Wjhu

There is no mystery about WJHU-FM's format changes that have strengthened its news orientation while banishing classical music to weekends. The station, owned by the Johns Hopkins University, is going after ratings. It believes it will have higher ratings -- and a stronger identity -- as a news-dominated station.Time was when non-commercial radio stations could ignore ratings. No longer. Today, their formats, like those of commercial stations, are determined by the Arbitron book."Unfortunately, this has become more and more necessary in recent years as institutional support has been cut or eliminated," says Cary Smith, general manager of WJHU's arch-rival, WBJC-FM.

The last time Johns Hopkins freshman Gracie Golden rode in a shopping cart before Saturday was during her toddler years in a grocery store - and those carts weren't covered in duct tape or pushed at breakneck speed while she held on for dear life. Golden, a member of student radio station WJHU, joined her colleagues and other groups of students in Saturday's Red Bull Chariot Races, an uncanny but festive collegiate event that the energy drink maker holds on campuses nationwide each year.

The Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, exiled president of Haiti, will be a guest tonight on the Marc Steiner show on WJHU-FM (88.1). Mr. Steiner's taped interview with Father Aristide airs from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., followed by a panel discussion involving Baltimore author Taylor Branch, political activist Randall Robinson and Johns Hopkins University Professor Michel Rolphe Trouillot.

National Public radio says it is looking into the role that  Baltimore resident Lisa Simeone is playing as a spokeswoman for October 2011, one of the Occupy D.C. groups encamped at Freedom Plaza in Washington. A profile on National Public Radio's "People at NPR" web page describes Simeone as host of the nationally syndicated "World of Opera" and "Spoleto Chamber Music 2010. " She also hosts the documentary series "Soundprint," according to that production's website. Simeone formerly worked at the NPR news programs "All Things Considered" and "Weekend Edition.

WBJC-FM became Baltimore's main source for classical music in the 1970s somewhat by default. After a commercial broadcaster, WCAO-FM, dropped classical for rock, listeners demanded more classical from WBJC. The station obliged. Today, its format is 90 percent classical music. Which is good, because WJHU-FM just drastically curtailed its classical music programming.WJHU, too, responded to listeners' demands. It decided its ratings would improve if it increased news and information programming, including talk shows.

WJHU-FM radio station's recent decision to drastically reduce its classical music programming came as no surprise to those who have followed its fortunes. Frankly, it never fulfilled its early boastful promises.For many years it had been a student-run, 10-watt station on the campus of Johns Hopkins University. Then, in mid-1986, the university created enormous expectations when it entered the radio wars. It was a new kid on the block with more than $1 million invested in state-of-the-art equipment, a recording studio, 10,000-watt signal and "luxurious" new quarters on North Charles Street.

Four months after dropping weekday classical music in favor of talk and news programming, radio station WJHU-FM (88.1) declared the change a success yesterday, ending a scheduled nine-day pledge drive about eight hours early when it surpassed its goals."

Radio station WJHU-FM 88.1 has emerged from its financial limbo, following an announcement yesterday by Johns Hopkins University that it no longer is trying to sell the station or otherwise arrange new financing or ownership.Due largely to a successful fall fund-raising air campaign, which generated more than $165,000 from listeners, said Ross Jones, vice president and secretary at WJHU, the station seems to have generated enough support "to operate on a self-sustaining basis."He said the university considers the question of the station's future closed as long as it continues to generate listener support.

A power outage in the Lower Park Heights neighborhood where WJHU-FM has its transmitter knocked the radio station off the air for two hours last night, a spokesman said."

"Jobless! Now What?"That's a sentiment an increasing number of Marylanders are undoubtedly experiencing. It's also the title of a special four part call-in series on Maryland Public Television airing today through Thursday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.The series, co-hosted by Dave Durian and family counselor Jeff Moss, will feature authorities on career counseling, law and family finances. Topics will range from how to deal with the stress of unemployment to whether or not to file for bankruptcy.

Baltimore public radio station WYPR-FM has canceled its scheduled pledge drive this month, more than a week after its decision to fire veteran talk-show host Marc Steiner drew anger from fans of the show. Andy Bienstock, station vice president and program director, said yesterday the station will hold a combined winter and spring 2008 fund drive in April. Station management didn't want to hold a drive until a replacement for The Marc Steiner Show was in place, he said. "It's not fair to ask people to contribute without their hearing what we are going to do," Bienstock said.

