WRTI Jazz

Operating at 90.1 FM, this non-commercial, listener-supported radio station is a service of Temple University, with the university's board of trustees holding the broadcast license. Studios are located on Cecil B. Moore Avenue in Philadelphia. The station divides its programming schedule between two formats: classical music airs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., while jazz fills the overnight hours. Using HD Radio technology, the station's HD2 digital subchannel reverses this schedule, carrying jazz programming during the day and classical music at night. News updates are provided by National Public Radio. The station holds periodic on-air and online fundraisers to support its operations. The station is classified as a Class B facility with an effective radiated power of 7,700 watts. Its transmitter is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia and shares a tower with several other area FM and television stations. Programming reaches listeners beyond Philadelphia through a network of repeater stations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The station's history begins in 1948 as an AM carrier current outlet founded by Temple University communications professor John Roberts. An FM transmitter was added in 1952, and the non-commercial FM license was acquired in 1953. The AM operation signed off permanently in 1968. The FM station shifted to an all-jazz format in 1969 and maintained that identity for nearly three decades. In late 1997, when Philadelphia's commercial classical station changed formats, this station broadened its mission to include classical music alongside jazz, filling a significant gap in the Philadelphia radio market.