First air date April 30, 1974 HAAT 116 meters Sister stations WESA Frequency 91.3 MHz Format Freeform Slogan Where the music matters | ERP 18,000 watts Class B1 Webcast Listen Live City of license Pittsburgh Branding 91.3 WYEP Sister station WESA | |
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Owner Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corp_ | ||
91.3 WYEP is a non-commercial radio station with a AAA format; it airs music programming 24 hours a day. It is run by the Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation, operates on 91.3 MHz with an ERP of 18 kW, and is licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
History
WYEP, a non-commercial, independent radio station, began broadcasting on April 30, 1974 on 91.5 MHz/Channel 218. Prior to using its own frequency, the Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation (the licensee which was incorporated in 1972 solely for the purpose of building and operating a community based, non-commercial radio station) produced three hourly music and public affairs programs under agreement with WDUQ, Pittsburgh (formerly owned by Duquesne University, 90.5 MHz). The programs scheduled at 4 p.m. provided an example of the content WYEP would broadcast. The radio station studios were constructed by volunteers. It was located in the South Oakland area of Pittsburgh, 4 Cable Place, in a former police horse stable. In its early days, it was principally operated by volunteers knowledgeable in music or an area of public affairs.
In 1982, after a period when the station was off the air, WYEP-FM moved to 91.3 MHz/Channel 217 and upgraded their signal to 18 kW. Transmission facilities were moved from atop the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus to a tower above the Monongahela River near Hazelwood. In 1987, the station reorganized and relocated their broadcast facility to the campus of Chatham University in Pittsburgh's East End. In 1994, the station moved to Birmingham Place on the South Side of Pittsburgh. In early 2006, the station began broadcasting from the new WYEP Community Broadcast Center, located in the Bedford Square section of Pittsburgh's South Side. In September 2006, the WYEP Community Broadcast Center received a LEED-NC Silver rating, making it environmentally friendly and "the first green station in the nation" [1].
In 2011, WYEP purchased the license for radio station WDUQ from Duquesne University, and launched an NPR News and information format station, 90.5 WESA. The staff and management of 90.5 WESA co-located at the Community Broadcast Center. In 2014, WYEP celebrated its 40th anniversary on the air.
In 2016, the boards of WYEP and WESA merged, becoming the Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corp.
WYEP is a National Public Radio member. It broadcasts and streams music programming 24 hours a day. Daily "Mix" programs produced at the station by its professional staff air Monday-Friday 6am-6pm, and programs by local volunteer hosts air overnight and on weekends. It broadcasts a limited amount of programming produced elsewhere, including "World Cafe" and "The Thistle and Shamrock."