The Johns Hopkins University is set to complete the $5 million sale of the NPR station it has held for 15 years to a local not-for-profit corporation at midnight tonight. At that point, WJHU, heard at 88.1 FM, will become WYPR. The station's new parent company, led by talk-show host Marc Steiner, has been rechristened the Your Public Radio Corp. The transfer, to be marked in a ceremony on the Hopkins campus this afternoon, will be the culmination of a sometimes-arduous 10-month process.

"Next, from Toledo, we have a call from Phyllis. Go ahead, Phyllis, you're on with the president of Russia ..." Tonight at 7:30, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin will entertain the questions of National Public Radio anchor Robert Siegel, and then take e-mails and calls from the rest of America. The NPR interview and ensuing discussion will be carried on regional affiliates WJHU (88.1 FM) and WAMU (88.5 FM). Under Soviet regimes, said Kevin Klose, NPR's president, "this would have been impossible to imagine.

IT IS AUTUMN and the beers, like the leaves, are turning brown. The leaves are changing color because their yellow or orange carotenoids are becoming more prominent. The seasonal beers turn amber or copper-colored because their malt is roasted longer. These color clues are signs that Oktoberfest is here. For fans of seasonal beers this means that when the leaves start dropping, the bottle tops start popping. On one level, Oktoberfest is remarkably simple. It is another excuse to drink beer.

The Johns Hopkins University has formalized details of a deal it struck two months ago to sell its public radio station for $5 million to a Baltimore-based group led by its signature voice, Marc Steiner. The community broadcast group still has to obtain federal approval, which could take months, and financing for the sale. Both sides say they consider these elements merely to be loose ends. Hopkins officials say the deal finalized yesterday achieved all of their top priorities. "We wanted to sell the station to a group with local roots who was committed to the news and information format," said Frederick W. Puddester, the university's chief budget officer.

The Johns Hopkins University will give a local group seeking to take control of WJHU (88.1 FM) a bit more time to arrange the sale's final terms, according to both parties. On July 13, Maryland Public Radio Corp., led by WJHU talk show host Marc Steiner, was granted a month by Hopkins to solidify its financing and to fine-tune other parts of the deal. No other bids would be considered by the university during that period. On Aug. 13, the not-for-profit group was given a week's extension.

For those WJHU (88.1 FM) listeners who choked on their cappuccinos yesterday when all they heard was static, you were not alone - the station was even angrier to be off the air for nearly seven hours. Communications Electronics, the Virginia-based company that owns the antenna in Druid Hill Park that beams the station's signal, decided it wanted to upgrade its tower starting at 8 a.m. yesterday morning. So, at Communications Electronic's request, BGE cut off the power, marooning Baltimore-area listeners to WJHU, a National Public Radio affiliate owned and operated by the Johns Hopkins University.

Johns Hopkins University announced yesterday that it will continue to operate WJHU-FM (88.1), ending two years of uncertainty about the public radio station's future.Ross Jones, vice president and secretary of Hopkins, said WJHU's ability to operate within a pared-down annual budget of just under $1 million since May convinced the university to abandon its efforts to find a new owner."We've been pleased with the station and wanted to keep it if we possibly could," he said.Mr. Jones said Hopkins would continue to pay the debt service on the station's equipment -- the amount of which he would not disclose -- but would provide no direct operating support.

Talk show host Marc Steiner is on the brink of realizing his dream of taking control of WJHU, Baltimore's chief public radio news station. Yesterday, the station's owner, the Johns Hopkins University, signed a letter of intent to sell the station to a not-for-profit community-based group led by Steiner, called Maryland Public Radio Corp. The group has 30 days to solidify its financing to buy the station and make a specific offer. The asking price has been estimated at $5 million or more.

Officials at the Johns Hopkins University envision great things for campus-owned WJHU-FM, Baltimore's chief National Public Radio news station. They'd like more local programming, a signal that reaches more of the state, a news desk to file reports that peer behind the headlines. Two other things Hopkins administrators would like: They'd like someone else to do it. And they'd like that someone else to pay several million dollars for the privilege. Perhaps as early as today, people knowledgeable about the process said, Hopkins is expected to select its buyer for WJHU, heard at 88.1 FM. No announcement has been made, but the university is poised to award the station to Maryland Public Radio, a group led by WJHU talk show host Marc Steiner.