{{Short description|Public radio station in Philadelphia}} {{redirect|WJAZ|the former radio stations in Chicago|WJAZ (Chicago)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{More citations needed|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox radio station | name = WRTI | logo = WRTI logo.png | city = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania | country = US | area = [[Delaware Valley]] | branding = WRTI 90.1 | frequency = {{Frequency|90.1|[[MHz]]}} {{HD Radio}} | translators = See {{section link||Translators}} | repeaters = See {{section link||Simulcasts}} | founded = {{start date|1948}} | airdate = {{Start date|1953|07|09}} | format = {{ubl|[[Classical music|Classical]] (days)|[[Jazz]] (nights)}} | subchannels = HD2: Jazz - Classical | affiliations = {{hlist|[[NPR]]|[[Public Radio Exchange|PRX]]|[[American Public Media|APM]]}} | erp = 7,700 watts | haat = {{Convert|371|m|ft|sp=us}} | class = B | licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] | facility_id = 65190 | coordinates = {{Coord|40|2|30|N|75|14|10.1|W|type:landmark_region:US-PA_source:FCC|name=WRTI}} | callsign_meaning = Radio Technical Institute<ref name="wrtihist" /> | owner = [[Temple University]] | licensee = Board of Trustees | webcast = [https://www.wrti.org/listen-live-wrti Listen live] | website = {{URL|www.wrti.org}} }}
'''WRTI''' (90.1 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]) is a [[non-commercial educational station|non-commercial]], listener-supported [[radio station]] in [[Philadelphia|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]. It is a service of [[Temple University]], with the university's board of trustees holding the station's license. The studios are on Cecil B. Moore Avenue in Philadelphia. WRTI plays [[classical music]] from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and [[jazz]] all night. It broadcasts using [[HD Radio]] technology, using its [[digital subchannel]] to reverse this schedule. On WRTI-HD2, jazz is heard by day, classical music at night. News updates are provided by [[National Public Radio]]. The station holds periodic [[fundraiser]]s on the air and on line.
WRTI's transmitter is sited in the [[Roxborough, Philadelphia|Roxborough]] section of Philadelphia;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=WRTI |title=FM Query Results for WRTI |website=fcc.gov |publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]] |access-date=2017-03-27}}</ref> its tower is shared with several Philadelphia-area FM and TV stations. WRTI programming is also heard on a network of [[broadcast relay station|repeater station]]s in Pennsylvania, [[New Jersey]] and [[Delaware]].
==History== WRTI began in 1948 as an AM [[carrier current]] station. It was founded by John Roberts, professor emeritus of communications at Temple University and a one-time anchorman at [[WFIL-TV]] (now [[WPVI-TV]]). He helped found the School of Communications and Theater at Temple. The call letters stand for "Radio Technical Institute" with the station helping students who planned careers in broadcasting.
In 1952, the station received an FM transmitter. It acquired a non-commercial license to cover the FM facility in 1953. After years of serving as a student laboratory, WRTI-AM signed off for good in 1968. WRTI-FM officially signed on the air on July 9, 1953.
WRTI-FM later switched from [[block programming]] to an all-jazz format in 1969. It remained an all-jazz station for nearly three decades.
In late 1997, Philadelphia's commercial classical music station, [[WBEN-FM|WFLN-FM]], changed formats. Classical listeners in one of America's largest cities would be without a station playing classical music. At that point, WRTI decided to switch to a dual-format service. It would play classical music from 6 AM to 6 PM, and jazz from 6 PM to 6 AM, except Sunday mornings, when it broadcasts [[Christian music|Christian gospel]] and spiritual music.<ref name="wrtihist" /><ref name="spirit" />
==Programming== After a hiatus, WRTI, in 2013, resumed broadcasting full-length concerts by the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]] on Sunday afternoons. Recorded each week at the [[Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts|Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall]] in [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City]], this series brings the distinctive sound of the "Fabulous Philadelphians" in performance to the Delaware Valley airwaves.
WRTI presents in-concert performances of South Jersey's Symphony In C Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and The Crossing, as well as [[opera]] performances from the Academy of Vocal Arts, OperaDelaware and the Opera Company of Philadelphia.
WRTI is a network affiliate of [[NPR]], [[Public Radio International]] (PRI) and [[American Public Media]] (APM), airing news and arts programming from these networks. Programs include NPR's ''[[From The Top]]'', and ''SymphonyCast''. WRTI is also an affiliate of the [[WFMT]] Radio Network, broadcasting a wide range of programming from this [[Chicago]]-based syndicator, including concert broadcasts from the [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]], [[New York Philharmonic]], [[San Francisco Symphony]], the [[Deutsche Welle]] Festival Concert series on both the analog FM service and the digital HD2 service.
