First air date 1948 HAAT 269.2 meters (883 ft) Facility ID 48699 City of license Newark Owner Newark Public Radio Branding WBGO Jazz 88 | ERP 2,500 watts Class B1 Frequency 88.3 MHz Format Jazz Area New York City Slogan The Jazz Source | |
 | ||
Broadcast area Metro New York-New Jersey | ||
African american legends cephas bowles wbgo jazz radio station jazzing it up
WBGO (88.3 FM, "Jazz 88") is a public radio station broadcasting from Newark, New Jersey with its transmission system located on top of 4 Times Square in New York City, New York. The station primarily plays jazz music. In addition the station airs public affairs programming, locally produced newscasts, traffic reports from Metro Traffic during morning and afternoon rush hours, and NPR-produced newscasts and programming.
Contents
Playing on the tumbadoras the wbgo jazz radio station heritage exhibition 2013
History
Until 2008, WBGO was, with smooth jazz station WQCD 101.9 FM, one of two major FM jazz stations in the New York City metropolitan area. That changed when Emmis Communications decided to change WQCD's format to rock and its call letters to WRXP, leaving WBGO as the New York area's only jazz station. While WBGO's base of operations remains in the New Jersey city of Newark, the station's broadcast antenna and transmission system moved to New York City's Midtown Manhattan on December 30, 2011.
The station was originally owned by the Newark Board of Education and had studios in Central High School. Studios and offices are now located at 54 Park Place in downtown Newark, and its transmitter is atop of Condé Nast Building in Times Square in New York City. It is also available as a web radio station, with both a live stream and on-demand replay of shows.
New Jersey Public Radio simulcasts WBGO on their radio network every morning between 1am and 5am.
WBGO also broadcasts in the HD Radio format.
Mission
WBGO is a publicly supported cultural institution that champions jazz and presents news to a worldwide audience through radio, other technologies and events.