class	C
Callsign meaning	Public Library Nashville
Owner	Nashville Public Radio
Website	www.wpln.org

WPLN-FM, 90.3, is a National Public Radio-affiliated station in Nashville, Tennessee. It primarily features classical music programming, but, at times during the week, carries news and other genres of music as well. The station maintains studios on Mainstream Drive north of downtown Nashville, studios that some consider among the finest radio studios in the U.S. WPLN-FM's signal, which is transmitted from a tower on Johnson Chapel Road in Williamson County (just outside Brentwood), travels in about a 65-mile radius, reaching most of middle Tennessee and some counties in southern Kentucky. WPLN-FM shares the tower with three other Nashville FM stations: WRLT, WKDF, and WNRQ; it has broadcast from that site since 1984. WPLN also maintains two low-power repeater stations elsewhere in Tennessee: WHRS-FM 91.7 in Cookeville and WTML-FM 91.5 in Tullahoma.

In early 2006, WPLN began broadcasting a high-definition digital signal, featuring a simulcast of the FM on the first channel, and, in effect, a new station on the second channel. More information is found below.

In addition to carrying the standard public radio lineup of programs such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Car Talk, Whad'Ya Know?, A Prairie Home Companion, Saint Paul Sunday, and Hearts of Space, WPLN uses its state-of-the-art production facilities to produce the well-regarded Live From Studio C, showcasing area musicians of all persusasions; The Fine Print, an author-interview program; and one nationally-distributed show, Bluegrass Breakdown, a weekly thematic examination of the heritage of bluegrass and old-time country music.

1 History
2 Governance
3 Local Hosts
4 Digital Broadcasting/WPLN-HD2
5 Miscellanea
6 External links

[edit] History

WPLN took many years to achieve its current stature in the community. It began as a modest extension of the city's public library system, beginning operations on December 17, 1962, from the Richland Park library branch on Charlotte Avenue in West Nashville. It broadcasted a limited schedule, almost entirely of classical music, only on Mondays through Fridays, and was only heard in and around the city of Nashville proper. Three years later, the library, WPLN's licensee at the time, moved the station into the then-newly-constructed main library downtown (it has since been replaced). By that time, the station had begun operating a full seven days a week. The station was one of the first in the Southern U.S. to affiliate with NPR in 1970, and two years later, began broadcasting in stereo and at a full 100,000 watts of power. A "Talking Library" subchannel for blind (and visually-impaired) residents of the area began in 1975. Schedule and programming expansion continued at a steady pace throughout the 1980s and 1990s, while WPLN's physical plant did not expand beyond a block of rooms in the library building.

In order to rectify the space shortage and provide more extensive service to the community than was possible under the budgetary and bureaucratic constraints of the public library system, the library board decided in 1995 to begin proceedings to release the station to an independent community board. The public library relinquished control of WPLN-FM on October 1, 1996 to a group known as "Nashville Public Radio." The station eventually moved out of the library into the new studios in the Metrocenter area on May 24, 1998.

The success of this move may have prompted the Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County school system, which operated public television outlet WDCN, to follow suit three years later, a move which resulted in the current WNPT, channel 8.

WPLN-FM was one of only a few non-commercial FM licenses held by a public library system in the U.S. In most cases, libraries usually operate radio frequencies only for radio-reading services (like that mentioned above) for the blind and visually impaired, signals that are available only on special receivers.

[edit] Governance

WPLN is governed by a self-perpetuating board of directors, with a separate board of local residents who advise the board of directors on the needs of the listening area.

[edit] Local Hosts

Jacqueline Fellows – Morning Edition
Henry Fennell – morning classical music
Will Griffin – midday classical music
Nina Cardona – All Things Considered
Ed Lambert – evening classical music
Dave Higgs – Bluegrass Breakdown
Eric Babcock and Ken Mastri – weekends

[edit] Digital Broadcasting/WPLN-HD2

As mentioned above, Nashville Public Radio began a new station in early 2006, WPLN-HD2, on the second channel of its new digital transmitter. This station features a different schedule from the main FM signal and the AM companion station, with several NPR programs previously unavailable on either frequency. The station can be heard either by website streaming or on special HD radio consoles.

In 2004, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting chose WPLN as one of about 75 public radio stations to receive grants that would enable construction of transmitters for digital signals. This project, part of NPR's "Tomorrow Radio" initiative, has helped make Nashville Public Radio a pioneer in providing a clearer sound and multiple program choices to listeners.

Also, some local news reports are now available to users of Apple iPods.

[edit] Miscellanea

In 2002, Nashville Public Radio purchased an existing AM frequency to broadcast NPR and local news, talk, and public affairs programs that the FM did not have time on its schedule for. This in part was done to placate some listeners who desire more of this type of programming, leaving WPLN-FM to maintain its decades-long tradition of serving the region with classical music. The new WPLN-HD2 will give middle Tennessee residents even more choices of music and spoken-word shows. For more information, see WPLN-AM.