WBUR-FM
Boston-based public radio station owned by Boston University and affiliated with NPR.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
WBUR-FM is a noncommercial public radio station serving Boston and much of eastern Massachusetts. Broadcasting at 90.9 FM, it is owned by Boston University and operates as one of the principal NPR member stations in the Boston market, alongside GBH and WUMB-FM. The station uses the positioning line “Boston’s NPR News Station” and is known primarily for news, public affairs, interviews, cultural coverage, and nationally distributed audio programming. WBUR began broadcasting on March 1, 1950, from studios and a transmitter at 84 Exeter Street in Boston. In its early years it was closely connected to Boston University, with students making up much of the staff and the schedule emphasizing classical music, jazz, and university sports. The station moved to the university’s School of Communications building on Commonwealth Avenue during the early 1960s. During the 1970s it developed into a professionally staffed public radio operation and began receiving support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, while student radio activities continued separately through WTBU. The station’s most important strategic change came in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when it progressively replaced much of its music schedule with news and information from NPR, Public Radio International, the BBC, and other public-media sources. By the early 1990s, WBUR had adopted an almost continuous news-and-information format, helping establish the model later followed by many NPR stations. This shift placed it in direct programming competition with WGBH, although WGBH retained a stronger music and cultural identity for many years. WBUR’s best-known national productions include On Point and Here & Now. On Point developed from special programming created after the September 11 attacks and became a weekday discussion program. Here & Now, produced with NPR, grew from a regional show into a nationally syndicated news and culture program carried by hundreds of public radio stations. Other programs associated with the station have included The Connection, hosted by Christopher Lydon, the sports and human-interest program Only A Game, Open Source, Radio Boston, and podcast productions such as Modern Love and Dear Sugar Radio. Radio Boston, launched in 2007, became the station’s principal purely local weekday program. WBUR has also expanded beyond its primary Boston signal. It operates or supplies programming to WBUH in Brewster and WBUA in Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard. During the 1990s it developed several Cape Cod arrangements and later acquired additional facilities to provide a more consistent WBUR service across the region. In Rhode Island, WBUR helped establish WRNI in 1998, but the station was later transferred to a local nonprofit group after disputes over its financial sustainability and governance. The station’s Boston studios are located in the WBUR CitySpace and Lavine Broadcast Center on the Boston University campus. Its transmitter is in Needham, Massachusetts. Although its licensed transmitter power is comparatively modest, its elevated antenna produces broad coverage across eastern Massachusetts. WBUR has grown its audience substantially since 2012 and was identified in 2017 as one of the most popular NPR news stations in the United States. Like many public media organizations, it has faced pressure from changing listening habits, sponsorship volatility, and rising operating costs, leading to significant cuts in 2020 and again in 2024.
History
WBUR first went on the air on March 1, 1950, as a Boston University station. Its original operation at 84 Exeter Street relied heavily on university students and featured classical music, jazz, and Boston University sports. In the early 1960s, the station moved to the university’s renovated School of Communications building at 640 Commonwealth Avenue. This period established WBUR as a university-linked broadcaster while leaving room for student radio through WTBU, which used low-power carrier-current transmissions in residence halls. During the 1970s and 1980s, WBUR maintained a substantial music identity. Its schedule included classical, jazz, and Latin music programs, with hosts such as Dennis Boyer, Steve Elman, Tony Cennamo, James Isaacs, and Jose Masso. The station also experimented with overnight programming. A dispute surrounding the cancellation of the overnight “2-to-6 Shift” contributed to the resignation of programming director Victor S. Wheatman after station manager Bonnie Cronin ended the show. WBUR’s institutional identity changed sharply near the end of the 1980s. It began replacing music programs with news and information from NPR, Public Radio International, and the BBC. By the early 1990s, apart from limited specialty programming, WBUR had become an around-the-clock news-and-information station. The decision differentiated it from WGBH’s then more music-oriented schedule and helped make WBUR a major public-radio news outlet in Boston. The station later became a model for other NPR affiliates that moved away from music toward continuous news, interviews, and analysis. In 1997, WBUR moved its offices and studios to a larger Boston University facility at 890 Commonwealth Avenue. It expanded its regional footprint during the 1990s through arrangements with Cape Cod educational stations and the acquisition of a West Yarmouth AM facility donated by automobile dealer Ernie Boch Sr. That facility temporarily operated as a WBUR satellite. WBUR also helped create WRNI in Providence in 1998, working with the Foundation for Ocean State Public Radio to establish Rhode Island’s first NPR station. After WBUR