WRTI is also an affiliate of the Toll Brothers-[[Metropolitan Opera]] Radio Network, airing the Met's Saturday Matinee performances live from December through May each year. In the Met's off-season, WRTI broadcasts the American Opera Series from the WFMT Radio Network. This series features performances by the San Francisco, Los Angeles and Houston Grand Operas, as well as the Lyric Opera of Chicago. With these series, WRTI broadcasts a full-length opera every Saturday afternoon. WRTI's Mark Pinto hosts Overture, an opera "pre-game" of sorts, playing opera-based music, Saturday at 12-noon, just before the Saturday Opera Broadcast.
The award-winning ''Creatively Speaking'' general arts segments featured contributors Jim Cotter, David Patrick Stearns and Susan Lewis. Cotter formerly headed WRTI's Arts and Culture desk. The forerunner of these features was a 30-minute Saturday morning arts magazine show, also called Creatively Speaking, which was cancelled in early 2013. It was felt that splitting up the show in segments and spreading them throughout the broadcast day and week would better serve the audience. The features ended in 2018.
The Wanamaker Organ Hour, first aired in 2005, featured recordings of performances by Macy's Grand Court Organist Peter Richard Conte and various guests. The [[Wanamaker Organ]] is housed in Macy's Center City Philadelphia department store and is the largest musical instrument in the world. The program was co-produced by the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ and WRTI, and was an outgrowth of a segment, and later a live remote broadcast, on the CrossOver program. The Friends organization is responsible for the restoration and upkeep of this grand instrument. The show ended in 2017 when funding to the Friends was cut.
==Personalities== The station features hosts Mike Bolton, Bobbi Booker, Meg Bragle, Bob Craig, [[Rich Gunning]], J. Michael Harrison, Hannah Rose Nicholas, David Ortiz, Mark Pinto, John T.K. Scherch, Nicole Sweeney, and Melinda Whiting.
Air personality [[Debra Lew Harder]] left the station on September 21, 2021, to become the host of the [[Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts]].<ref>[https://operawire.com/metropolitan-opera-names-new-radio-host/ Metropolitan Opera Names New Radio Host], operawire.com, by Francisco Salazar, September 21, 2021</ref>
On September 30, 2025 after 14 years at the station Courtney Blue, host of Late Evening Jazz, was laid off due to “budgetary reductions.”
WRTI was known for several popular arts and culture based shows over the years. The multi-award-winning CrossOver, hosted by former classical host Jill Pasternak, explored music as "the universal language." The show, which presented music and conversation with some of the world's greatest artists and personalities, focused not only on classical and jazz, but also music in the periphery of those two art forms. Featured have been [[Michel Legrand]], [[Rick Braun]], [[Byron Janis]], [[Billy Joel]], [[Eric Whitacre]], [[Marvin Hamlisch]], [[Michael Feinstein]], [[Louis Lortie]], [[Herbie Hancock]], [[Yolanda Kondonassis]], [[Branford Marsalis]], [[Michael Bublé]] and many more. The show was produced from 1998 until Ms. Pasternak's retirement in 2015. Dr. Jack Buerkle, a member of the Temple University faculty and jazz expert, was co-host until his retirement in 2003. Jill Pasternak died in 2025.
Discoveries From the Fleisher Collection, first aired in 2001, was hosted by Kile Smith, former curator of the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music at the Free Library of Philadelphia, the largest lending library of orchestral performance material in the world, and former WRTI classical host and program director, Jack Moore. The program featured recordings of orchestral scores and music housed at the Fleisher Collection. The program, a co-production of the Fleisher Collection and WRTI, was cancelled in 2018.
==HD Radio== Along with its regular analog FM signal, WRTI also broadcasts using [[HD Radio]] technology.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wrti.org/hd-radio-faq |title=HD Radio FAQ |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=wrti.org |access-date=2017-03-27}}</ref> Two WRTI network stations (WRTI and WRTJ) broadcast HD2 programming as well.<ref>https://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=16 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111081609/http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=16 |date=2017-01-11 }} HD Radio Guide for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania</ref> Known as "WRTI-HD2," this auxiliary service broadcasts Jazz in the daytime and Classical music at night, opposite the station's analog/HD1 signal, thus providing a full 24 hours of classical and jazz programming for those with HD Radio receivers.
