Providence Radio WBRU - No Longer - Very Sad Day =(

[Oaks]

For anyone who is familiar with the Rhode Island/Boston area - today is a very very sad day. WBRU - the first Alternative Rock Station in the country has closed their doors and sold out to a company that has changed the format to Jammin Oldies. This is not just a big loss for me personally - What Radio Statio do I listen to now? But Actually for the entire music industry...

 

Mourning here in RI... :crazy: :crazy: :fool: :cheesy:

 

Taken from Motif Magazine

 

 

WBRU For Sale???

On-Air reports point to changing of the indie guard

By: C.S. Dalton

 

Motif Magazine has confirmed rumors that Brown Broadcasting is in the process of selling modern Alt-Rock station 95.5 WBRU-FM. While phone calls to WBRU management have gone unanswered, several people close to the station have verified that the station’s Board of Directors has authorized the sale. However, they report that the station is not being sold to a major broadcasting company but rather to a local privately-owned media company. There is rampant speculation about whether or not the new owners will keep WBRU’s modern rock format.

 

According to on-air reports, new management will take control of WBRU at 5pm on Friday, March 31st. It is not known whether or not WBRU will retain its current musical format. WBRU DJ's have been playing requests and allowing callers to reminisce on the air.

 

In addition, WBRU's website now contains the following statement: "We'd like to thank all of our dedicated listeners over the last 36 years. We could not have done it without you. We will miss you all. Keep rockin'!"

 

 

 

WBRU celebrated it’s 36th year last year, though in fact the station was started by two Brown University students in the 1936. While affiliated with Brown, WBRU is not directly owned by the university. The station received its FM license in 1965. In 1988, the station became one of the first in the country to adopt the alternative rock format. It was named Radio Station of the Year for three consecutive years by Rolling Stone Magazine in the 1990s.

 

Over the years, WBRU has weathered much competition. In the late 1990s, an alternative rock station called “The Edge” signed on, only to disappear three years later. Boston radio station WFNX also simulcast their signal locally until 2004. Despite the coming and going of other modern rock stations, WBRU has been a mainstay on the Rhode Island music scene. But, perhaps no more.

 

WBRU is perhaps most known for its Summer Concert Series held in downtown Providence every year. Over the years, acts such as 3 Doors Down, My Chemical Romance, Guster, and the Mighty Mighty Bossotnes have performed at these shows. Motif Magazine is currently reaching out to such artists to weigh in on the possible loss of one of the nation’s few, and finest alternative stations.

 

If the new management does change WBRU’s musical format, its absence will also be a striking blow to the local music scene, which has already suffered the loss of several venues in recent years. WBRU’s annual local band competition, the WBRU Rock Hunt, was known for launching the careers of the best local musicians. And, 2003’s winner, Zox, was recently signed to SideOneDummy Records.

[Geo]

Actually, that does kind of suck. I sincerely hate to see grassroots level music go under. Moves like this is what keeps great bands from gaining exposure and just as bad, limits the audience for the music effectively nipping in the bud and prematurely pruning good music! :cheesy: But hey, at least we'll always have our "Jammin Oldies" to Jazzercise too. :blink:

 

While not exactly a replacement for WBRU, I listen to our own X96, almost exclusively. I've got plenny of music on my computer if that ever becomes an issue, and while these guys do play some decent music, their anti-radioshow mentality has made them number 1 in Utah for years (popular outside Utah too). Live and Local also features some good bands (the used got their start here--yeah, I knew them when . . . :) ). Plus streaming audio, so you're never too far away. JAT

 

beruo

 

btw--sorry for your loss, maybe wanna make a banner for it? :cheesy:

[TightenUpROOKIE]

i used to listen to 95.5 when i was younger but im more of a HOT 106.3 & JAMN 94.5 guy. oakie, remember way back when, when 106.3 used to be top 40 & was called KIX106, definatly too long ago.