reduced local investment and sought to sell the station in 2004, the proposal generated public controversy. The station was eventually acquired by the local nonprofit organization Rhode Island Public Radio in 2008. WBUR continued building a production organization with national reach. The Connection preceded On Point, while Here & Now expanded from a regional program into a nationally distributed NPR production. WBUR launched Radio Boston in 2007, added podcast production from 2014 onward, and became associated with programs including Open Source, Only A Game, Modern Love, and Dear Sugar Radio. The station’s current model combines locally produced reporting with nationally syndicated audio and digital journalism. The station has also developed a network of affiliated signals. In 2013 it completed the acquisition of the former WMVY facility in Tisbury, renamed WBUA, and in 2014 launched WBUH in Brewster. These facilities extend the WBUR schedule across Martha’s Vineyard and much of Cape Cod. The principal Boston transmitter is located in Needham, while studios are based at WBUR CitySpace within the Lavine Broadcast Center on Boston University’s Commonwealth Avenue campus. WBUR’s audience expanded during the 2010s, although the station remained dependent on listener support, underwriting, grants, and other public-media revenue. In June 2020, during the COVID-19 recession, it laid off 29 employees, ended Only A Game, froze hiring and wage increases, reduced spending, and imposed a temporary pay reduction for chief executive Margaret Low. In April 2024, the station announced another restructuring: seven positions were eliminated and 24 employees accepted voluntary buyouts, including four senior leadership team members. WBUR also reduced travel and contracted-service costs, eliminated unfilled positions, and implemented additional administrative savings. These measures reflect the broader financial pressures confronting public radio while WBUR continues to operate as Boston’s principal NPR news station.
- 2024
Further layoffs and buyouts
[1]The station announces additional job reductions and voluntary buyouts in response to a sponsorship-revenue shortfall.
- 2020
Pandemic-era restructuring
[1]WBUR announces layoffs, program cancellations, a hiring freeze, and broad spending reductions.
- 2014
WBUH signs on
[1]WBUR adds a Brewster, Cape Cod signal, expanding its regional service.
- 2013
WBUA begins carrying WBUR
[1]The former WMVY 92.7 FM facility in Tisbury begins operating as a WBUR satellite under the WBUA call sign.
- 2007
Radio Boston launches
[1]WBUR introduces a program dedicated to local Boston reporting and conversation.
- 1998
WRNI launched in Rhode Island
[1]WBUR helps establish WRNI, Rhode Island’s first NPR station, in partnership with a newly formed local public-radio foundation.
- 1997
Boston University campus relocation
[1]The station moves its offices and studios to a new Boston University facility at 890 Commonwealth Avenue.
- 1990
News-and-information format adopted
[1]By the early 1990s, WBUR has largely replaced music programming with a continuous news and information schedule.
- 1970
Transition to professional public radio
[1]During the 1970s, WBUR develops a professional staff and begins receiving Corporation for Public Broadcasting support.
- 1960
Move to Commonwealth Avenue
[1]WBUR relocates to Boston University’s School of Communications building during the early 1960s.
Products and positioning
A Boston-centered NPR news and public-media service combining local reporting with nationally distributed news, interviews, culture, and analysis.
Radio news service
WBUR News
WBUR’s core local and regional news output, delivered through its Boston FM signal, website, podcasts, and affiliated transmitters. Coverage focuses on Boston, Massachusetts, New England, public affairs, politics, culture, and community issues, while the station also carries NPR and other public-media reporting.
Nationally syndicated discussion program · 2001
On Point
A weekday interview and discussion program produced by WBUR. It originated as special programming after the September 11 attacks and later became a regular national public-radio offering. The program examines current affairs and public issues through extended conversations with journalists, experts, authors, and other guests.
Nationally syndicated news and culture program
Here & Now
A news and culture program produced by WBUR in collaboration with NPR. It combines interviews and reports on national and international events, public life, books, arts, and society. The program evolved from a regional broadcast into a widely distributed service carried by hundreds of NPR member stations.
Local radio program · 2007
Radio Boston
WBUR’s principal purely local discussion and interview program. Launched in 2007, it covers Boston-area politics, neighborhoods, culture, institutions, and civic questions through reporting and conversations with local figures and residents.
Weekly cultural and ideas program
Open Source
A weekly program hosted by Christopher Lydon that explores literature, the arts, public ideas, and international affairs. It reflects WBUR’s continuing role as a producer of cultural and intellectual programming alongside its dominant news format.
Sports radio program
Only A Game
A nationally syndicated weekly sports program hosted by Bill Littlefield. It approached sports through human-interest stories, commentary, and an intentionally unconventional tone rather than focusing solely on conventional fan coverage. WBUR ended the program in 2020.
Podcast
Modern Love
A podcast produced through a partnership involving WBUR and The New York Times, adapting the newspaper’s Modern Love essays into narrated and discussed audio episodes about relationships and contemporary personal life.