The programming of both WRTI and WRTI-HD2 also comprises two separate web audio streams. The "All-Classical" stream presents WRTI's daytime programming, switching to WRTI-HD2's programming at night. The "All-Jazz" stream broadcasts WRTI-HD2's daytime programming, switching to WRTI's analog/HD1 signal at night. The web streams have proven popular with those who do not have an HD Radio receiver or are not within the coverage area of WRTI and WRTJ.
==Repeater stations== WRTI fronts a network of six full-powered [[broadcast relay station|repeater station]]s. Combined with the main WRTI signal and numerous low-powered [[FM translator]]s, their footprint covers much of eastern Pennsylvania, as well as most of [[Delaware]] and the southern half of [[New Jersey]].
{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! [[Call signs in North America|Call sign]] ! data-sort-type="number" | [[Frequency]] ! [[City of license]] ! State ! data-sort-type="number" | [[Facility ID]] ! [[List of North American broadcast station classes|Class]] ! data-sort-type="number" | [[Effective radiated power|ERP]]<br />([[watt|W]]) ! data-sort-type="number" | [[Height above average terrain|Height]]<br />([[Metre|m]] ([[Foot (unit)|ft]])) ! class="unsortable" | Transmitter coordinates ! class="unsortable" | Call sign assigned ! class="unsortable" | Broadcast area |- | {{rh}} | WRTX || 91.7 FM{{Efn|group="net"|name="hd"}} || [[Dover, Delaware|Dover]] || [[Delaware]] || {{FID|65181}} || A || 580 || {{Convert|96|m|ft|abbr=on}} || {{Coord|39|12|3.4|N|75|33|53.7|W|type:landmark_region:US-PA_source:FCC|name=WRTX}} || July 12, 1991<ref name="fccWRTX" /> || Dover |- | {{rh}} | WRTQ || 91.3 FM{{Efn|group="net"|name="hd"}} || [[Ocean City, New Jersey|Ocean City]] || [[New Jersey]] || {{FID|65176}} || B1 || {{ubl|13,500 (vert.)|1,360 (horiz.)}} || {{Convert|120|m|ft|abbr=on}} || {{Coord|39|19|14.4|N|74|46|16.6|W|type:landmark_region:US-PA_source:FCC|name=WRTQ}} || May 5, 1993<ref name="fccWRTQ" /> || [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]] |- | {{rh}} | WRTJ || 89.3 FM{{Efn|group="net"|name="hd"}} || [[Coatesville, Pennsylvania|Coatesville]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || {{FID|90653}} || A || {{ubl|460 (vert.)|1 (horiz.)}} || {{Convert|87.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} || {{Coord|40|01|26.4|N|75|48|46.8|W|type:landmark_region:US-PA_source:FCC|name=WRTJ}} || July 11, 2007<ref name="fccWRTJ" /> || [[Chester County, Pennsylvania|Chester County]] |- | {{rh}} | WRTL || 90.7 FM{{Efn|group="net"|name="hd"}} || [[Ephrata, Pennsylvania|Ephrata]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || {{FID|65177}} || A || {{ubl|650 (vert.)|1 (horiz.)}} || {{Convert|265|m|ft|abbr=on}} || {{Coord|40|19|22.3|N|76|11|50.8|W|type:landmark_region:US-PA_source:FCC|name=WRTL}} || March 15, 1999<ref name="fccWRTL" /> || [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]] and [[Lebanon, Pennsylvania|Lebanon]] |- | {{rh}} | WRTY || 91.1 FM{{Efn|group="net"|name="hd"}} || [[Jackson Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania|Jackson Township]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || {{FID|65178}} || B1 || 3,500 || {{Convert|264|m|ft|abbr=on}} || {{Coord|41|02|40.3|N|75|22|43.6|W|type:landmark_region:US-PA_source:FCC|name=WRTY}} || August 20, 1990<ref name="fccWRTY" /> || [[Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania|Mount Pocono]] |- | {{rh}} | WJAZ || 91.7 FM{{Efn|group="net"|name="hd"}} || [[Summerdale, Pennsylvania|Summerdale]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || {{FID|65184}} || A || {{ubl|1,000 (analog)|100 (digital)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1404450&Service=FD&Form_id=911&Facility_id=65184 |title=Engineering STA, Attachment 1 "Engineering Statement" [WJAZ] |date=October 28, 2010 |website=fcc.gov |publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]] |access-date=2020-01-12}}</ref>}} || {{Convert|214|m|ft|abbr=on}} || {{Coord|40|18|20.3|N|77|0|25.9|W|type:landmark_region:US-PA_source:FCC|name=WJAZ}} || July 27, 1990<ref name="fccWJAZ" /> || [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]] |}
Notes: {{Notelist|group="net"|refs= {{Efn|group="net"|name="hd"|Transmits in [[HD Radio]]}} }}
===Translators=== Three full-power stations have [[Broadcast relay station|translators]] that are licensed to simulcast the programming of their respective stations.
