Participating Organizations

WUMB-FM is a non-commercial radio station licensed to the University of Massachusetts with studios at the UMass Boston Campus, as the central hub for a network of eight public radio stations in Boston, Worcester, Falmouth, Newburyport, Stow, Marshfield, Orleans and Milford, New Hampshire.

The Boston, Worcester and Falmouth stations all broadcast on 91.9FM. The Newburyport, Stow and Marshfield stations can be heard on 91.7FM. The Orleans station can be heard on 1170AM, and Milford, New Hampshire on 88.7FM.

All eight facilities simulcast the identical program schedule, which is produced from our studios located on the UMass Boston Campus. The station’s 24 hour a day broadcast schedule reaches more than 80,000 unique listeners weekly in over 275 cities and towns in eastern and central Massachusetts, as well as Cape Cod and parts of Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut. A webcast of our signal can also be heard live around the world through the internet, and we current reach over another 80,000 people from all 50 states and 147 different countries through our live stream.

The Boston station, WUMB-FM, was the last station in the Metro-Boston area to be granted an FM license from the Federal Communications Commission. It went on the air in 1982 with an all-volunteer announcing staff, moving to a professional staff in 1986, when it became a public radio affiliate of the Corporate for Public Broadcasting. The station was the aspiration of a cadre of UMass Boston students in 1968, in what became a fourteen year campaign to get the station on the air. The Worcester station, WBPR-FM, was purchased in 1993 from Worcester county Christian Broadcasting, which owned a permit to construct the station, but had never actually built it. The Falmouth station, WFPB-FM, was developed with the help of an expansion funding grant from CPB and went on the air in 1996. The Orleans station was a donation from GramCam Communications in 1998, and the Newburyport station was built with the help of a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2001.

WUMB-FM is committed to providing unique program offerings. It is the country’s foremost radio station for folk and roots music, largely airing a mix including Singer/Songwriter, Blues, Celtic, Americana, Bluegrass and more. During the weekends, the station is a cultural center for traditional Folk, Celtic and International music, as well as our public affairs show, Commonwealth Journal.

WUMB also sponsors and operates 2 one week summer music camps for adults, as well as a weekend music getaway, geared toward furthering the participants’ musical skill. WUMB is actively involved in several community engagement projects throughout the year.