Advice podcast
Dear Sugar Radio
An advice-oriented podcast associated with WBUR and hosted by Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond. The format combines listener questions with personal, ethical, and emotional guidance in an intimate public-radio style.
Controversies
2020
Blackbaud discloses ransomware attack and theft of client data
Blackbaud said it discovered and stopped a ransomware attack in May, and that the cybercriminal removed some client data. The company said it paid the criminal's demand for confirmation that the removed data had been destroyed.
2004
Controversy over proposed sale of WRNI
WBUR’s decision to seek a buyer for WRNI, the Rhode Island station it had helped establish, prompted criticism from Rhode Island listeners and supporters who believed the station had been built with substantial local investment. The controversy raised questions about WBUR’s financial commitments, governance, and responsibility to the Rhode Island public-radio audience. WRNI was ultimately transferred to a local nonprofit in 2008.
2001
Pro-Israel boycott over Middle East coverage
Beginning in October 2001 and continuing into 2002, pro-Israel advocacy groups and aligned supporters urged businesses and donors to withdraw underwriting and contributions from WBUR, alleging that NPR’s Middle East reporting was biased against Israel. The station estimated losses of between $1 million and $2 million, including the departure of at least six underwriters and some small donors. NPR’s ombudsman and an independent review found shortcomings in completeness but did not identify systematic bias, while other media-watch organizations made opposing claims about the coverage.
Brand decisions
2024
Restructure to address sponsorship declineStrategyBackground
WBUR reported a $7 million decline in on-air sponsorship income and sought to reduce its operating budget by $4 million.
Action taken
The station eliminated seven positions, accepted 24 voluntary buyouts including four senior leadership roles, removed unfilled positions, reduced travel, negotiated lower contracted-service rates, and implemented additional administrative savings.
Aftermath
The measures reduced staffing and operating costs as WBUR responded to a deteriorating financial environment. CEO Margaret Low also accepted a 10 percent pay cut.
On-air sponsorship income decline. $7 million decline (2024)
2020
Pandemic-era cost reductionStrategyBackground
The COVID-19 recession placed pressure on public-media revenue and station operations.
Action taken
WBUR laid off 29 employees, ended Only A Game, cut spending by 13 percent, froze hiring and wage increases, and reduced the chief executive’s pay by 10 percent.
Aftermath
The station reduced its staffing and programming footprint while continuing its core news and public-affairs service.
Spending reduction. 13% reduction (2020)
2013
Acquire the former WMVY 92.7 FM facilityM&ABackground
WBUR sought to extend its public-radio service to Martha’s Vineyard and completed an agreement to acquire the Tisbury facility formerly used by WMVY.
Action taken
Boston University acquired the facility, which adopted the WBUA call sign and began carrying the WBUR schedule.
Aftermath
The acquisition expanded WBUR’s island coverage, while the former WMVY music service continued through a separate online and later FM operation.
1998
Help establish WRNI in Rhode IslandStrategyBackground
Rhode Island was among the states without an NPR station, creating an opportunity to build a dedicated public-radio service in Providence.
Action taken
WBUR partnered with the Foundation for Ocean State Public Radio and invested in the creation of WRNI at Providence’s Union Station.
Aftermath
WBUR later sought to exit the arrangement because management considered the station financially burdensome. Following public controversy, a local nonprofit acquired WRNI in 2008.
1990
Shift from music to continuous news and informationStrategyBackground
WBUR faced a changing public-radio environment and increasing competition for audience and relevance in Boston. It had historically carried classical, jazz, and other music programming.
Action taken
The station progressively replaced most music shows with NPR, Public Radio International, BBC, and other news and information programs, ultimately adopting an almost around-the-clock news format.
Aftermath
The change made WBUR a leading public-radio news station and helped establish a format later adopted by many NPR affiliates, while differentiating it from WGBH’s more music-oriented schedule at the time.
- WGBH — WGBH retained a comparatively stronger music and cultural programming identity, although it continued to broadcast major NPR news programs.
Recent events
WBUR announces CitySpace Summer Camp[4]
Reported:
WBUR announced CitySpace Summer Camp, a six-week virtual program for families with children ages five to 12; the announcement said it would launch July 13 and conclude August 21.
WBUR announces layoffs of 29 employees[5]
Reported:
WBUR CEO Margaret Low announced layoffs affecting 29 part-time and full-time employees, including senior executives, amid revenue losses and a newsroom restructuring.
Blackbaud discloses ransomware attack and theft of client data[3]
Reported:
Blackbaud said it discovered and stopped a ransomware attack in May, and that the cybercriminal removed some client data. The company said it paid the criminal's demand for confirmation that the removed data had been destroyed.
Sources5 sources
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