{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! [[Call signs in North America|Call sign]] ! data-sort-type="number" | [[Frequency]] ! [[City of license]] ! State ! data-sort-type="number" | [[Facility ID]] ! Rebroadcasts |- | {{rh}} | W299BH || 107.7 FM || [[Marshallton, Delaware|Marshallton]] || [[Delaware]] || {{FID|142393}} || WRTI |- | {{rh}} | W246AA || 97.1 FM || [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || {{FID|65183}} || WRTI |- | {{rh}} | W214AL || 90.7 FM || [[Denver, Pennsylvania|Denver]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || {{FID|65193}} || WRTI |- | {{rh}} | W221DG || 92.1 FM || [[Exton, Pennsylvania|Exton]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || {{FID|142298}} || WRTI |- | {{rh}} | W256AB || 99.1 FM || [[Pottsville, Pennsylvania|Pottsville]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || {{FID|65179}} || WRTY |- | {{rh}} | W249AT || 97.7 FM || [[Reading, Pennsylvania|Reading]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || {{FID|65182}} || WRTI |- | {{rh}} | W291AP || 106.1 FM || [[Scranton, Pennsylvania|Scranton]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || {{FID|65180}} || WRTY |- | {{rh}} | W259BU || 99.7 FM || [[York, Pennsylvania|York]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || {{FID|65187}} || WJAZ |}
==See also== {{Portal|Philadelphia}} * [[List of jazz radio stations in the United States]]
==References== <references>
<ref name=wrtihist>{{cite web |title=About WRTI |url=http://wrti.org/about-wrti |work=WRTI |access-date=May 24, 2013}}</ref> <ref name="fccWJAZ">{{cite web |publisher=FCC Media Bureau |work=CDBS Public Access Database |title=WJAZ Call Sign History |url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=65184&Callsign=WJAZ |access-date=May 28, 2013}}</ref> <ref name="fccWRTJ">{{cite web |publisher=FCC Media Bureau |work=CDBS Public Access Database |title=WRTJ Call Sign History |url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=90653&Callsign=WRTJ |access-date=May 28, 2013}}</ref> <ref name="fccWRTL">{{cite web |publisher=FCC Media Bureau |work=CDBS Public Access Database |title=WRTL Call Sign History |url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=65177&Callsign=WRTL |access-date=May 28, 2013}}</ref> <ref name="fccWRTQ">{{cite web |publisher=FCC Media Bureau |work=CDBS Public Access Database |title=WRTQ Call Sign History |url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=65176&Callsign=WRTQ |access-date=May 28, 2013}}</ref> <ref name="fccWRTX">{{cite web |publisher=FCC Media Bureau |work=CDBS Public Access Database |title=WRTX Call Sign History |url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=65181&Callsign=WRTX |access-date=May 28, 2013}}</ref> <ref name="fccWRTY">{{cite web |publisher=FCC Media Bureau |work=CDBS Public Access Database |title=WRTY Call Sign History |url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=65178&Callsign=WRTY |access-date=May 28, 2013}}</ref> <ref name="spirit">{{cite web |title=Spirit Soul Music |url=https://www.wrti.org/show/spirit-soul-music |work=WRTI |access-date=Sep 27, 2022}}</ref>
</references>
==External links== * {{Official website|www.wrti.org|WRTI official website}} * [http://www.wrti.com/ WRTI Old Gang website] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070503123227/http://www.geocities.com/broadcastpioneers1/roberts.html The Beginning of WRTI-FM] {{FM station data|65190|WRTI}}
{{Temple University}} {{Philly Radio}} {{Pennsylvania college radio}} {{NPR Pennsylvania}} {{NPR New Jersey}} {{NPR Delaware}}
[[Category:College radio stations in Pennsylvania|RTI]] [[Category:Temple University mass media]] [[Category:Radio stations in Philadelphia|RTI]] [[Category:NPR member stations]] [[Category:NPR member networks]] [[Category:Classical music radio stations in the United States]] [[Category:Jazz radio stations in the United States]] [[Category:Radio stations established in 1953]] [[Category:1953 establishments in Pennsylvania]]