Pittsburgh Public Media recently purchased an FM translator. PPM is comprised of community leaders and former WDUQ staffers who are working to bring a full-time jazz station back to the market.
The seller was State University of New York and PPM paid $50,000 for the existing translator.
PPM plans to use it to carry programming from the recently purchased WZUM(AM), Pittsburgh.
Along with that $75,000 acquisition, the total cost of bringing a full-time jazz station to the metropolitan Pittsburgh area is a “thrifty” $125,000, according to PPM President Chuck Leavens. “Doing this in an efficient financially responsible way, one of the benchmarks we live by, is always the goal, and I believe we have certainly done that here,” said Leavens. “We have been talking about this on the Pittsburgh Jazz Channel and WYZR, and the support of the community has made it possible to reach this milestone.”
The new station will broadcast on 101.1 FM, and its coverage area will allow it to serve a total population of over 922,000 people, PPM believes. The group also operates WYZR(FM), which covers the Ohio Valley and is heard in the South Hills and western suburbs of Pittsburgh. It is slated for a 10,000 watt power increase. Pittsburgh Public Media purchased WYZR in 2013 for $135,000 from Bethany College.
