DOVER — Until now, Delaware has been the last state without its own public radio station.
That will change this summer.
Delaware First Media, the University of Delaware and Delaware State University plan to go live with a statewide public radio station — WDDE-FM, 91.1 — from Dover this summer.
DFM will own the station, and operate it as an extension of its online newsgathering operations, DFM News, said Micheline Boudreau, DFM president. DFM is a not-for-profit online news organization that started up in 2010.
There are multiple public radio stations whose signals find their way over Delaware’s borders, but this will provide original programming relevant to the state’s residents, Boudreau said.
“Having a signal wash into a state isn’t the same thing as serving a state,” said Boudreau, a former news director at WHYY television.
The station will be housed at DSU. Both universities, which are considered lead institutional sponsors of the station, are providing multiyear financial support. UD will provide $75,000 annually, and DSU and its own private donors combined for an additional $100,000 donation per year in dollars and in-kind contributions.
The station’s signal will be strongest in Dover, and the plans are to amplify the signal throughout the state, Boudreau said.
But at the beginning, others in the state, and elsewhere, can also get the station via the Internet, she said. There is no date set for going on air; Boudreau said they are targeting early summer.
The universities will not play a part in editorial decision-making, but will get a nod as sponsors, said David Brond, vice president for communications and marketing at UD. Read More Del
